Win-Hooks Diagnostics

Diagnose and fix Claude Code plugin hook compatibility issues on Windows.

Common Error Patterns

"JSON Parse error: Unrecognized token ''" / ":: command not found" / "#!/bin/bash: No such file or directory" / "<<(을)를 지정된 경로를 찾지 못했습니다"

Root cause: UTF-8 BOM (EF BB BF) in any hook file. In hooks.json it causes JSON parse errors; in run-hook.cmd it breaks bash's : builtin AND it pushes the leading : off line-start so cmd.exe stops recognizing it as a label and instead parses the polyglot's << heredoc opener as redirection (mojibake: <<��(��) ������� �ʾҽ��ϴ�); in wrapper scripts it breaks shebang parsing. Typically caused by Windows editors or PowerShell Out-File. Fix: Run /win-hooks:fix — verify --fix strips BOM from every file in hooks/, _hooks/, and any file referenced from hooks.json (e.g., scripts/run-hook.cmd shipped by ralph-loop).

"Hook load failed: JSON Parse error"

Root causes (check in order):

1. UTF-8 BOM in hooks.json
2. CRLF line endings causing parser issues
3. Corrupted hooks.json from interrupted patching
4. Invalid JSON syntax from bad text replacement

Fix: Run /win-hooks:fix which runs the full pipeline including verify --fix.

"SyntaxError" from python3/node on a .py/.js hook file

Root cause: Plugin ships bash wrapper scripts with .py/.js extension that call the interpreter on themselves (e.g., pretooluse.py is #!/bin/bash but contains python3 pretooluse.py). Python/Node can't parse bash syntax. Fix: Run /win-hooks:fix — verify --fix disables recursive wrappers with exit 0.

"No such file or directory" for hook command

Root cause: Hook references a .sh script or bare command that doesn't exist on Windows. Fix: Run /win-hooks:fix to create polyglot wrappers.

"MODULE_NOT_FOUND" in Node.js hooks

Root cause: Windows backslash paths in settings.json hook commands get mangled during execution — backslashes are interpreted as escape characters, producing paths like Userssmsme.configaincreport-usage.js. Fix: Run /win-hooks:fix which converts C:\... to C:/... in settings.json hooks via fix-backslash-paths.

"'node' is not recognized as an internal or external command" / "'node'은(는) 내부 또는 외부 명령... 아닙니다" on Stop/SessionStart hooks

Root cause: settings.json hook command starts with a bare interpreter (node, python, python3, npx, npm) that's on Git Bash's PATH but not resolvable by cmd.exe at hook launch. Error text may appear CP949-garbled (e.g. 'node'��(��) ���� �Ǵ� �ܺ� ����...). Note: the similar-looking <<(을)를 지정된 경로를 찾지 못했습니다 (mojibake <<��(��) ������� �ʾҽ��ϴ�) is a different error — that one is BOM-corrupted polyglot wrapper (see the BOM section above). Fix: Run /win-hooks:fix — fix-bare-commands rewrites the command to a quoted absolute path like "C:/Program Files/nodejs/node.exe" <script>.

Why Hooks Break on Windows

Most Claude Code plugins are developed on Unix. Their hooks use:

• .sh scripts called directly (cmd.exe cannot execute these)
• Bare Unix commands not in Windows PATH (e.g., semgrep, shellcheck)
• ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT} path with .sh extension (triggers Claude Code's auto-detection)
• Unix-specific shell syntax ($(...), pipes, etc.)

Diagnosis Procedure

Step 1: Identify Platform

Check that platform is win32. If not, this skill does not apply.

Step 2: Find win-hooks install path

sed '1s/^\xEF\xBB\xBF//' ~/.claude/plugins/installed_plugins.json | awk '
  /win-hooks/ { found=1 }
  found && /"installPath"/ {
    sub(/.*"installPath"[[:space:]]*:[[:space:]]*"/, "")
    sub(/".*/, "")
    print
    exit
  }
' | sed 's/[\\][\\]*/\//g'

Save the output path as PLUGIN_ROOT.

Step 3: Run health check

bash "<PLUGIN_ROOT>/scripts/verify"

This detects:

Step 4: Run incompatibility scanner

bash "<PLUGIN_ROOT>/scripts/find-incompatible"

Step 5: Report Findings

Present a table:

| Plugin | Issue | Detail | Status |
|--------|-------|--------|--------|
| name   | type  | info   | OK/FIX |

Fix Procedure

Automatic (recommended)

bash "<PLUGIN_ROOT>/hooks/patch-all"

This runs the full pipeline:

1. find-incompatible → detects incompatible hooks
2. apply-patches → creates wrappers, patches hooks.json (sanitizes BOM/CRLF, validates JSON)
3. verify --fix → auto-repairs any remaining encoding issues

Manual repair for specific files

For BOM/CRLF issues only:

bash "<PLUGIN_ROOT>/scripts/verify" --fix

For restoring a broken hooks.json from backup:

cp <plugin>/hooks/hooks.json.bak <plugin>/hooks/hooks.json

Then re-run patch-all.

Hook Event Types

Any of these can have incompatible commands:

Automatic Prevention

The win-hooks plugin runs its patcher at every SessionStart. If you install or update a plugin, simply restart Claude Code - the patcher will detect and fix new incompatibilities automatically.

Rollback

# Restore a plugin's original hooks.json
cp <plugin>/hooks/hooks.json.bak <plugin>/hooks/hooks.json

Troubleshooting

Hook still errors after patching:

• Check if Git Bash is installed at C:\Program Files\Git\bin\bash.exe
• Verify the wrapper script has correct content: cat <plugin>/_hooks/<wrapper-name>
• Run with debug: claude --debug hooks to see hook execution details

python3 not found (other plugins):

• win-hooks automatically copies python.exe → python3.exe if python3 is missing
• If Python is not installed at all, plugins that require Python will still fail

Plugin update overwrites fix:

• This is expected. Restart Claude Code and win-hooks will re-patch automatically.