techniqueadvancedClaude Code

Claude Code 2026 Feature Roundup: Hooks, Skills, and MCP Enhancements

Developers using Claude Code can now build more sophisticated automations for their coding tasks. Recent enhancements allow the AI to handle errors more gracefully, ask for clarification when needed, and securely integrate with other tools, improving overall development speed and reliability.

AI SETUP PROMPT

Paste into Claude Code — it will scan your project and set everything up

# Apply Technique: Claude Code 2026 Feature Roundup: Hooks, Skills, and MCP Enhancements

## What This Is
Developers using Claude Code can now build more sophisticated automations for their coding tasks. Recent enhancements allow the AI to handle errors more gracefully, ask for clarification when needed, and securely integrate with other tools, improving overall development speed and reliability.

Source: https://mcpmarket.com/tools/skills/cc-changelog

## Before You Start

Scan my workspace and analyze:
- The project language, framework, and directory structure
- Existing AI provider config (check .env, .env.local, config files for API keys — OpenRouter, OpenAI, Anthropic, Google AI, etc.)

Then ask me before proceeding:
1. Which AI provider/API should this use? (Use whatever I already have configured, or ask me to set one up — options include direct provider APIs or a unified service like OpenRouter)
2. Where in my project should this be integrated?
3. Are there any customizations I need (model preferences, naming conventions, constraints)?

## Source Access Note

The source URL (https://mcpmarket.com/tools/skills/cc-changelog) may not be directly accessible from the terminal. Use the Reference Implementation and Additional Context sections below instead. If you need more details, ask me to paste relevant content from the source.

## What to Implement

This is an **AI Technique** — a pattern or methodology for working with AI models.

- Explain how this technique applies to my current project and what benefit it provides
- Implement it in a way that fits my existing codebase — suggest concrete files to modify or create
- If it requires specific model capabilities (structured output, function calling, etc.), verify my current provider supports them
- Show me a working example I can test immediately

## Additional Context

- Audit the user's current Claude Code configuration in the `.claude/` directory, specifically reviewing `hooks/hooks.json`, skill frontmatter, and `CLAUDE.md` to identify opportunities for implementing new features like conditional hooks or effort overrides.
- Propose an update to a user-selected hook. For example, add a `PermissionDenied` hook with a `{ "retry": true }` return value for a command that sometimes fails, or add a `StopFailure` hook to a critical script to trigger a notification.
- Select one existing skill from the user's `.claude/skills/` directory and refactor it to demonstrate new efficiencies. Replace hardcoded paths with the `${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}` variable for portability and add the `effort` frontmatter to control model usage for that specific skill.

## Reference Implementation

```
{
  "hooks": [
    {
      "event": "PermissionDenied",
      "command": "echo 'Auto-mode action was denied. Retrying once.'",
      "if": "Bash(terraform apply *)",
      "return": { "retry": true }
    },
    {
      "event": "StopFailure",
      "command": "echo 'A critical step failed. Notifying on-call.' && /notify-oncall 'StopFailure occurred in CI pre-flight check.'"
    }
  ]
}
```

## Guidelines

- Adapt everything to my existing project — do not assume a specific stack or directory layout
- Use whichever AI provider I already have configured; if I need a new one, tell me what to sign up for and I'll give you the key
- Check my .env files for existing API keys (OpenRouter, OpenAI, Anthropic, Google AI) before asking me to add one
- Review any fetched code for safety before installing or executing it
- After setup, run a quick verification and show me a summary of exactly what was installed, where, and how to use it

3,608 charactersCompatible with Claude Code & Codex CLI

MANUAL SETUP STEPS

01Audit the user's current Claude Code configuration in the `.claude/` directory, specifically reviewing `hooks/hooks.json`, skill frontmatter, and `CLAUDE.md` to identify opportunities for implementing new features like conditional hooks or effort overrides.
02Propose an update to a user-selected hook. For example, add a `PermissionDenied` hook with a `{ "retry": true }` return value for a command that sometimes fails, or add a `StopFailure` hook to a critical script to trigger a notification.
03Select one existing skill from the user's `.claude/skills/` directory and refactor it to demonstrate new efficiencies. Replace hardcoded paths with the `${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}` variable for portability and add the `effort` frontmatter to control model usage for that specific skill.

CODE INTELLIGENCE

bash

{
  "hooks": [
    {
      "event": "PermissionDenied",
      "command": "echo 'Auto-mode action was denied. Retrying once.'",
      "if": "Bash(terraform apply *)",
      "return": { "retry": true }
    },
    {
      "event": "StopFailure",
      "command": "echo 'A critical step failed. Notifying on-call.' && /notify-oncall 'StopFailure occurred in CI pre-flight check.'"
    }
  ]
}

FIELD OPERATIONS

Interactive Git Branch Cleanup Skill

Create a Claude Code skill that scans for stale local git branches. Use the MCP Elicitation hook to present the list of branches to the developer in an interactive dialog, asking for confirmation on a per-branch basis before executing the deletion commands.

Resilient CI Pre-Flight Check Hook

Implement a `pre-commit` hook that runs a series of validation scripts (linting, testing, secret scanning). Use the `if: 'Bash(git commit *)'` condition for efficiency, the `StopFailure` hook to notify on script errors, and the `PermissionDenied` hook with retry logic to overcome transient auto-mode denials.

STRATEGIC APPLICATIONS

→Automate security compliance checks by creating a set of plugins that scan code pre-commit. Use organization policies to block unapproved plugins and the `PermissionDenied` hook to automatically retry scans on transient failures, ensuring consistent security posture.
→Enable dynamic cloud resource provisioning via an MCP server. A developer can invoke a skill like `/provision-staging-env`, and the MCP server can use Elicitation to prompt for configuration details (e.g., instance size, region) via an interactive dialog before executing the deployment.