Genesis Docs

genesis hooks

Manage agent hooks (event-driven automations for commands like /new, /reset, and gateway startup).

Running genesis hooks with no subcommand is equivalent to genesis hooks list.

Related:

List All Hooks

genesis hooks list

List all discovered hooks from workspace, managed, extra, and bundled directories. Gateway startup does not load internal hook handlers until at least one internal hook is configured.

Options:

  • --eligible: Show only eligible hooks (requirements met)
  • --json: Output as JSON
  • -v, --verbose: Show detailed information including missing requirements

Example output:

Hooks (4/4 ready)

Ready:
  🚀 boot-md ✓ - Run BOOT.md on gateway startup
  📎 bootstrap-extra-files ✓ - Inject extra workspace bootstrap files during agent bootstrap
  📝 command-logger ✓ - Log all command events to a centralized audit file
  💾 session-memory ✓ - Save session context to memory when /new or /reset command is issued

Example (verbose):

genesis hooks list --verbose

Shows missing requirements for ineligible hooks.

Example (JSON):

genesis hooks list --json

Returns structured JSON for programmatic use.

Get Hook Information

genesis hooks info <name>

Show detailed information about a specific hook.

Arguments:

  • <name>: Hook name or hook key (e.g., session-memory)

Options:

  • --json: Output as JSON

Example:

genesis hooks info session-memory

Output:

💾 session-memory ✓ Ready

Save session context to memory when /new or /reset command is issued

Details:
  Source: genesis-bundled
  Path: /path/to/genesis/hooks/bundled/session-memory/HOOK.md
  Handler: /path/to/genesis/hooks/bundled/session-memory/handler.ts
  Homepage: https://genesis.pixelzx.com/docs/automation/hooks#session-memory
  Events: command:new, command:reset

Requirements:
  Config: ✓ workspace.dir

Check Hooks Eligibility

genesis hooks check

Show summary of hook eligibility status (how many are ready vs. not ready).

Options:

  • --json: Output as JSON

Example output:

Hooks Status

Total hooks: 4
Ready: 4
Not ready: 0

Enable a Hook

genesis hooks enable <name>

Enable a specific hook by adding it to your config (~/.genesis/genesis.json by default).

Note: Workspace hooks are disabled by default until enabled here or in config. Hooks managed by plugins show plugin:<id> in genesis hooks list and can’t be enabled/disabled here. Enable/disable the plugin instead.

Arguments:

  • <name>: Hook name (e.g., session-memory)

Example:

genesis hooks enable session-memory

Output:

✓ Enabled hook: 💾 session-memory

What it does:

  • Checks if hook exists and is eligible
  • Updates hooks.internal.entries.<name>.enabled = true in your config
  • Saves config to disk

If the hook came from <workspace>/hooks/, this opt-in step is required before the Gateway will load it.

After enabling:

  • Restart the gateway so hooks reload (menu bar app restart on macOS, or restart your gateway process in dev).

Disable a Hook

genesis hooks disable <name>

Disable a specific hook by updating your config.

Arguments:

  • <name>: Hook name (e.g., command-logger)

Example:

genesis hooks disable command-logger

Output:

⏸ Disabled hook: 📝 command-logger

After disabling:

  • Restart the gateway so hooks reload

Notes

  • genesis hooks list --json, info --json, and check --json write structured JSON directly to stdout.
  • Plugin-managed hooks cannot be enabled or disabled here; enable or disable the owning plugin instead.

Install Hook Packs

genesis plugins install <package>        # ClawHub first, then npm
genesis plugins install <package> --pin  # pin version
genesis plugins install <path>           # local path

Install hook packs through the unified plugins installer.

genesis hooks install still works as a compatibility alias, but it prints a deprecation warning and forwards to genesis plugins install.

Npm specs are registry-only (package name + optional exact version or dist-tag). Git/URL/file specs and semver ranges are rejected. Dependency installs run with --ignore-scripts for safety.

Bare specs and @latest stay on the stable track. If npm resolves either of those to a prerelease, Genesis stops and asks you to opt in explicitly with a prerelease tag such as @beta/@rc or an exact prerelease version.

What it does:

  • Copies the hook pack into ~/.genesis/hooks/<id>
  • Enables the installed hooks in hooks.internal.entries.*
  • Records the install under hooks.internal.installs

Options:

  • -l, --link: Link a local directory instead of copying (adds it to hooks.internal.load.extraDirs)
  • --pin: Record npm installs as exact resolved name@version in hooks.internal.installs

Supported archives: .zip, .tgz, .tar.gz, .tar

Examples:

# Local directory
genesis plugins install ./my-hook-pack

# Local archive
genesis plugins install ./my-hook-pack.zip

# NPM package
genesis plugins install @genesis/my-hook-pack

# Link a local directory without copying
genesis plugins install -l ./my-hook-pack

Linked hook packs are treated as managed hooks from an operator-configured directory, not as workspace hooks.

Update Hook Packs

genesis plugins update <id>
genesis plugins update --all

Update tracked npm-based hook packs through the unified plugins updater.

genesis hooks update still works as a compatibility alias, but it prints a deprecation warning and forwards to genesis plugins update.

Options:

  • --all: Update all tracked hook packs
  • --dry-run: Show what would change without writing

When a stored integrity hash exists and the fetched artifact hash changes, Genesis prints a warning and asks for confirmation before proceeding. Use global --yes to bypass prompts in CI/non-interactive runs.

Bundled Hooks

session-memory

Saves session context to memory when you issue /new or /reset.

Enable:

genesis hooks enable session-memory

Output: ~/.genesis/workspace/memory/YYYY-MM-DD-slug.md

See: session-memory documentation

bootstrap-extra-files

Injects additional bootstrap files (for example monorepo-local AGENTS.md / TOOLS.md) during agent:bootstrap.

Enable:

genesis hooks enable bootstrap-extra-files

See: bootstrap-extra-files documentation

command-logger

Logs all command events to a centralized audit file.

Enable:

genesis hooks enable command-logger

Output: ~/.genesis/logs/commands.log

View logs:

# Recent commands
tail -n 20 ~/.genesis/logs/commands.log

# Pretty-print
cat ~/.genesis/logs/commands.log | jq .

# Filter by action
grep '"action":"new"' ~/.genesis/logs/commands.log | jq .

See: command-logger documentation

boot-md

Runs BOOT.md when the gateway starts (after channels start).

Events: gateway:startup

Enable:

genesis hooks enable boot-md

See: boot-md documentation

Related