[BUG] Permission pattern matching fails when quoted argument starts with hyphen (e.g., "-1h")

Preflight Checklist

• [x] I have searched existing issues and this hasn't been reported yet
• [x] This is a single bug report (please file separate reports for different bugs)
• [x] I am using the latest version of Claude Code

What's Wrong?

Bug Report: Permission Pattern Matching Fails with Hyphen-Prefixed Quoted Arguments

Summary

Bash permission patterns using :* wildcard suffix fail to match commands when an argument is a quoted string starting with a hyphen (e.g., "-1h").

Environment

• Claude Code version: 2.0.76
• OS: macOS (Darwin 24.6.0)
• Architecture: arm64

Steps to Reproduce

1. Add a permission pattern to settings.json:

``json
{
"permissions": {
"allow": ["Bash(mycli search:*)"]
}
}
``

1. Test commands:

```bash
# These work (no permission prompt):
mycli search --query "test"
mycli search --start 1h
mycli search --start -1h # unquoted hyphen-prefixed arg
mycli search --start "1h" # quoted, no hyphen

# This prompts for permission (pattern fails to match):
mycli search --start "-1h" # quoted hyphen-prefixed arg
```

Expected Behavior

Bash(mycli search:*) should match any command starting with mycli search, regardless of whether arguments contain quoted strings with leading hyphens.

Actual Behavior

The permission pattern fails to match when any argument is a quoted string starting with -. The command prompts for permission instead of being auto-allowed.

Minimal Reproduction

| Command | Pattern Matches? |
|---------|-----------------|
| mycli search --flag "value" | ✓ Yes |
| mycli search --flag "1h" | ✓ Yes |
| mycli search --flag -1h | ✓ Yes |
| mycli search --flag "-1h" | ✗ No |
| mycli search --flag "-value" | ✗ No |

Key finding: The only difference between working and broken:

• --flag "1h" → ✓ works
• --flag "-1h" → ✗ breaks

Analysis

The pattern matcher appears to interpret "-1h" as a potential flag/option because it starts with -, even though it's enclosed in quotes and is a value, not a flag.

Impact

This affects any CLI tool that uses relative time arguments (e.g., -1h, -30m, -7d) or negative numbers as values. Users must either:

• Avoid quoting these arguments (when shell allows)
• Manually approve each command

Suggested Fix

The permission pattern matcher should properly handle quoted strings and not interpret their contents as flags, regardless of whether they start with -.

What Should Happen?

The permission pattern Bash(mycli search:*) should match the command mycli search --start "-1h" and auto-allow it without prompting, just like it matches mycli search --start "1h".

Error Messages/Logs

No error message is displayed. The behavior difference is:

With permission `Bash(mycli search:*)` configured:

# Command WITHOUT hyphen in quoted arg - AUTO-ALLOWED ✓
$ mycli search --start "1h"
[command executes without permission prompt]

# Command WITH hyphen in quoted arg - PROMPTS FOR PERMISSION ✗  
$ mycli search --start "-1h"
[Claude Code shows permission prompt asking user to approve]

The pattern should match both commands identically since they both start with "mycli search".

Steps to Reproduce

1. Add permission to ~/.claude/settings.json or .claude/settings.local.json:

``json
{
"permissions": {
"allow": ["Bash(mycli search:*)"]
}
}
``

1. Ask Claude Code to run command with quoted arg WITHOUT hyphen:

``bash
mycli search --start "1h"
``
✓ Auto-allowed (no prompt)

1. Ask Claude Code to run command with quoted arg WITH hyphen:

``bash
mycli search --start "-1h"
``
✗ Prompts for permission (should be auto-allowed)

1. Additional test cases that work:

``bash
mycli search --flag "value" # ✓ works
mycli search --flag -1h # ✓ works (unquoted)
mycli search --flag "1h" # ✓ works
``

1. Test cases that fail:

``bash
mycli search --flag "-1h" # ✗ prompts
mycli search --flag "-value" # ✗ prompts
``

Claude Model

Opus

Is this a regression?

I don't know

Last Working Version

_No response_

Claude Code Version

2.0.76 (Claude Code)

Platform

AWS Bedrock

Operating System

macOS

Terminal/Shell

Other

Additional Information

Terminal: Use WezTerm

The bug appears to be in the permission pattern parser interpreting "-1h" as a potential flag/option because it starts with a hyphen -, even though it's enclosed in quotes and is a value argument, not a flag.

Real-world impact: This affects any CLI tool that uses:

• Relative time formats: -1h, -30m, -7d, -24h
• Negative numbers as values: --offset "-5", --delta "-100"
• Options that happen to start with hyphen: --format "-json"

Workaround: Users can avoid quoting arguments that start with - when the shell allows it:

mycli search --start -1h    # works (unquoted)
mycli search --start "-1h"  # fails (quoted)

However, this workaround isn't always possible when the argument contains spaces or special characters that require quoting.