Claude Code ignores permission settings and makes unauthorised changes

Description

Claude Code repeatedly ignored the user's permission settings (set to ask before making changes) and made unauthorised edits, reverts, and git pushes without confirmation. This happened consistently throughout a session involving icon replacement and website gallery updates.

Issues

1. Ignored ask-permission mode — Made file edits, git commits, and pushes without asking, despite being configured to ask first
2. Went in circles — Changed CSS back and forth across 15+ commits instead of diagnosing the actual problem (image cropping)
3. Overwrote source files — Saved over the user's source image while they had it open in Preview, causing confusing save/revert dialogs
4. Reverted files without asking — Ran git checkout and cp commands to revert files without confirmation
5. Kept acting after being told to stop — Multiple times the user said "stop" and Claude continued making changes
6. Unable to perform basic image operations — Repeatedly failed at simple image cropping tasks, going back and forth between too tight and too loose, requiring 10+ attempts for what should have been a straightforward crop

Expected behaviour

When set to ask permission, Claude should ask before every edit, commit, and push. It should not revert files, overwrite assets, or push to remote without explicit confirmation. Basic image manipulation tasks should not require 15+ iterations.

Environment

• Claude Code CLI
• macOS
• Model: Claude Opus 4.6