Claude repeatedly commits and pushes directly to main despite explicit instructions

Description

Claude Code commits and pushes directly to main despite:

• An explicit CLAUDE.md rule: "Never commit directly to main. All changes must go through a feature branch and a pull request."
• A persistent memory entry (feedback_never_commit_to_main.md) created after a previous identical incident (DEV-522)
• The memory entry being updated and re-read within the same session

What happened (DEV-551 session, 2026-04-15)

1. After a PR was merged, Claude found itself on main but did not check the branch before committing an infrastructure fix. The commit was pushed to main, triggering a full CI build and deployment.
2. Immediately after, Claude committed and pushed a plan documentation file directly to main — a pure docs change with zero justification for bypassing a PR. This triggered another full CI build and deployment pipeline.

Both incidents happened in the same session, after the memory entry from a prior identical incident (DEV-522) was already loaded into context.

Root cause

Claude does not reliably run git branch --show-current before committing, even when the project's CLAUDE.md and persistent memory files explicitly require it. The instruction is followed inconsistently — present in memory but not enforced as a hard gate before every git commit.

Impact

• Triggered multiple unintended CI builds and deployments on the production branch
• Bypassed branch protection and required code review
• Wasted engineering time

Expected behaviour

Claude should run git branch --show-current before every git commit call. If the result is main (or master), it must stop, create a feature branch, and only then commit. This should be a hard gate, not a guideline.