## Describe the bug When a \`CLAUDE.md\` contains an explicit instruction that approval-with-modifications (e.g., "yes but...") must not proceed immediately — Claude ignores it and applies the action anyway. ## To reproduce 1. Add to \`CLAUDE.md\`: \`\`\` When the user approves a proposed action but includes modifications or suggestions, do NOT proceed immediately. Incorporate the modifications, present the updated version, and execute only after the user confirms. Treat approval-with-conditi

CLAUDE.md approval-with-modifications instruction not respected — conditional approval treated as green light

Status Fixed / completed

Maintainer reply None cached

Activity 3 comments · opened May 7, 2026 · closed May 8, 2026

Describe the bug

When a \CLAUDE.md\ contains an explicit instruction that approval-with-modifications (e.g., "yes but...") must not proceed immediately — Claude ignores it and applies the action anyway.

To reproduce

Add to \CLAUDE.md\:

\\\When the user approves a proposed action but includes modifications or suggestions, do NOT proceed immediately. Incorporate the modifications, present the updated version, and execute only after the user confirms. Treat approval-with-conditions as a conditional approval, not a green light. \\\

Have Claude propose an edit to a file
Respond with "yes but [modification]"
Observe: Claude applies the original edit immediately, ignoring the modification

Expected behaviour

Claude stops, incorporates the modification, shows the revised version, and waits for a clean confirmation before executing.

Actual behaviour

Claude proceeds immediately, treating "yes but..." as unconditional approval.

Additional context

The same instruction was also present in the auto-memory system as a \feedback\ entry from a prior occurrence of the same failure. Neither the \CLAUDE.md\ instruction nor the memory entry was acted upon. This is a recurring failure across sessions.

Model

claude-sonnet-4-6

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3 Comments

github-actions[bot] · 5 months ago

Found 3 possible duplicate issues:

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kmathewmk · 5 months ago

Duplicate of #54033.

Both issues report Claude ignoring explicit approval-gate instructions in CLAUDE.md. The specific rule in this case:

When the user approves a proposed action but includes modifications or suggestions, do NOT proceed immediately. Incorporate the modifications, present the updated version, and execute only after the user confirms. Treat approval-with-conditions as a conditional approval, not a green light.

The trigger differs from #54033 — that issue is about stopping between workflow phases until the user approves advancing. This one is about "yes but…" responses, which Claude treats as unconditional approval instead of pausing to incorporate the modification first.

github-actions[bot] · 3 months ago

This issue has been automatically locked since it was closed and has not had any activity for 7 days. If you're experiencing a similar issue, please file a new issue and reference this one if it's relevant.