claude-code-discord-bridge spawns Claude Code CLI subprocesses that can execute arbitrary code on the host machine (read/write files, run commands, make network requests). This is by design — Claude Code's value comes from its ability to interact with the development environment.

The bridge's security goal is:

Ensure that only authorized users can trigger Claude Code sessions, and that the bridge layer itself does not introduce additional attack surfaces beyond what Claude Code CLI already exposes.

The security boundary is at the Discord layer, not the CLI layer. Once a session starts, Claude Code has full CLI-level access. The bridge's job is to ensure only the right person can start sessions.

# All arguments passed as a list — no shell interpolation
args = [self.command, "-p", "--output-format", "stream-json", ...]

# -- separator prevents the prompt from being interpreted as flags
args.append("--")
args.append(prompt)

# Spawned without shell
self._process = await asyncio.create_subprocess_exec(*args, ...)

Why this matters:

• A prompt like --dangerously-skip-permissions won't be interpreted as a flag
• A prompt like $(rm -rf /) won't be shell-expanded
• create_subprocess_exec passes arguments directly to the exec syscall

if not re.match(r"^[a-f0-9\-]+$", session_id):
    raise ValueError(f"Invalid session_id format: {session_id!r}")

Session IDs come from Claude Code CLI output and are stored in SQLite. Before passing back via --resume, they're validated against a strict hex-and-hyphens pattern.

if not re.match(r"^[\w-]+$", name):
    await interaction.response.send_message(f"Invalid skill name: `{name}`", ephemeral=True)
    return

Skill names are passed to Claude Code as /{name}. The regex ensures only alphanumeric characters, underscores, and hyphens are allowed.

POST /api/ingest accepts base64 attachments from untrusted external clients and writes them to disk under an ingest root, so both the filename and any zip member name are attacker-controlled. Two independent guards apply.

First, the filename is reduced to a safe basename:

name = os.path.basename(str(raw or "")).strip()
name = _UNSAFE_FILENAME_RE.sub("_", name).lstrip(".")
return name or f"attachment_{index}"

This strips directory components, replaces anything outside [\w.\-], and drops leading dots so an attachment can't masquerade as a dotfile.

Second, containment is re-established immediately before the filesystem call:

root = os.path.realpath(str(self._ingest_root()))
resolved = os.path.realpath(str(path))
if resolved != root and not resolved.startswith(root + os.sep):
    return None

Why both:

• The basename sanitiser lives far from the open() calls it protects. The containment test re-checks at the sink, so every path ccdb opens, stats or writes under the ingest tree is verified — a future refactor can't silently bypass it
• Returning None is a refusal, not a fallback path: callers skip the file rather than write it somewhere else
• _unique_path builds its candidate list up front and re-checks every derived variant (name_2.ext, name_3.ext, …) before touching it, because those names are built from the same untrusted input
• Running out of candidates is a refusal too. After 1000 same-named files _unique_path returns None rather than falling back to a uuid-suffixed name: 1000 identical filenames in one request is not a real export, and a random name nothing else can predict is worse than a clear error. A direct attachment becomes a 400; a zip member is skipped
• Comparing against root + os.sep — not bare root — is what stops a sibling directory like ingest-evil from passing a prefix test against ingest
• The check is deliberately spelled os.path.realpath + startswith rather than Path.resolve() + relative_to(). The two are equivalent, but only the former is recognised as a path sanitiser by CodeQL; with the pathlib spelling the hardening was invisible to the very tool meant to verify it
• For the same reason the test is written out in _unique_path instead of delegating to _contained_path. The two are identical, but a guard that lives behind a call boundary does not propagate for static analysis: with the delegated version CodeQL still reported both exists() calls as live path injections. Keeping the realpath + prefix test in the same function as the filesystem call it protects makes the guarantee local — to a reader and to the analyser alike. _contained_path remains for the paths handed to hash_files(), where the delegation is recognised

Zip attachments are extracted member by member, and a member is skipped if it resolves outside the extraction directory or fails the ingest-root check.

Extraction never destroys the upload it came from. The original is deleted only once extraction has actually produced files: zipfile.is_zipfile() matches an end-of-central-directory record near the end of a file, so a large opaque binary — a Windows .evtx log, a dump, a capture — can carry a well-formed empty EOCD by chance and be read as an archive it isn't. Expanding such a file yields zero members, and unlinking it then destroyed the attachment while attachments_saved still reported success. A zip that yields nothing (empty, refused, or malformed) is kept as it arrived — replacing a file with nothing is never an improvement.

_STRIPPED_ENV_KEYS = frozenset({
    "CLAUDECODE",           # Nesting detection
    "DISCORD_BOT_TOKEN",    # Bot authentication
    "DISCORD_TOKEN",        # Alternative token var
    "API_SECRET_KEY",       # API authentication
})

These variables are removed from the subprocess environment before spawning Claude Code:

1. DISCORD_BOT_TOKEN / DISCORD_TOKEN: Prevents Claude Code from reading the Discord token via its Bash tool
2. CLAUDECODE: Claude Code uses this to detect nesting. Stripping it ensures the subprocess runs as a fresh top-level instance
3. API_SECRET_KEY: If the host bot exposes a REST API, this key shouldn't leak to Claude

General environment variables (PATH, HOME, ANTHROPIC_API_KEY, etc.) are passed through because Claude Code needs them to function. The ANTHROPIC_API_KEY is intentionally available — Claude Code uses it for API calls. If you need to restrict which API key Claude Code uses, configure it via Claude Code's own settings, not this bridge.

class ClaudeChatCog(commands.Cog):
    def __init__(self, ..., allowed_user_ids: set[int] | None = None):
        self._allowed_user_ids = allowed_user_ids

    async def on_message(self, message):
        if message.author.bot:
            return
        if self._allowed_user_ids is not None and message.author.id not in self._allowed_user_ids:
            return

• When allowed_user_ids is set: only listed Discord user IDs can invoke Claude
• When allowed_user_ids is None: all users in the channel can invoke Claude (for trusted private servers)
• The same check applies to SkillCommandCog

Both Cogs only respond to messages in the configured channel (channel_id) and its child threads. Messages in other channels are silently ignored.

message.author.bot check ensures bot messages (including webhook messages) don't trigger Claude sessions. This prevents infinite loops if Claude's output triggers another bot.

When building custom Cogs that respond to webhooks (like EbiBot's docs-sync), follow this pattern:

# Only respond to webhook messages
if not message.webhook_id:
    return

# Fixed trigger string — no arbitrary command execution
if message.content.strip() != "🔄 expected-trigger":
    return

# Hardcoded behavior — webhook cannot inject commands
prompt = HARDCODED_PROMPT  # Server-side, not from webhook

Key principles:

1. Check webhook_id — distinguishes webhooks from regular users
2. Fixed trigger strings — webhook cannot specify what to do, only trigger predefined actions
3. Hardcoded prompts — all Claude Code prompts are defined server-side, never from webhook content

• SQLite database stores thread_id → session_id mappings only
• No user data, no messages, no secrets stored
• Parameterized queries throughout (? placeholders, no string formatting)
• cleanup_old() method for age-based data removal

1. Private Discord server: Run the bot on a server only you have access to
2. Dedicated channel: Use a specific channel for Claude interactions, not a general chat
3. Set allowed_user_ids: Always set this in production — don't rely solely on channel permissions
4. Review Claude Code permissions: Configure permission_mode and allowed_tools to restrict Claude Code's capabilities as needed
5. Don't use dangerously_skip_permissions: This flag exists for power users who understand the implications. It disables Claude Code's built-in safety prompts
6. Monitor the bot: Check logs regularly. Claude Code sessions are logged with timing and cost data
7. Keep dependencies updated: uv lock --upgrade-package claude-code-discord-bridge && uv sync

Before merging changes to runner.py, _run_helper.py, ext/api_server.py, or any Cog:

• No shell=True in any subprocess call
• -- separator present before user-supplied arguments
• All external input validated (session IDs, skill names, channel IDs)
• Any new filesystem write under the ingest root goes through _contained_path / _unique_path
• Containment checks stay in the function that makes the filesystem call — don't "clean up" an inline guard into a helper, it stops propagating for CodeQL
• _STRIPPED_ENV_KEYS covers any new secret variables
• No string formatting in SQL queries (use ? placeholders)
• allowed_user_ids check present in any new message handler
• No new os.system(), subprocess.run(shell=True), or eval() calls