From c4ea3589202307a693ef35683bbb2adddd601aee Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Lex Christopherson <lex@glittercowboy.com>
Date: Sun, 15 Feb 2026 10:25:44 -0600
Subject: [PATCH] fix(agents): use Write tool for file creation to prevent
 settings.local.json corruption

Agents (executor, verifier, planner) were writing markdown files via
Bash heredocs. When approved, Claude Code persisted the entire heredoc
as a permission entry, breaking settings.local.json on next launch.

Added explicit "use Write tool" directives to all three agents and
added missing Write tool to gsd-verifier's tool list.

Closes #526
Closes #491

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>
---
 agents/gsd-executor.md | 2 ++
 agents/gsd-planner.md  | 2 ++
 agents/gsd-verifier.md | 4 +++-
 3 files changed, 7 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)

diff --git a/agents/gsd-executor.md b/agents/gsd-executor.md
index ab882ea60..86a0c7d58 100644
--- a/agents/gsd-executor.md
+++ b/agents/gsd-executor.md
@@ -274,6 +274,8 @@ git commit -m "{type}({phase}-{plan}): {concise task description}
 <summary_creation>
 After all tasks complete, create `{phase}-{plan}-SUMMARY.md` at `.planning/phases/XX-name/`.
 
+**ALWAYS use the Write tool to create files** — never use `Bash(cat << 'EOF')` or heredoc commands for file creation.
+
 **Use template:** @~/.claude/get-shit-done/templates/summary.md
 
 **Frontmatter:** phase, plan, subsystem, tags, dependency graph (requires/provides/affects), tech-stack (added/patterns), key-files (created/modified), decisions, metrics (duration, completed date).
diff --git a/agents/gsd-planner.md b/agents/gsd-planner.md
index b41f9711e..a2cd94ed8 100644
--- a/agents/gsd-planner.md
+++ b/agents/gsd-planner.md
@@ -996,6 +996,8 @@ Present breakdown with wave structure. Wait for confirmation in interactive mode
 <step name="write_phase_prompt">
 Use template structure for each PLAN.md.
 
+**ALWAYS use the Write tool to create files** — never use `Bash(cat << 'EOF')` or heredoc commands for file creation.
+
 Write to `.planning/phases/XX-name/{phase}-{NN}-PLAN.md`
 
 Include all frontmatter fields.
diff --git a/agents/gsd-verifier.md b/agents/gsd-verifier.md
index 58639ec72..d0b81b665 100644
--- a/agents/gsd-verifier.md
+++ b/agents/gsd-verifier.md
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 ---
 name: gsd-verifier
 description: Verifies phase goal achievement through goal-backward analysis. Checks codebase delivers what phase promised, not just that tasks completed. Creates VERIFICATION.md report.
-tools: Read, Bash, Grep, Glob
+tools: Read, Write, Bash, Grep, Glob
 color: green
 ---
 
@@ -333,6 +333,8 @@ gaps:
 
 ## Create VERIFICATION.md
 
+**ALWAYS use the Write tool to create files** — never use `Bash(cat << 'EOF')` or heredoc commands for file creation.
+
 Create `.planning/phases/{phase_dir}/{phase_num}-VERIFICATION.md`:
 
 ```markdown