release: v5.3.0 — permission-rule & plugin-hygiene hardening (DIS/CML/PLH)

Five additive scanner findings extend existing scanners (count stays 13): DIS forbidden-param rules (Tool(param:value) on a canonicalizing field — deny/ask = false security, allow = dead config) and ineffective allow-wildcards + Tool(*) deny-all; CML context-window-scaled 40.0k-char CLAUDE.md budget mirroring CC's startup warning; PLH plugin namespace collision (two plugins declaring the same name). PLH cross-plugin command-name overlap reframed HIGH → LOW (namespacing keeps both reachable). feature-gap recommends disableBundledSkills under skill-listing pressure.

Version sync: plugin.json 5.2.0→5.3.0, README version badge + What's New + version-history row + TOC anchor (tests badge already 936+, scanner count stays 13), CHANGELOG [5.3.0] entry, 3 knowledge-backing entries. 936/936 tests; self-audit configGrade A 97, pluginGrade A 100, readmeCheck.passed:true; gitleaks clean.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01Ter3E2JSi1Khgmuf2kady8

.claude-plugin/plugin.json

@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 {
   "name": "config-audit",
   "description": "Multi-agent workflow for analyzing, reporting, and optimizing Claude Code configuration across your entire machine",
-  "version": "5.2.0",
+  "version": "5.3.0",
   "author": {
     "name": "Kjell Tore Guttormsen"
   },

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -5,6 +5,77 @@ All notable changes to this project will be documented in this file.
 The format is based on [Keep a Changelog](https://keepachangelog.com/en/1.1.0/),
 and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0.html).
 
+## [5.3.0] - 2026-06-19
+
+### Summary
+Permission-rule & plugin-hygiene hardening. Five additive scanner findings extend the existing
+DIS, CML, PLH, and feature-gap scanners — no new scanner file, so the scanner count stays **13**.
+DIS gains forbidden-parameter and ineffective-allow-wildcard detection; CML mirrors Claude Code's
+own 40.0k-char "large CLAUDE.md" startup warning, context-window scaled; PLH flags two plugins
+that declare the same name; and feature-gap recommends `disableBundledSkills` under skill-listing
+pressure. The cross-plugin command-name finding is reframed from a HIGH conflict to a LOW
+ambiguity. Scanner internals only — no command, agent, or output-format changes; `--json` and
+`--raw` remain byte-stable.
+
+### Added
+- **DIS forbidden-param rules** — flags `Tool(param:value)` whose key is the tool's own
+  canonicalizing field (`command`/`file_path`/`path`/`notebook_path`/`url`); Claude Code ignores
+  these and emits a startup warning. Severity by intent: **deny/ask = false security (medium)**,
+  **allow = dead config (low)**. Valid forms (`Bash(npm:*)`, `WebFetch(domain:host)`,
+  `Agent(model:opus)`) are never flagged. Predicate `forbiddenParamRule` in `permission-rules.mjs`.
+- **DIS ineffective allow-wildcards + `Tool(*)` deny-all** — flags unanchored tool-name globs in
+  `permissions.allow` (`*`, `B*`, `mcp__*`) that CC silently skips (low); treats `Tool(*)` as
+  deny-all (`Bash(*)` ≡ `Bash`) so a bare allow killed by it is reported as dead config. Valid
+  `mcp__<server>__*` is never flagged.
+- **CML context-window-scaled char budget** — new `CA-CML` finding mirroring CC's startup warning
+  *"Large CLAUDE.md will impact performance (X chars > 40.0k)"*. Anchors on the conservative 200k
+  window; discloses the relaxed ~200,000-char figure at 1M context. Severity **medium** (token
+  cost). Char-keyed, complementary to the 200/500-line checks. Window constants live in the shared
+  `scanners/lib/context-window.mjs`.
+- **PLH plugin namespace collision** — flags 2+ discovered plugins declaring the same `name` in
+  `plugin.json`. Namespaces collapse; CC picks an undocumented winner; the loser's
+  commands/skills/agents go silently unreachable. Severity **medium** (dead config),
+  `category: 'plugin-hygiene'`, COL-shaped `details.namespaces`. Keys on the declared `name`, not
+  `basename(dir)`; name-less plugins are excluded.
+- **feature-gap `disableBundledSkills` lever** — conditional recommendation to set
+  `disableBundledSkills` when the active skill listing is over budget; remediation companion to
+  SKL `CA-SKL-002`.
+
+### Changed
+- **PLH cross-plugin command-name overlap: HIGH → LOW** — reframed from "conflict" to "ambiguity".
+  Commands are namespaced (`/name:command`) so both stay reachable; only a same-`name` plugin
+  collision loses components (covered by the new namespace-collision finding). Now group-first
+  (one finding per command name listing every namespace), COL-shaped `details.namespaces`. The old
+  HIGH `Cross-plugin command name conflict` finding and its humanizer entry are removed. Scoring
+  impact: configs with cross-plugin command overlap score slightly higher. Not a `--json`-shape
+  break — no test or consumer asserted the old HIGH.
+
+### Fixed
+- **README scanner table** — added the missing SKL row (12 → 13 rows); the prose table lagged the
+  badge/self-audit count (the `--check-readme` gate is number-only and didn't catch it).
+
+### Internal
+- **Extract skill-listing budget to shared lib** — `scanners/lib/context-window.mjs` as the single
+  source of truth for the 200k/1M context-window constants, re-exported by
+  `skill-listing-budget.mjs` and consumed by the new CML char-budget finding.
+
+### Knowledge
+- Three backing entries added: `disableBundledSkills` as a token-efficiency lever
+  (`prompt-cache-patterns.md`); the 40.0k-char "large CLAUDE.md" startup warning + CC 2.1.169
+  context-window scaling (`claude-code-capabilities.md`); and `Tool(param:value)` permission
+  semantics — deny/ask-only matching plus the canonicalizing-field rules CC ignores
+  (`claude-code-capabilities.md`).
+
+### Test count
+- 936 tests across 56 test files (unchanged — this release covers already-tested work on `main`).
+
+### Verification
+- 936/936 tests pass (`node --test 'tests/**/*.test.mjs'`).
+- `node scanners/self-audit.mjs --json --check-readme` → `configGrade: A`, `pluginGrade: A`,
+  `readmeCheck.passed: true`.
+- README version badge updated: `version-5.2.0` → `version-5.3.0`. Scanner count stays 13; tests
+  badge already `936+`.
+
 ## [5.2.0] - 2026-06-18
 
 ### Summary

README.md

@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
 
 *AI-generated: all code produced by Claude Code through dialog-driven development. [Full disclosure →](../../README.md#ai-generated-code-disclosure)*
 
-![Version](https://img.shields.io/badge/version-5.2.0-blue)
+![Version](https://img.shields.io/badge/version-5.3.0-blue)
 ![Platform](https://img.shields.io/badge/platform-Claude_Code_Plugin-purple)
 ![Scanners](https://img.shields.io/badge/scanners-13-cyan)
 ![Commands](https://img.shields.io/badge/commands-18-green)
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ A Claude Code plugin that checks configuration health, suggests context-aware im
 
 ## Table of Contents
 
-- [What's New in v5.2.0](#whats-new-in-v520)
+- [What's New in v5.3.0](#whats-new-in-v530)
 - [What Is This?](#what-is-this)
 - [The Configuration Problem](#the-configuration-problem)
 - [Quick Start](#quick-start)
@@ -45,16 +45,31 @@ A Claude Code plugin that checks configuration health, suggests context-aware im
 
 ---
 
-## What's New in v5.2.0
+## What's New in v5.3.0
 
-**Claude Code 2.1.114→181 compatibility + skill-listing budget.** A new orchestrated
+**Permission-rule & plugin-hygiene hardening.** Five additive scanner findings extend the
-scanner, **SKL**, checks the model's skill-listing token budget: `CA-SKL-001` flags any
+permission, CLAUDE.md, and plugin surfaces — no new scanner, so the count stays **13**:
-active skill description over the 1,536-char listing cap (silently truncated by CC 2.1.105),
+
-and `CA-SKL-002` flags when the summed descriptions exceed the listing budget (~2% of context).
+- **DIS forbidden-param rules** — flags `Tool(param:value)` whose key is the tool's own
-Five validators were refreshed for the settings and hook surface that shipped across
+  canonicalizing field (`command`/`file_path`/`path`/`notebook_path`/`url`), which Claude Code
-CC 2.1.114–181 (new settings keys, `xhigh` effort, `MessageDisplay` + post-session hook
+  silently ignores with a startup warning. Severity by intent: deny/ask = false security
-events), and an adversarial gap-review eliminated a batch of false positives in the MCP and
+  (medium), allow = dead config (low). Valid forms (`Bash(npm:*)`, `WebFetch(domain:host)`,
-permissions scanners. → **13 orchestrated deterministic scanners** (+ standalone plugin-health).
+  `Agent(model:opus)`) are never flagged.
+- **DIS ineffective allow-wildcards** — unanchored tool-name globs in `permissions.allow`
+  (`*`, `B*`, `mcp__*`) that CC silently skips, plus `Tool(*)` treated as deny-all
+  (`Bash(*)` ≡ `Bash`) so a bare allow killed by it is reported as dead config.
+- **CML context-window-scaled char budget** — mirrors CC's own *"Large CLAUDE.md will impact
+  performance (X chars > 40.0k)"* startup warning; anchors on the conservative 200k window and
+  discloses the relaxed ~200,000-char figure at 1M context. Char-keyed, complementary to the
+  existing line checks.
+- **PLH plugin namespace collision** — flags two or more plugins declaring the same `name` in
+  `plugin.json`; their namespaces collapse and Claude Code silently drops the loser's components.
+- **feature-gap `disableBundledSkills` lever** — recommends disabling bundled skills when the
+  active skill listing is over budget (remediation companion to `CA-SKL-002`).
+
+The cross-plugin command-name finding is reframed from a HIGH conflict to a **LOW ambiguity** to
+match Claude Code's namespacing (`/name:command` keeps both commands reachable). `--json` and
+`--raw` output remain byte-stable.
 
 ---
 
@@ -603,6 +618,7 @@ This plugin is cautious by design — configuration files are important, and a b
 
 | Version | Date | Highlights |
 |---------|------|-----------|
+| **5.3.0** | 2026-06-19 | Permission-rule & plugin-hygiene hardening. Five additive scanner findings extend existing scanners (count stays **13**): DIS forbidden-param rules (`Tool(param:value)` on a canonicalizing field — deny/ask = false security, allow = dead config) and ineffective allow-wildcards + `Tool(*)` deny-all; CML context-window-scaled 40.0k-char CLAUDE.md budget mirroring CC's startup warning; PLH plugin namespace collision (two plugins declaring the same `name`); feature-gap `disableBundledSkills` lever under skill-listing pressure. PLH cross-plugin command-name overlap reframed HIGH → LOW (namespacing keeps both reachable). `--json`/`--raw` byte-stable. 936 tests |
 | **5.2.0** | 2026-06-18 | CC 2.1.114→181 compatibility + skill-listing budget. New orchestrated scanner **SKL** (`CA-SKL-001` 1,536-char listing cap, `CA-SKL-002` listing-budget sum) → 13 orchestrated scanners. Five validators refreshed for CC 2.1.114–181 settings/hook surface (`xhigh` effort, `MessageDisplay` + post-session events, 28 hook events). False positives eliminated in MCP (auto-injected/POSIX env vars, invented `trust` field) and permissions (param-aware DIS/CNF). Hermetic HOME isolation across all CLI-spawning tests. 875 tests |
 | **5.1.0** | 2026-05-01 | Plain-language UX humanizer. Default output of all 18 commands now leads with prose; findings grouped by user-impact category (Configuration mistake, Conflict, Wasted tokens, Missed opportunity, Dead config) and led by urgency phrase (Fix this now → FYI). New `--raw` flag preserves v5.0.0 verbatim output for tooling that scrapes stderr; `--json` is unchanged and byte-stable. New scanner-lib modules: `humanizer.mjs`, `humanizer-data.mjs` with TRANSLATIONS for 13 scanner prefixes. Self-audit terminal output also humanized. 792 tests (+157 humanizer-tester) |
 | **5.0.0** | 2026-05-01 | Reality-based token-optimization. 3 new scanners (CPS cache-prefix, DIS dead tools, COL plugin collisions) → 12 deterministic scanners. New `/config-audit manifest` and `--accurate-tokens` API calibration. Severity-weighted scoring (`scoringVersion: 'v5'`). MCP token estimates 15 → 500+. Plugin Hygiene as 10th quality area. Knowledge: cache-stability replaces 200-line rule, cache-telemetry recipe. **Breaking:** F2 token magnitude jump, F3 severity weighting, F5 Pattern D removed, N1 `CA-TOK-*` glob now matches CA-TOK-005. 635 tests |

knowledge/claude-code-capabilities.md

@@ -31,6 +31,13 @@
 | `/code-review` bundled review skill | v2.1.147 | Renamed from the former cleanup skill; reports correctness bugs at a chosen effort (`/code-review high`), `--comment` posts inline PR comments. |
 | `/config key=value` | v2.1.181 | Apply any setting from the prompt (e.g. `/config thinking=false`) — interactive, `-p`, and Remote Control. Lets `/config-audit` settings recommendations be applied without hand-editing settings.json. |
 
+## v5.3.0 scanner-backing facts (verified 2026-06-19)
+
+| Fact | Source | Backs |
+|------|--------|-------|
+| **"Large CLAUDE.md will impact performance (X chars > 40.0k)"** — Claude Code emits this startup warning when a CLAUDE.md exceeds ~40,000 chars. CC 2.1.169 scales the threshold with the model's context window: ~40.0k at a 200k-context model, relaxing to ~200,000 chars at 1M context. The figure is a **char** count, not a line count — complementary to the 200/500-line adherence guidance (a file can be long by lines yet under budget, or short by lines yet over it). | CC changelog 2.1.169 + live startup-warning text | CML `CA-CML` char-budget finding — anchors on the conservative 200k window (fires earliest, since the user's window is unobservable) and discloses the relaxed 1M figure. Window constants in `scanners/lib/context-window.mjs`. Severity medium (token cost, not an adherence cliff). |
+| **`Tool(param:value)` permission matching is deny/ask-only.** The `param:value` form is honored only in `permissions.deny` and `permissions.ask`; in `permissions.allow` it matches nothing (dead config). Separately, a rule whose key is the tool's own *canonicalizing field* — `command` (Bash/PowerShell), `file_path` (Read/Edit/Write), `path` (Grep/Glob), `notebook_path` (NotebookEdit), `url` (WebFetch) — is **ignored** by CC, which emits a startup warning. Valid parameter forms (`Bash(npm:*)`, `WebFetch(domain:host)`, `Agent(model:opus)`) are honored. | code.claude.com/docs/en/permissions | DIS forbidden-param finding (`forbiddenParamRule` in `permission-rules.mjs`): deny/ask = false security (medium, the block never applies), allow = dead config (low). |
+
 ## Official Configuration Guidance (Anthropic)
 
 These principles are backed by official docs and verified community reports. Use them to ground recommendations.

knowledge/prompt-cache-patterns.md

@@ -56,3 +56,14 @@ uncertainty band.
 | medium | Materially inflates token cost per turn (cache miss, schema bloat) |
 | low | Detectable inefficiency that compounds across long sessions |
 | info | Informational signal — no action required, may indicate room for optimisation |
+
+## Skill-listing budget lever: disableBundledSkills
+
+When the active skill listing exceeds its token budget (SKL `CA-SKL-002`), the
+`disableBundledSkills` setting is a direct token-efficiency lever: it removes the descriptions
+of plugin-bundled skills from the skill listing injected into the system prompt, shrinking the
+per-turn baseline. Unlike trimming individual descriptions (`CA-SKL-001`), it is a single switch
+that drops the entire bundled-skill surface at once — appropriate when the bundled skills are not
+in active use. feature-gap surfaces it as a conditional recommendation, the remediation companion
+to `CA-SKL-002`. Sibling levers: `skillOverrides` (selectively re-enable specific skills) and
+per-skill description trimming.