The old rule -- any shell operator disqualifies the whole command -- was wrong
in both directions, verified by running it:
find . -delete -> ALLOW (destructive, no prompt)
find . -exec rm {} + -> ALLOW (destructive, no prompt)
git status && git diff -> ask (two allowed reads, refused)
It judged punctuation rather than danger. `-delete` and `-exec` need no
separator, so a bare `find` prefix auto-ran them; meanwhile two independently
allowed reads were refused for containing `&&`.
Now:
- Constructs whose contents we cannot evaluate -- substitution, redirection,
variable expansion, grouping -- still disqualify the whole command, because
the unexamined tail after a prefix match must only ever be arguments.
- Compound commands are split on &&, ||, ;, |, |&, & and newlines, and EVERY
part must be independently covered by an allowlist entry.
- Parts that run code named in their arguments are never prefix-eligible:
argument executors (xargs, sudo, timeout, env, docker, npx, ssh...),
interpreters carrying inline code (python -c, bash -c, node -e), and
execution/deletion flags (-exec, -execdir, -delete, -ok).
- Matching stays on parsed words, so `git status` covers `git status -s` but
never `git statusfoo` or a bare `git`.
Splitting is textual and does not respect quoted separators. That is
deliberate: over-splitting yields MORE parts to justify, never fewer, so it
cannot loosen a verdict.
37 new tests including metamorphic cases (spacing, quoting, absolute program
path must not loosen `find . -delete`). Golden matrix: three rows flip as
intended, two added. 164 permission tests green.
Design of record: ocw-context/docs/reviewed-auto-mode.md Part 2 (CMD-1/3/4).
