Let Claude Code edit server configs but apply every change yourself
Idea + starter prompt, not run by us yet
For: Self-hosters who manage home servers from a config repo
The author manages all their NixOS machines, two used laptops serving as home servers, from a single config repo. Claude Code makes edits there but is not allowed to run the command that applies them. The author reads each change and applies it manually.
Steps
- Keep your server configs in one Git repo.
- Block the agent from running the command that applies config to live machines.
- Paste the starter prompt and review the diff.
- Apply the change yourself, one machine at a time.
Starter prompt
This repo holds the configs for my servers. I want to [describe the change, such as add a service or change a setting] on [machine name]. Read the current config first and explain your plan. Then edit only the files needed and show me the diff. Do not run any command that applies the config to a live machine. I will review and apply it myself.
Original post: Hacker News · found via agentusecases.ai. Written up in our own words. We haven't run it, so test it on made-up data first.