Edit Audit Log Hook for Claude Code: Track Every File Edit with Timestamps

What is the Edit Audit Log Hook?

The Edit Audit Log is a Claude Code hook that appends a timestamped line to .claude/edit-log.txt every time Claude uses the Edit tool. It runs as a PostToolUse hook, so it fires after each successful edit and gives you a simple, greppable history of what changed across sessions.

graph LR
    A[📝 Edit Tool Call] --> B[🪝 Edit Audit Log Hook]
    B --> C[⚡ Append Timestamped Line]
    C --> D[✅ edit-log.txt Updated]

    style B fill:#F97316,stroke:#fff,color:#000
                    

Key Capabilities

• Automatic logging (no prompt changes needed, it runs after every Edit)
• ISO timestamps (each line starts with YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS)
• Project-local file (written to $CLAUDE_PROJECT_DIR/.claude/edit-log.txt)
• Cross-session history (the file is appended to, never overwritten)
• Tiny footprint (a single shell command built on jq and xargs)

Installation

Install the Edit Audit Log hook using the Claude Code Templates CLI:

npx claude-code-templates@latest --hook development-tools/edit-audit-log

Where is the hook installed?

Hooks are merged into the hooks section of your .claude/settings.json file. The log is created the first time an edit happens:

your-project/
├── .claude/
│   ├── settings.json     # ← Hook installed here
│   └── edit-log.txt      # ← Created on the first edit
├── src/
├── package.json
└── README.md

The hook requires jq to be available on your PATH.

The Hook Configuration

This is what gets added to your settings:

{
  "hooks": {
    "PostToolUse": [
      {
        "matcher": "Edit",
        "hooks": [
          {
            "type": "command",
            "command": "jq -r '.tool_input.file_path' | xargs -I FILE sh -c 'echo \"$(date +%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%S): Edit FILE\" >> \"$CLAUDE_PROJECT_DIR/.claude/edit-log.txt\"'"
          }
        ]
      }
    ]
  }
}

Claude Code passes the tool call to the command as JSON on stdin. jq extracts tool_input.file_path, and the shell appends a line with the current time. The matcher is Edit, so only the Edit tool is logged: Write and MultiEdit calls are not recorded unless you widen the matcher (for example Edit|Write|MultiEdit).

Step-by-Step Workflow

Step 1: Install the hook

cd your-project
npx claude-code-templates@latest --hook development-tools/edit-audit-log

Step 2: Start Claude Code and make changes

claude

> Rename the getUser helper to fetchUser and update all call sites

Use /hooks inside Claude Code at any time to confirm the PostToolUse hook is registered.

Step 3: Read the audit log

cat .claude/edit-log.txt

2026-11-03T09:14:02: Edit /home/dev/your-project/src/users.js
2026-11-03T09:14:05: Edit /home/dev/your-project/src/api/routes.js
2026-11-03T09:14:09: Edit /home/dev/your-project/tests/users.test.js

Step 4: Query it

# Which files were edited most?
sed 's/^[^ ]* Edit //' .claude/edit-log.txt | sort | uniq -c | sort -rn | head

# What happened today?
grep "^2026-11-03" .claude/edit-log.txt

Tips

• Add .claude/edit-log.txt to .gitignore if you want the log to stay local.
• Paths containing spaces are split by xargs, so keep that in mind for unusual project layouts.
• Pair it with a review step: compare the log against git diff --stat to see what a session touched.

Official Documentation

For more information about hooks in Claude Code, see the official hooks documentation.

Created by Daniel Ávila