diff --git a/src/agent/identity.ts b/src/agent/identity.ts
index 3394348..66fa376 100644
--- a/src/agent/identity.ts
+++ b/src/agent/identity.ts
@@ -172,23 +172,39 @@ export function createClaudeConfig(
   // Create directory structure
   fs.mkdirSync(commandsDir, { recursive: true });
 
-  // Base allow list — always includes workspace-local operations
-  const allow: string[] = ["Read", "Write(./**)", "Edit(./**)", "Bash(git diff *)"];
+  const mappings = pathMappings ?? [];
 
-  // Add explicit read/write/edit permissions for each mapped host path
-  for (const mapping of pathMappings ?? []) {
+  // Build allow list — always workspace-local, plus explicit mapped host paths.
+  // When path mappings exist we use explicit Read(./**) instead of a blanket
+  // Read, because a blanket Read combined with deny(../**) would silently block
+  // the mapped absolute paths (deny always wins over allow in Claude Code).
+  const allow: string[] = [
+    "Read(./**)",
+    "Write(./**)",
+    "Edit(./**)",
+    "Bash(git diff *)",
+  ];
+
+  for (const mapping of mappings) {
     const normalized = mapping.host.replace(/\\/g, "/");
     allow.push(`Read(${normalized}/**)`);
     allow.push(`Write(${normalized}/**)`);
     allow.push(`Edit(${normalized}/**)`);
   }
 
+  // Deny list — the ../** rules are only added when there are NO path mappings.
+  // With mappings, deny(../**) would override the explicit host-path allows.
+  // Without mappings, ../** acts as a catch-all traversal guard.
+  const denyTraversal = mappings.length === 0
+    ? ["Read(../**)", "Write(../**)", "Edit(../**)"]
+    : [];
+
   const settings = {
     permissions: {
       allow,
       ask: ["Bash(git push *)"],
       deny: [
-        "Read(../**)", "Write(../**)", "Edit(../**)",
+        ...denyTraversal,
         "Read(./.env)", "WebFetch",
         "Bash(rm -rf *)", "Bash(curl * | sh)",
         "Bash(ssh *)", "Bash(scp *)",
diff --git a/tests/unit/identity-templates.test.ts b/tests/unit/identity-templates.test.ts
index 685220a..b65585c 100644
--- a/tests/unit/identity-templates.test.ts
+++ b/tests/unit/identity-templates.test.ts
@@ -30,11 +30,11 @@ describe("identity-templates", () => {
     expect(settings.permissions.deny).toContain("Read(./.env)");
   });
 
-  it("settings.json permissions.allow contains Read", () => {
+  it("settings.json permissions.allow contains Read(./**)", () => {
     setupAgentWorkspace(tmpDir, "test-agent", "A test agent", "chan-123");
     const settingsPath = path.join(tmpDir, ".claude", "settings.json");
     const settings = JSON.parse(fs.readFileSync(settingsPath, "utf-8"));
-    expect(settings.permissions.allow).toContain("Read");
+    expect(settings.permissions.allow).toContain("Read(./**)");
   });
 
   it("CLAUDE.md contains Prompt-Injection section", () => {