diff --git a/.claude/settings.json b/.claude/settings.json
index b06b7c5..b113566 100644
--- a/.claude/settings.json
+++ b/.claude/settings.json
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@
       "Bash(git branch -r:*)",
       "Bash(git branch -v:*)",
       "Bash(git fetch:*)",
+      "Bash(git push:*)",
       "Bash(ls:*)",
       "Bash(tree:*)",
       "Bash(wc:*)",
@@ -50,7 +51,6 @@
       "mcp__ide__getDiagnostics"
     ],
     "deny": [
-      "Bash(git push:*)",
       "Bash(git reset:*)",
       "Bash(git clean:*)",
       "Bash(git branch -D:*)",
diff --git a/.githooks/pre-push b/.githooks/pre-push
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..47dfb8b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.githooks/pre-push
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+#
+# Block direct pushes to protected branches (main / master / release/*).
+# Feature branches pass through untouched. Git feeds each ref being pushed on
+# stdin as "<local ref> <local sha> <remote ref> <remote sha>", so this checks
+# the resolved destination and catches bare `git push` as well as explicit ones.
+# GitHub branch protection is the server-side backstop; this is the local guard.
+set -euo pipefail
+
+protected='^refs/heads/(main|master|release/.*)$'
+
+while read -r _local_ref _local_sha remote_ref _remote_sha; do
+  if [[ "$remote_ref" =~ $protected ]]; then
+    echo "pre-push: direct pushes to '${remote_ref#refs/heads/}' are blocked - open a PR instead." >&2
+    exit 1
+  fi
+done
+
+exit 0
diff --git a/justfile b/justfile
index d7fc96c..86a8489 100644
--- a/justfile
+++ b/justfile
@@ -5,10 +5,15 @@ default:
 # Create virtual environment and install dependencies
 venv:
     pip install uv
-    uv venv 
-    source .venv/bin/activate 
+    uv venv
+    source .venv/bin/activate
+    @just install-hooks
     @just install
 
+# Install git hooks (points core.hooksPath at .githooks; idempotent, safe to re-run)
+install-hooks:
+    git config core.hooksPath .githooks
+
 # Install dependencies
 install:
     uv pip install -e ".[dev]"