@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@ hook_scalar() {
                 r) HOOK_SCALAR+=$'\r' ;;
                 b) HOOK_SCALAR+=$'\b' ;;
                 f) HOOK_SCALAR+=$'\f' ;;
-                '"'|'\\') HOOK_SCALAR+=$escaped ;;
+                '"'|'\') HOOK_SCALAR+=$escaped ;;
                 *) HOOK_ERROR="Unsupported YAML escape"; return ;;
             esac
         done
@@ -82,6 +82,16 @@ hook_field() {
     raw=${field:${#key}+1}
     hook_scalar "$raw"
     [[ -n $HOOK_ERROR ]] && return
+    if [[ $key == extension || $key == command ]] && [[ $HOOK_QUOTED == false ]]; then
+        local lowered=${HOOK_SCALAR,,}
+        if [[ -z $HOOK_SCALAR || $lowered =~ ^(true|false|yes|no|on|off|null|~)$ ||
+              $HOOK_SCALAR =~ ^[+-]?(0[xX][0-9a-fA-F_]+|0[oO][0-7_]+|0[bB][01_]+|[0-9][0-9_]*(\.[0-9_]*)?([eE][+-]?[0-9]+)?|\.[0-9_]+([eE][+-]?[0-9]+)?|\.([iI][nN][fF]|[nN][aA][nN]))$ ||
+              $HOOK_SCALAR =~ ^[0-9]+(:[0-9]+)+$ ||
+              $HOOK_SCALAR =~ ^[0-9]{4}-[0-9]{2}-[0-9]{2}([Tt\ ]|$) ]]; then
+            HOOK_ERROR="hooks.$event needs extension and command"
+            return
+        fi
+    fi
     if [[ $key == enabled || $key == optional ]]; then
         if [[ $HOOK_QUOTED == true || ( $HOOK_SCALAR != true && $HOOK_SCALAR != false ) ]]; then
             HOOK_ERROR="$key must be a boolean"
 
@@ -23,11 +23,19 @@ function Convert-HookScalar {
 }
 
 function Add-HookField {
-    param([hashtable]$Hook, [string]$Text)
+    param([hashtable]$Hook, [string]$Text, [string]$Event)
     if ($Text -notmatch '^([a-z_]+):(?:\s|$)(.*)$') { throw "Unsupported YAML hook field" }
     $key = $Matches[1]
     $parsed = Convert-HookScalar $Matches[2]
     $value = $parsed.Value
+    if ($key -in @('extension', 'command') -and -not $parsed.Quoted -and (
+        -not $value -or $value -match '^(true|false|yes|no|on|off|null|~)$' -or
+        $value -match '^[+-]?(0[xX][0-9a-fA-F_]+|0[oO][0-7_]+|0[bB][01_]+|[0-9][0-9_]*(\.[0-9_]*)?([eE][+-]?[0-9]+)?|\.[0-9_]+([eE][+-]?[0-9]+)?|\.([iI][nN][fF]|[nN][aA][nN]))$' -or
+        $value -match '^[0-9]+(:[0-9]+)+$' -or
+        $value -match '^[0-9]{4}-[0-9]{2}-[0-9]{2}([Tt ]|$)'
+    )) {
+        throw "hooks.$Event needs extension and command"
+    }
     if ($key -in @('enabled', 'optional') -and ($parsed.Quoted -or $value -notin @('true', 'false'))) {
         throw "$key must be a boolean"
     }
@@ -118,12 +126,12 @@ function Resolve-HookConfig {
             if ($target) {
                 $hook = @{ enabled = 'true'; optional = 'true'; priority = '10' }
                 $hooks.Add($hook)
-                Add-HookField $hook $body.Substring(2)
+                Add-HookField $hook $body.Substring(2) $Event
             }
             continue
         }
         if ($itemIndent -ge 0 -and $indent -eq $itemIndent + 2) {
-            if ($target) { Add-HookField $hook $body }
+            if ($target) { Add-HookField $hook $body $Event }
             continue
         }
         throw "Unsupported YAML hook layout"
 
@@ -796,12 +796,12 @@ def resolve_hook_script_refs(
         for phase, name in (("PRE", "pre"), ("POST", "post")):
             if variant == "py":
                 command = IntegrationBase.build_python_invocation(
-                    f"scripts/python/{name}_hooks.py", project_root
+                    f".specify/scripts/python/{name}_hooks.py", project_root
                 )
             elif variant == "ps":
-                command = f"scripts/powershell/{name}-hooks.ps1"
+                command = f".specify/scripts/powershell/{name}-hooks.ps1"
             else:
-                command = f"scripts/bash/{name}-hooks.sh"
+                command = f".specify/scripts/bash/{name}-hooks.sh"
             content = content.replace(f"{{{phase}_HOOK_SCRIPT}}", command)
         return content
 
 
@@ -429,8 +429,15 @@ def test_rendered_command_points_at_a_script_that_ships(
         assert expected in content
         # The rendered path must resolve to a file the extension ships.
         assert (project / expected).is_file()
-        # And it must not have been rewritten into the core script tree.
-        assert ".specify/scripts/" not in content
+        # The extension's own script stays local; hook dispatchers are shared.
+        for phase in ("pre", "post"):
+            hook_path = {
+                "sh": f".specify/scripts/bash/{phase}-hooks.sh",
+                "ps": f".specify/scripts/powershell/{phase}-hooks.ps1",
+                "py": f".specify/scripts/python/{phase}_hooks.py",
+            }[variant]
+            assert hook_path in content
+            assert hook_path.replace(".specify/scripts/", ".specify/extensions/github/scripts/") not in content
 
     @pytest.mark.parametrize("agent", EXTENSION_REGISTRAR_AGENTS)
     def test_every_extension_registrar_integration_renders_the_command(
@@ -522,6 +529,9 @@ def test_rendered_skill_points_at_a_script_that_ships(self, tmp_path: Path):
         expected = f".specify/extensions/github/{SCRIPT_TWINS['sh']}"
         assert expected in content
         assert (project / expected).is_file()
+        for phase in ("pre", "post"):
+            assert f".specify/scripts/bash/{phase}-hooks.sh" in content
+            assert f".specify/extensions/github/scripts/bash/{phase}-hooks.sh" not in content
 
 
 # -- Behaviour parity with the core command -----------------------------------
 
@@ -241,6 +241,60 @@ def test_canonical_cli_writer_keeps_multiline_prompt_on_one_yaml_line(tmp_path,
     assert data["hooks"][0]["prompt"] == "first\nsecond"
 
 
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("variant", ["sh", "ps", "py"])
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("phase", ["pre", "post"])
+def test_canonical_backslash_escape_matches_python(tmp_path, variant, phase):
+    if variant == "ps" and not shutil.which("pwsh"):
+        pytest.skip("PowerShell not installed")
+    from specify_cli.extensions import HookExecutor
+
+    event = f"{'before' if phase == 'pre' else 'after'}_plan"
+    prompt = "Path C:\\workspace\nkeep \\ literal"
+    HookExecutor(tmp_path).save_project_config({
+        "hooks": {event: [
+            {"extension": "git", "command": "speckit.git.commit", "prompt": prompt}
+        ]}
+    })
+    code, data = run_hook(tmp_path, phase, variant=variant)
+    assert code == 0
+    assert data == run_hook(tmp_path, phase)[1]
+    assert data["hooks"][0]["prompt"] == prompt
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("variant", ["sh", "ps", "py"])
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("phase", ["pre", "post"])
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("field,value", [
+    ("extension", "false"), ("command", "123"), ("extension", "yes"),
+    ("command", "0x10"), ("extension", "null"), ("command", "1.2"),
+    ("extension", "2026-10-08"), ("command", ".nan"),
+])
+def test_native_identifiers_reject_implicitly_typed_yaml(tmp_path, variant, phase, field, value):
+    if variant == "ps" and not shutil.which("pwsh"):
+        pytest.skip("PowerShell not installed")
+    event = f"{'before' if phase == 'pre' else 'after'}_plan"
+    write_config(
+        tmp_path,
+        f"hooks:\n  {event}:\n    - extension: git\n"
+        f"      command: speckit.git.commit\n      {field}: {value}\n",
+    )
+    code, data = run_hook(tmp_path, phase, variant=variant)
+    assert code == 1
+    assert "needs extension and command" in data["error"]
+    assert data["hooks"] == []
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("variant", ["sh", "ps", "py"])
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("phase", ["pre", "post"])
+def test_quoted_numeric_identifier_remains_string(tmp_path, variant, phase):
+    if variant == "ps" and not shutil.which("pwsh"):
+        pytest.skip("PowerShell not installed")
+    event = f"{'before' if phase == 'pre' else 'after'}_plan"
+    write_config(tmp_path, f"hooks:\n  {event}:\n    - extension: '123'\n      command: 'false'\n")
+    code, data = run_hook(tmp_path, phase, variant=variant)
+    assert code == 0
+    assert data == run_hook(tmp_path, phase)[1]
+
+
 @pytest.mark.parametrize("variant", ["sh", "ps"])
 @pytest.mark.parametrize("phase", ["pre", "post"])
 def test_native_resolvers_do_not_invoke_python(tmp_path, variant, phase):