Claude Code hooks and persistent session monitoring are often compared as if they were two implementations of the same feature.
They are not.
A hook answers: “Which lifecycle event just happened, and what should run because of it?”
A monitor answers: “Across the sessions that exist now, which one is running, waiting, blocked, completed, stalled, or inactive?”
The difference becomes obvious after a restart, a missed event, or a second simultaneous session.
Hooks are strong...