freeze git:20261008.79d8ec8A

Immutable. This exact content never changes and is served at /api/v1/blob/5ef341175d50e900.

---
name: freeze
description: |
  Restrict file edits to a specific directory for the session. Blocks Edit, Write and NotebookEdit outside the allowed path.
allowed-tools:
  - Bash
  - Read
  - AskUserQuestion
hooks:
  PreToolUse:
    - matcher: "Edit"
      hooks:
        - type: command
          command: "bash ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR:-$HOME/.claude/skills/freeze}/bin/check-freeze.sh"
          statusMessage: "Checking freeze boundary..."
    - matcher: "Write"
      hooks:
        - type: command
          command: "bash ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR:-$HOME/.claude/skills/freeze}/bin/check-freeze.sh"
          statusMessage: "Checking freeze boundary..."
    - matcher: "NotebookEdit"
      hooks:
        - type: command
          command: "bash ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR:-$HOME/.claude/skills/freeze}/bin/check-freeze.sh"
          statusMessage: "Checking freeze boundary..."
triggers:
  - freeze edits to directory
  - lock editing scope
  - restrict file changes
  - only edit this folder
---

## When to invoke

Use when debugging to prevent accidentally "fixing" unrelated code, or when you want to scope changes to one module. Use when asked to "freeze", "restrict edits", "only edit this folder", or "lock down edits".

# /freeze — Restrict Edits to a Directory

Lock file edits to a specific directory. Any Edit, Write or NotebookEdit
operation targeting a file outside the allowed path will be **blocked** (not
just warned).

## Setup

Ask the user which directory to restrict edits to:

> "Which directory should I restrict edits to? Files outside this path will be blocked from editing."

Once the user provides a path, set it with the shared state writer. It
resolves the physical absolute path, refuses a path that does not exist or
resolves to `/`, and writes the state file atomically:

```bash
bash "${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR:-$HOME/.claude/skills/freeze}/bin/freeze-state.sh" set "<user-provided-path>"
```

Report success only if the command exits 0 and prints `FREEZE_DIR=`. On
`FREEZE_ERROR` (a mistyped or missing path, or `/`), tell the user no boundary
was set and ask for the path again. On `FREEZE_BUSY`, another writer holds the
lock — retry once it finishes, and never write or delete the state file
directly.

Tell the user: "Edits are now restricted to `<FREEZE_DIR>/`. Any Edit, Write or
NotebookEdit outside this directory will be blocked. To change the boundary,
run `/freeze` again. To remove it, run `/unfreeze`."

## How it works

The hook parses `file_path` out of each Edit/Write payload (`notebook_path` for
NotebookEdit), resolves the path
fully — including a final component that is itself a symlink — and checks whether
it starts with the frozen directory. If not, it returns a `hookSpecificOutput`
envelope carrying `permissionDecision: "deny"`. The nesting matters: Claude Code
ignores a top-level `permissionDecision`, so a deny emitted at the top level lets
the edit through.

Freeze is the **deny tier**, so it fails closed: a payload it cannot parse, a
payload with no path, a relative saved boundary, and any unexpected hook error
are all blocked, not allowed. Its ask-tier sibling `/careful` makes the opposite call on
the same input. Both share one extractor (`careful/bin/hook-extract.sh`).

The freeze boundary persists for the session via `~/.vibestack/freeze-dir.txt`.

## Notes

- The trailing `/` prevents `/src` from matching `/src-old`
- Applies to Edit, Write and NotebookEdit only — Read, Bash, Glob, Grep are unaffected
- Bash commands like `sed -i` can still modify files outside the boundary
- A symlink inside the boundary pointing outside it is resolved and blocked
- A path with spaces in it works — only leading and trailing whitespace is
  trimmed from the saved boundary, and a leading `~` is expanded
- To deactivate: run `/unfreeze` or end the conversation