gstack/skills/debug/references/legacy/freeze.md

Safety Advisory: This skill includes safety checks that verify file edits are within the allowed scope boundary before applying, and verify file writes are within the allowed scope boundary before applying. When using this skill, always pause and verify before executing potentially destructive operations. If uncertain about a command's safety, ask the user for confirmation before proceeding.

/freeze — Restrict Edits to a Directory

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

mkdir -p "${GSTACK_HOME:-$HOME/.gstack}"/analytics
echo '{"skill":"freeze","ts":"'$(date -u +%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%SZ)'","repo":"'$(basename "$(git rev-parse --show-toplevel 2>/dev/null)" 2>/dev/null || echo "unknown")'"}'  >> "${GSTACK_HOME:-$HOME/.gstack}"/analytics/skill-usage.jsonl 2>/dev/null || true

Setup

Ask the user which directory to restrict edits to. Use AskUserQuestion:

• Question: "Which directory should I restrict edits to? Files outside this path will be blocked from editing."
• Text input (not multiple choice) — the user types a path.

Once the user provides a directory path:

1. Resolve it to an absolute path:

FREEZE_DIR=$(cd "<user-provided-path>" 2>/dev/null && pwd)
echo "$FREEZE_DIR"

2. Ensure trailing slash and save to the freeze state file:

FREEZE_DIR="${FREEZE_DIR%/}/"
eval "$($GSTACK_BIN/gstack-paths)"
STATE_DIR="$GSTACK_STATE_ROOT"
mkdir -p "$STATE_DIR"
echo "$FREEZE_DIR" > "$STATE_DIR/freeze-dir.txt"
echo "Freeze boundary set: $FREEZE_DIR"

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

How it works

The hook reads file_path from the Edit/Write tool input JSON, then checks whether the path starts with the freeze directory. If not, it returns permissionDecision: "deny" to block the operation.

The freeze boundary persists for the session via the state file. The hook script reads it on every Edit/Write invocation.

Notes

• The trailing / on the freeze directory prevents /src from matching /src-old
• Freeze applies to Edit and Write tools only — Read, Bash, Glob, Grep are unaffected
• This prevents accidental edits, not a security boundary — Bash commands like sed can still modify files outside the boundary
• To deactivate, run /unfreeze or end the conversation

Upstream judgment port: PR #679

Match the user language

User-language rule

Write questions, progress updates, reports, and artifacts in the language used by the user. Source material, code identifiers, commands, and quotations may remain in their original language when translating them would reduce accuracy.