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How to stop the AI from touching a folder

Short answer: Right-click the folder in the Files panel and choose “Lock from AI.” It turns red with a 🔒 icon, and the AI can’t read, write, or even see it in listings or search results. The block is enforced in the app’s core, so it holds no matter what the AI is told to do.

Steps

  1. Open the Files panel and find the folder you want off-limits.
  2. Right-click it and choose Lock from AI.
  3. The folder turns red with a 🔒 icon in the tree; that’s your confirmation.
  4. To reverse it later, right-click the same folder and choose Unlock from AI.

Notes & gotchas

  • Enforcement happens in the app’s core and covers every AI file operation: reads, writes, moves, deletes, listings, and semantic-search results.
  • A locked folder also disappears from directory listings and search results entirely, so the AI won’t know it’s there. If the AI says it can’t find something you know exists, check whether the folder is locked.
  • You can’t lock the workspace’s root folder or Build Perch’s own BuildPerch folder (chat history, generated files, the search index). Both are already off-limits by design, so the option won’t appear on them.
  • The lock list is saved inside the workspace itself, so it travels with the workspace/folder rather than living as a global app setting.
  • The lock is per-folder: lock just the sensitive subfolder and leave the rest of the workspace open to the AI.