manual_slop/conductor/directives/git_hard_bans/v1.md

git restore, git checkout -- , and git reset are forbidden without explicit user permission

From AGENTS.md "Critical Anti-Patterns" HARD BAN:

• HARD BAN: git restore, git checkout -- <file>, git reset are FORBIDDEN without explicit user permission in the same message. They destroyed user in-progress src/* edits twice in one session (2026-06-07). If you think you need one, ASK FIRST.
• HARD BAN: git stash* (any form: git stash, git stash pop, git stash apply, git stash drop, git stash clear) is FORBIDDEN. Stashing inverts the safety net of the working tree: a git add . then git stash then "fresh start" pattern is exactly how Tier 2 corrupted files in the 2026-06-27 cruft_elimination_20260627 track. The user explicitly stated "I hate when people fuck with my commits" — stashing throws away the user's in-progress edits silently. If you think you need a stash, you don't — use a NEW BRANCH or a WORKTREE instead. Tier 2 sandbox enforces this via conductor/tier2/opencode.json.fragment bash deny rules.

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From conductor/workflow.md §"Known Pitfalls (2026-06-05)" §"HARD BAN": Per AGENTS.md (Critical Anti-Patterns): These three commands are FORBIDDEN without explicit user permission in the same message. They destroyed user in-progress src/* edits twice in one session (2026-06-07). If you think you need one, ASK FIRST.

The intent of "look at what the file looked like at commit X" is non-destructive inspection. The CORRECT way:

# WRONG: overwrites the working tree
git checkout HEAD~1 -- src/foo.py

# RIGHT: prints to stdout, leaves working tree alone
git show HEAD~1:src/foo.py

git checkout -- <file> and git restore are particularly dangerous because:

• They overwrite uncommitted changes silently
• They overwrite previously-committed state in the working tree if the user has already committed and then re-edited
• The user doesn't see the loss until they notice missing changes

If you genuinely need to revert (e.g., the working tree is broken from a previous agent), use git stash first to capture the in-progress state, ASK THE USER, then proceed.