freeze

/mstack:freeze

Stage: power Voice: safety

Argument

$ARGUMENTS — the directory writes are allowed within (relative to the paper folder, e.g. submission or paper/sections). All writes outside it are denied until /mstack:unfreeze.

If no argument is given, do not set a lock. Print the current freeze state from .mstack/safety.yaml and ask which directory to lock to — a lock on the whole paper folder would be a no-op and give false comfort.

How it's enforced

MStack's PreToolUse hook (hooks/mstack-guard.py) reads .mstack/safety.yaml before every Write, Edit, and Bash call. While freeze.path is set, writes outside that directory are denied by the hook itself — including in later sessions that never loaded this skill. .mstack/ stays writable so the lock can be cleared, and data/raw/ stays read-only regardless of the freeze.

Procedure

1. Read or create .mstack/safety.yaml.

2. Set the lock (the hook parses this exact shape):

   freeze:
     path: "submission"
     set_at: "YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM"
   

3. Behavior while the lock is set:

   • Write/Edit outside freeze.path (and outside .mstack/): denied by the hook.
   • Mutating Bash commands (rm, mv, cp, redirects, sed -i, git reset/clean/checkout --) whose targets resolve outside the lock: denied; when the hook can't resolve the targets, it asks for confirmation instead.
   • Reads, greps, and non-mutating commands are unaffected.

4. Print the lock state to the user with the absolute path of the lock target.

Outputs

• .mstack/safety.yaml updated.
• Summary: lock target.

Anti-patterns to refuse

• Quietly working around the lock. If a step requires a write outside, surface it and ask — don't restructure the work to dodge the hook.

When to call other skills

• Pair with /mstack:careful to make /mstack:guard.
• Use /mstack:unfreeze to clear.