Repository instructions

Workspace-local settings

Never stage or commit local-agent/matbot/cortex-workspaces.json.
Never stage or commit anything under local-agent/matbot/workspaces/. The directory is machine-local and may contain settings, runtime data, memory, sessions, credentials, indexes, uploads, or generated state.
In particular, never force-add matbot.yaml, .env*, .data*, or cortex-rag.json from a workspace directory.
Treat existing tracked workspace-setting files as local user state: do not include their modifications in commits unless the user explicitly requests those exact files.
Remember that .gitignore does not protect files that are already tracked. Use explicit paths when staging changes; never use broad staging commands while workspace-local files are present.
Treat these paths as outside the version-control scope even when a feature changes workspace initialization, migration, or plugin defaults. Implement those changes in tracked templates, runtime code, or documentation instead.
Before every commit, inspect git diff --cached --name-only. If it contains local-agent/matbot/cortex-workspaces.json or any path below local-agent/matbot/workspaces/, unstage those paths without modifying the working files.
After staging, also run git status --short --ignored local-agent/matbot/cortex-workspaces.json local-agent/matbot/workspaces and confirm that no workspace-local path is staged. Abort the commit if this audit is not clean.