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phxagents / Skills / /phx:freeze
skill effort: low

/phx:freeze

Scope or freeze which files Claude can edit during debugging, a refactor, or review. Use when edits should stay in specific dirs, or for a read-only investigate lock. Backed by a sentinel + PreToolUse hook.

Invoke in v3

Compare runtime support →
Claude Code /phx:freeze Amp skill: invoke → phx-freeze Codex $elixir-phoenix:phx-freeze Pi /skill:phx-freeze OpenCode skill tool → name: "phx-freeze"

Claude Code includes the full custom-agent and hook layer. Generated runtimes load the same skill knowledge with runtime-native invocation.

View source on GitHub
On this page
  1. Usage
  2. Freeze all edits (investigation mode)
  3. Scope edits to specific directories
  4. Show status
  5. Lift the lock
  6. Iron Laws
  7. Notes

Freeze — scoped edit lock

Toggle a project-local edit lock so Claude can only modify the files you intend during a focused task (debugging, a tight refactor, a review pass). Enforced by the freeze-gate.sh PreToolUse hook, which denies Edit/Write/NotebookEdit outside the allow-list. No sentinel = no lock; the hook stays dormant.

The lock lives in .claude/.freeze — one allowed path prefix per line, project-relative. Empty file = freeze everything.

Usage

/phx:freeze [args] — resolve $ARGUMENTS and run the matching Bash branch.

InvocationEffect
/phx:freezeFreeze ALL edits — read-only investigation mode
/phx:freeze lib/app_web priv/repoAllow edits only under these dirs
/phx:freeze statusShow current lock state
/phx:freeze offLift the lock (delete the sentinel)

Freeze all edits (investigation mode)

mkdir -p .claude && : > .claude/.freeze
echo "Freeze ON — all edits blocked. Lift with /phx:freeze off"

Scope edits to specific directories

mkdir -p .claude
printf '%s\n' lib/app_web priv/repo > .claude/.freeze
echo "Freeze ON — edits limited to: lib/app_web priv/repo"

Map $ARGUMENTS to the dirs the user named. Include any directory you still need to write to — e.g. add .claude if progress/scratchpad logging must continue.

Show status

if [ -f .claude/.freeze ]; then
  if [ -s .claude/.freeze ]; then echo "Freeze ON — limited to:"; cat .claude/.freeze
  else echo "Freeze ON — ALL edits blocked"; fi
else echo "Freeze OFF — no edit lock"; fi

Lift the lock

rm -f .claude/.freeze && echo "Freeze OFF — edits unlocked"

Iron Laws

  1. MANAGE the sentinel via Bash only (:>, printf, rm) — NEVER via Edit/Write. The freeze hook gates Edit/Write and would block you from re-scoping or clearing the lock.
  2. NEVER leave a freeze active across unrelated tasks — it persists until /phx:freeze off, including into later sessions. Clear it when the task ends.
  3. PATHS ARE PROJECT-RELATIVE PREFIXES, one per line — lib/foo allows lib/foo and everything under it; it does NOT allow lib/foobar.

Notes

  • The hook denies with a reason and tells Claude not to retry, so a frozen edit surfaces clearly instead of failing silently.
  • Pairs with /phx:investigate (freeze all while root-causing) and /phx:work (scope to the plan’s dirs). The lock is advisory tooling, not a security boundary — anyone can run /phx:freeze off.