From 3e2f7a7ddb82f48ae9c5416127c1dbca6252c67a Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Kevin Veen-Birkenbach <kevin@veen.world>
Date: Tue, 3 Nov 2026 17:40:17 +0100
Subject: [PATCH] fix(transcend): skip repository copies in scratchpads

A scan on the real host offered 4276 candidates, 4253 of them files of two repository copies in one peer's scratchpad. scratch_candidates now walks with os.walk, skips any directory holding .git, roles, plugins, pyproject.toml, package.json or a Makefile, and descends at most one level below a scratchpad; the real scan drops to 59 candidates. test_transcend adds a nested helper that stays, a deeper one and a repository copy that drop out (negative control against the unfiltered scan fails).

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
---
 skills/kvb-transcend/SKILL.md             |  4 +++-
 skills/kvb-transcend/scripts/transcend.py | 22 +++++++++++++++++-----
 tests/test_transcend.py                   |  5 +++++
 3 files changed, 25 insertions(+), 6 deletions(-)

diff --git a/skills/kvb-transcend/SKILL.md b/skills/kvb-transcend/SKILL.md
index f3a0515..af585c0 100644
--- a/skills/kvb-transcend/SKILL.md
+++ b/skills/kvb-transcend/SKILL.md
@@ -19,7 +19,9 @@ transcend.py mark --state <same> <path> carried|dropped|later
 scratchpad, every peer session's scratchpad, and the agent homes
 (`~/.claude`, `~/.agents`, `~/.codex`) for skills, commands, agents, hooks
 and rules the skills repository does not ship. It keeps scripts, tests and
-skills, and skips files named like secrets and files over 1 MB. Carried or
+skills at most one directory below a scratchpad, and skips files named like
+secrets, files over 1 MB, and repository copies (a directory holding `.git`,
+`roles`, `plugins`, `pyproject.toml`, `package.json` or a `Makefile`). Carried or
 dropped candidates return only when their content changes; `later` returns
 every time.
 
diff --git a/skills/kvb-transcend/scripts/transcend.py b/skills/kvb-transcend/scripts/transcend.py
index 90e186d..6a35cf8 100755
--- a/skills/kvb-transcend/scripts/transcend.py
+++ b/skills/kvb-transcend/scripts/transcend.py
@@ -22,6 +22,8 @@ SECRET_NAME = re.compile(
     r"(secret|token|credential|passw|auth|\.env$|id_[a-z0-9]+$|\.pem$|\.key$)", re.IGNORECASE
 )
 MAX_BYTES = 1_000_000
+MAX_DEPTH = 1
+REPO_MARKERS = {".git", "roles", "plugins", "pyproject.toml", "package.json", "Makefile"}
 HOME_SOURCES = {
     ".claude/skills": "skill",
     ".agents/skills": "skill",
@@ -74,11 +76,21 @@ def session_names(home: Path) -> dict[str, str]:
 
 def scratch_candidates(root: Path, source: str, owner: str) -> list[dict]:
     found = []
-    for path in sorted(p for p in root.rglob("*") if p.is_file()):
-        kind = file_kind(path)
-        if kind:
-            found.append({"source": source, "owner": owner, "kind": kind, "path": str(path)})
-    return found
+    for current, dirs, files in os.walk(root):
+        here = Path(current)
+        depth = len(here.relative_to(root).parts)
+        if depth and REPO_MARKERS & {*dirs, *files}:
+            dirs.clear()
+            continue
+        if depth >= MAX_DEPTH:
+            dirs.clear()
+        for name in files:
+            kind = file_kind(here / name)
+            if kind:
+                found.append(
+                    {"source": source, "owner": owner, "kind": kind, "path": str(here / name)}
+                )
+    return sorted(found, key=lambda item: item["path"])
 
 
 def shipped(skills_repo: Path) -> set[str]:
diff --git a/tests/test_transcend.py b/tests/test_transcend.py
index 55e6ee1..045f61c 100644
--- a/tests/test_transcend.py
+++ b/tests/test_transcend.py
@@ -40,6 +40,10 @@ class TestTranscend(unittest.TestCase):
         self._write(self.own / "auth_token.py", "secret")
         self._write(self.own / "big.py", "x" * 1_000_001)
         self._write(self.peer / "helper.sh", "echo hi")
+        self._write(self.peer / "probe" / "nested.py", "print(2)")
+        self._write(self.peer / "probe" / "deep" / "too_deep.py", "print(3)")
+        self._write(self.peer / "copy" / "pyproject.toml", "[project]")
+        self._write(self.peer / "copy" / "copied.py", "print(4)")
         for name in ("kvb-x", "caveman", "custom"):
             self._write(self.home / ".claude" / "skills" / name / "SKILL.md", name)
         self._write(self.home / ".codex" / "rules" / "default.rules", "allow")
@@ -78,6 +82,7 @@ class TestTranscend(unittest.TestCase):
                 "probe.py": ("own", "self", "script"),
                 "test_probe.py": ("own", "self", "test"),
                 "helper.sh": ("peer", "Peer", "script"),
+                "nested.py": ("peer", "Peer", "script"),
                 "custom": ("home", "operator", "skill"),
                 "default.rules": ("home", "operator", "rule"),
             },