fix(sync): narrow the dirty-rulesets guard to per-file excludes

One uncommitted file under the synced template paths used to skip all three rsyncs for every project. On 2026-07-30 that froze every template everywhere for a full day, and five workflow files went stale in one project alone with nothing reporting it. The blast radius had no relation to what I was editing.

Each dirty path now becomes an --exclude on its own rsync. rsync honors an exclude on both sides, so a withheld file is neither overwritten nor deleted downstream. Every clean file still propagates. A dirty protocols.org skips only its own single-file transfer. A rename withholds both names, since sweeping the old copy would delete a file the project still runs mid-rename.

The run now names what it held back, so a project can see it's one file behind.

The behind-upstream guard stays all-or-nothing. That staleness lives in the destination, so there's no single source file to narrow to.

I verified it against the real checkout mid-change: 48 workflows propagated while the two files dirty at the time were withheld and named. The same run under the old guard would have synced nothing.

1 files changed, 95 insertions, 9 deletions

diff --git a/.ai/scripts/tests/sync-templates.bats b/.ai/scripts/tests/sync-templates.bats
index e4e92cf..6651c99 100644
--- a/.ai/scripts/tests/sync-templates.bats
+++ b/.ai/scripts/tests/sync-templates.bats
@@ -104,35 +104,121 @@ _mk_repo() {
 
 # --- guard one: rulesets dirty under the synced paths --------------------------
 
-@test "a dirty synced path in rulesets skips the sync and names the file" {
+@test "a dirty file is withheld from the sync and named in the output" {
     printf 'in-flight edit\n' >> "$RS/claude-templates/.ai/workflows/startup.org"
     printf 'stale\n' > "$PROJ/.ai/workflows/startup.org"
     run bash "$SYNC" "$PROJ"
     [ "$status" -eq 0 ]
-    [[ "$output" == *"uncommitted changes under the synced template paths"* ]]
+    [[ "$output" == *"withheld"* ]]
     [[ "$output" == *"startup.org"* ]]
-    # Nothing propagated — this is the whole-window blast radius from 2026-07-30.
+    # The in-flight edit still must not land downstream.
     [ "$(cat "$PROJ/.ai/workflows/startup.org")" = "stale" ]
 }
 
-@test "ONE dirty file blocks ALL THREE rsyncs, not just its own" {
-    # The 2026-07-30 incident in one assertion: an edit to a workflow file also
-    # withheld protocols.org and every script. This is current behavior, and the
-    # narrowing change lands by making this test fail on purpose.
+@test "ONE dirty file no longer blocks the other two rsyncs" {
+    # The 2026-07-30 incident, inverted. An edit to a workflow file used to
+    # withhold protocols.org and every script for every project; now it withholds
+    # only itself.
     printf 'in-flight edit\n' >> "$RS/claude-templates/.ai/workflows/startup.org"
     printf 'stale protocols\n' > "$PROJ/.ai/protocols.org"
     printf 'stale helper\n' > "$PROJ/.ai/scripts/helper"
     run bash "$SYNC" "$PROJ"
     [ "$status" -eq 0 ]
+    [ "$(cat "$PROJ/.ai/protocols.org")" = "canonical protocols" ]
+    [ "$(cat "$PROJ/.ai/scripts/helper")" = "canonical helper" ]
+}
+
+@test "a dirty file's clean siblings under the SAME path still sync" {
+    printf 'canonical wrap\n' > "$RS/claude-templates/.ai/workflows/wrap.org"
+    git -C "$RS" add -A && git -C "$RS" commit -q -m 'add wrap'
+    printf 'in-flight edit\n' >> "$RS/claude-templates/.ai/workflows/startup.org"
+    printf 'stale wrap\n' > "$PROJ/.ai/workflows/wrap.org"
+    run bash "$SYNC" "$PROJ"
+    [ "$status" -eq 0 ]
+    # The narrowing is per-file, not per-directory: only startup.org is held back.
+    [ "$(cat "$PROJ/.ai/workflows/wrap.org")" = "canonical wrap" ]
+}
+
+@test "an excluded file is not deleted by --delete either" {
+    # rsync honors --exclude on both sides, so a withheld file that exists
+    # downstream must survive the run rather than being swept as a stray.
+    printf 'in-flight edit\n' >> "$RS/claude-templates/.ai/workflows/startup.org"
+    printf 'project copy\n' > "$PROJ/.ai/workflows/startup.org"
+    run bash "$SYNC" "$PROJ"
+    [ "$status" -eq 0 ]
+    [ -e "$PROJ/.ai/workflows/startup.org" ]
+    [ "$(cat "$PROJ/.ai/workflows/startup.org")" = "project copy" ]
+}
+
+@test "a dirty protocols.org withholds only itself; workflows and scripts sync" {
+    printf 'in-flight edit\n' >> "$RS/claude-templates/.ai/protocols.org"
+    printf 'stale protocols\n' > "$PROJ/.ai/protocols.org"
+    printf 'stale startup\n' > "$PROJ/.ai/workflows/startup.org"
+    printf 'stale helper\n' > "$PROJ/.ai/scripts/helper"
+    run bash "$SYNC" "$PROJ"
+    [ "$status" -eq 0 ]
     [ "$(cat "$PROJ/.ai/protocols.org")" = "stale protocols" ]
+    [ "$(cat "$PROJ/.ai/workflows/startup.org")" = "canonical startup" ]
+    [ "$(cat "$PROJ/.ai/scripts/helper")" = "canonical helper" ]
+}
+
+@test "dirty files across two synced paths withhold both, sync the third" {
+    printf 'in-flight\n' >> "$RS/claude-templates/.ai/workflows/startup.org"
+    printf 'in-flight\n' >> "$RS/claude-templates/.ai/scripts/helper"
+    printf 'stale startup\n' > "$PROJ/.ai/workflows/startup.org"
+    printf 'stale helper\n' > "$PROJ/.ai/scripts/helper"
+    printf 'stale protocols\n' > "$PROJ/.ai/protocols.org"
+    run bash "$SYNC" "$PROJ"
+    [ "$status" -eq 0 ]
+    [ "$(cat "$PROJ/.ai/workflows/startup.org")" = "stale startup" ]
     [ "$(cat "$PROJ/.ai/scripts/helper")" = "stale helper" ]
+    [ "$(cat "$PROJ/.ai/protocols.org")" = "canonical protocols" ]
 }
 
-@test "an untracked file under a synced path also blocks the sync" {
+@test "an untracked file under a synced path is withheld, not blocking" {
     printf 'new template\n' > "$RS/claude-templates/.ai/workflows/brand-new.org"
+    printf 'stale protocols\n' > "$PROJ/.ai/protocols.org"
+    run bash "$SYNC" "$PROJ"
+    [ "$status" -eq 0 ]
+    [[ "$output" == *"withheld"* ]]
+    # An unfinished new template must not ship half-written...
+    [ ! -e "$PROJ/.ai/workflows/brand-new.org" ]
+    # ...and must not hold back everything else.
+    [ "$(cat "$PROJ/.ai/protocols.org")" = "canonical protocols" ]
+}
+
+@test "an untracked DIRECTORY under a synced path is withheld whole" {
+    # git collapses an untracked dir to one porcelain line with a trailing slash
+    # ("?? .../plugins/"), so the exclude has to match the directory rather than
+    # the files inside it. A half-written plugin dir must not ship.
+    mkdir -p "$RS/claude-templates/.ai/workflows/plugins"
+    printf 'half written\n' > "$RS/claude-templates/.ai/workflows/plugins/new.org"
+    printf 'stale protocols\n' > "$PROJ/.ai/protocols.org"
+    run bash "$SYNC" "$PROJ"
+    [ "$status" -eq 0 ]
+    [ ! -e "$PROJ/.ai/workflows/plugins" ]
+    [ "$(cat "$PROJ/.ai/protocols.org")" = "canonical protocols" ]
+}
+
+@test "a file dirty in the index (staged, uncommitted) is withheld too" {
+    printf 'staged edit\n' >> "$RS/claude-templates/.ai/workflows/startup.org"
+    git -C "$RS" add claude-templates/.ai/workflows/startup.org
+    printf 'stale\n' > "$PROJ/.ai/workflows/startup.org"
+    run bash "$SYNC" "$PROJ"
+    [ "$status" -eq 0 ]
+    [ "$(cat "$PROJ/.ai/workflows/startup.org")" = "stale" ]
+}
+
+@test "a renamed template withholds both the old and the new path" {
+    git -C "$RS" mv claude-templates/.ai/workflows/startup.org \
+                    claude-templates/.ai/workflows/renamed.org
+    printf 'stale startup\n' > "$PROJ/.ai/workflows/startup.org"
     run bash "$SYNC" "$PROJ"
     [ "$status" -eq 0 ]
-    [[ "$output" == *"uncommitted changes under the synced template paths"* ]]
+    # The new name must not ship mid-rename, and the old copy must not be swept
+    # while the rename is still uncommitted.
+    [ ! -e "$PROJ/.ai/workflows/renamed.org" ]
+    [ "$(cat "$PROJ/.ai/workflows/startup.org")" = "stale startup" ]
 }
 
 @test "rulesets dirt OUTSIDE the synced paths does not block the sync" {