Safety

Const.Elate edits files that shape how an agent behaves, so every write goes through the same narrow path. This page is what that path does, so you can decide whether to trust it.

Every write is a plan

Nothing writes directly. An action produces a plan: the files it would touch and their new contents. The plan is then:

1. Guarded. Every path must sit inside ~/.claude, the project's .claude, or ~/.config/constelate. Anything else is refused before you see it.
2. Shown as a diff. You see exactly what changes in each file.
3. Backed up. Each file is copied to ~/.config/constelate/backups/<timestamp>/ with a manifest listing the originals, before it is touched.
4. Confirmed. y or enter applies it. Anything else cancels and nothing has changed.

Disable moves, never deletes

Disabling a skill moves its folder to ~/.config/constelate/disabled/. A small marker file inside, .constelate-origin, records the path it came from, so installing it again puts it back where it was. No skill folder is ever deleted by Const.Elate.

Dry run

constelate --dry-run

The full TUI, but every plan is only described. Use it the first time, or any time you want to see what an action would do without doing it.

Trust rules are suggested, not granted

A trust unlock proposes one allow rule once its threshold is reached. The proposal is a plan like any other: you see the line that would be added to settings.local.json and confirm it. Nothing is granted because a counter ticked over.

What it reads but never writes

Session transcripts under ~/.claude/projects are read for XP and only ever read. SKILL.md files are read for names, descriptions and cost, and never edited. The model and permissions in user and project settings.json are read and never edited.

Restoring by hand

If something is wrong, ~/.config/constelate/backups/ holds a dated folder for every write with a manifest that says which file went where. Copy the original back. Const.Elate is not needed to undo anything it did.