---
name: governance-files-are-dotfiles-symlinks
description: "~/PENDING.md, ~/REVIEWED.md, ~/CLAUDE.md are symlinks into ~/dotfiles/ — Edit/Write refuse to write through a symlink, so edit the real dotfiles path when appending PENDING/REVIEWED entries."
metadata: 
  node_type: memory
  type: reference
  originSessionId: 231bdbb9-ae7f-4be8-946d-2ddf952fb7a5
---

The home-level governance files are **symlinks into the dotfiles repo** (`~/dotfiles`, git-tracked for restore/setup):

- `~/PENDING.md`  → `~/dotfiles/PENDING.md`
- `~/REVIEWED.md` → `~/dotfiles/REVIEWED.md`
- `~/CLAUDE.md`   → `~/dotfiles/CLAUDE.md`

The Edit/Write tools **refuse to write through a symlink** ("Refusing to write through symlink … pass the real target path explicitly"). So when appending a PENDING/REVIEWED entry, **edit `~/dotfiles/PENDING.md` (or `…/REVIEWED.md`) directly** — reading via the `~/` path is fine; only *writing* needs the real target. (`~/CLAUDE.md` is constitutionally not executor-editable anyway.)

Because these live in dotfiles, a PENDING/REVIEWED change is a **dotfiles commit** — the `/wrap-up` §6.5 dotfiles push carries it. Confirmed 2026-07-09 (hit the symlink-refusal appending PENDING-52).