PolyArch · zengchang233 · Sep 25, 2026
diff --git a/hooks/loop-bash-validator.sh b/hooks/loop-bash-validator.sh
@@ -560,11 +560,21 @@ fi
 
 if command_modifies_file "$COMMAND_LOWER" "round-[0-9]+-todos\.md"; then
     # Require full path to active loop dir to prevent same-basename bypass from different roots.
-    # Strip leading /private prefix so canonical paths (/private/var) match user paths (/var) on macOS.
-    ACTIVE_LOOP_DIR_LOWER=$(to_lower "$ACTIVE_LOOP_DIR")
-    ACTIVE_LOOP_DIR_LOWER_NORM="${ACTIVE_LOOP_DIR_LOWER#/private}"
-    ACTIVE_LOOP_DIR_ESCAPED=$(echo "$ACTIVE_LOOP_DIR_LOWER_NORM" | sed 's/[\\.*^$[(){}+?|]/\\&/g')
-    if ! echo "$COMMAND_LOWER" | grep -qE "${ACTIVE_LOOP_DIR_ESCAPED}/round-[12]-todos\.md"; then
+    # macOS exposes /var, /tmp and /etc also as /private/var, /private/tmp and /private/etc.
+    # Accept the spelling with and without /private only when the filesystem confirms that
+    # both resolve to the same existing directory; elsewhere they can be unrelated. The path
+    # must start at a word boundary, so a directory that merely ends with it does not match.
+    LOOP_DIR_SHORT="${ACTIVE_LOOP_DIR#/private}"
+    LOOP_DIR_FOR_MATCH="$ACTIVE_LOOP_DIR"
+    PRIVATE_ALIAS_PREFIX=""
+    SHORT_REAL=$(canonicalize_path "$LOOP_DIR_SHORT" 2>/dev/null || true)
+    PRIVATE_REAL=$(canonicalize_path "/private$LOOP_DIR_SHORT" 2>/dev/null || true)
+    if [[ -n "$SHORT_REAL" ]] && [[ "$SHORT_REAL" == "$PRIVATE_REAL" ]] && [[ -d "$SHORT_REAL" ]]; then
+        LOOP_DIR_FOR_MATCH="$LOOP_DIR_SHORT"
+        PRIVATE_ALIAS_PREFIX="(/private)?"
+    fi
+    ACTIVE_LOOP_DIR_ESCAPED=$(to_lower "$LOOP_DIR_FOR_MATCH" | sed 's/[\\.*^$[(){}+?|]/\\&/g')
+    if ! echo "$COMMAND_LOWER" | grep -qE "(^|[^[:alnum:]_./~-])${PRIVATE_ALIAS_PREFIX}${ACTIVE_LOOP_DIR_ESCAPED}/round-[12]-todos\.md"; then
         todos_blocked_message "Bash" >&2
         exit 2
     fi

diff --git a/hooks/loop-edit-validator.sh b/hooks/loop-edit-validator.sh
@@ -203,9 +203,11 @@ fi
 
 if is_goal_tracker_path "$FILE_PATH_LOWER"; then
     GOAL_TRACKER_PATH="$ACTIVE_LOOP_DIR/goal-tracker.md"
-    # Use canonicalize_path to resolve symlinks (e.g. /var -> /private/var on macOS)
-    NORMALIZED_FILE_PATH=$(canonicalize_path "$FILE_PATH" 2>/dev/null || _normalize_path "$FILE_PATH")
-    NORMALIZED_GOAL_TRACKER_PATH=$(canonicalize_path "$GOAL_TRACKER_PATH" 2>/dev/null || _normalize_path "$GOAL_TRACKER_PATH")
+    # Use canonicalize_path to resolve symlinks (e.g. /var -> /private/var on macOS).
+    # It returns the raw path when no canonicalizer is available, so normalize its
+    # result lexically as well to keep accepting /./ and // spellings.
+    NORMALIZED_FILE_PATH=$(_normalize_path "$(canonicalize_path "$FILE_PATH" 2>/dev/null || printf '%s' "$FILE_PATH")")
+    NORMALIZED_GOAL_TRACKER_PATH=$(_normalize_path "$(canonicalize_path "$GOAL_TRACKER_PATH" 2>/dev/null || printf '%s' "$GOAL_TRACKER_PATH")")
 
     if [[ "$NORMALIZED_FILE_PATH" != "$NORMALIZED_GOAL_TRACKER_PATH" ]]; then
         goal_tracker_blocked_message "$CURRENT_ROUND" "$GOAL_TRACKER_PATH" >&2

diff --git a/hooks/loop-write-validator.sh b/hooks/loop-write-validator.sh
@@ -252,9 +252,11 @@ fi
 
 if is_goal_tracker_path "$FILE_PATH_LOWER"; then
     GOAL_TRACKER_PATH="$ACTIVE_LOOP_DIR/goal-tracker.md"
-    # Use canonicalize_path to resolve symlinks (e.g. /var -> /private/var on macOS)
-    NORMALIZED_FILE_PATH=$(canonicalize_path "$FILE_PATH" 2>/dev/null || _normalize_path "$FILE_PATH")
-    NORMALIZED_GOAL_TRACKER_PATH=$(canonicalize_path "$GOAL_TRACKER_PATH" 2>/dev/null || _normalize_path "$GOAL_TRACKER_PATH")
+    # Use canonicalize_path to resolve symlinks (e.g. /var -> /private/var on macOS).
+    # It returns the raw path when no canonicalizer is available, so normalize its
+    # result lexically as well to keep accepting /./ and // spellings.
+    NORMALIZED_FILE_PATH=$(_normalize_path "$(canonicalize_path "$FILE_PATH" 2>/dev/null || printf '%s' "$FILE_PATH")")
+    NORMALIZED_GOAL_TRACKER_PATH=$(_normalize_path "$(canonicalize_path "$GOAL_TRACKER_PATH" 2>/dev/null || printf '%s' "$GOAL_TRACKER_PATH")")
 
     if [[ "$NORMALIZED_FILE_PATH" != "$NORMALIZED_GOAL_TRACKER_PATH" ]]; then
         goal_tracker_blocked_message "$CURRENT_ROUND" "$GOAL_TRACKER_PATH" >&2

diff --git a/tests/test-allowlist-validators.sh b/tests/test-allowlist-validators.sh
@@ -574,6 +574,129 @@ assert_hook_wrapper_blocked \
     "Bash validator blocks nohup+nice stop gate execution" \
     "nohup nice -n 5 ./scripts/rlcr-stop-gate.sh"
 
+echo ""
+echo "=== Test: Todos Path Identity Across macOS Aliases ==="
+echo ""
+
+setup_test_loop
+export CLAUDE_PROJECT_DIR="$TEST_DIR"
+ACTIVE_CANONICAL=$(canonicalize_path "$LOOP_DIR")
+
+run_bash_validator() {
+    local command="$1"
+    HOOK_INPUT=$(jq -n --arg command "$command" '{tool_name: "Bash", tool_input: {command: $command}}')
+    set +e
+    RESULT=$(echo "$HOOK_INPUT" | "$PROJECT_ROOT/hooks/loop-bash-validator.sh" 2>&1)
+    EXIT_CODE=$?
+    set -e
+}
+
+# Test 40: the canonical spelling of the active loop dir is accepted too
+echo "Test 40: Bash validator allows round-1-todos.md via the canonical loop path"
+run_bash_validator "echo test > $ACTIVE_CANONICAL/round-1-todos.md"
+if [[ $EXIT_CODE -eq 0 ]]; then
+    pass "Bash validator allows the canonical loop path"
+else
+    fail "Bash validator canonical loop path" "exit 0" "exit $EXIT_CODE, output: $RESULT"
+fi
+
+# Test 41: another directory that merely ends with the loop path is not the loop
+echo "Test 41: Bash validator blocks round-1-todos.md under a directory ending with the loop path"
+run_bash_validator "echo test > /tmp/other${ACTIVE_CANONICAL#/private}/round-1-todos.md"
+if [[ $EXIT_CODE -eq 2 ]]; then
+    pass "Bash validator blocks a suffix-matching directory"
+else
+    fail "Bash validator suffix-matching directory" "exit 2" "exit $EXIT_CODE, output: $RESULT"
+fi
+
+# Test 42: same, with the /private spelling nested inside another directory
+echo "Test 42: Bash validator blocks round-1-todos.md under a directory containing the canonical loop path"
+run_bash_validator "echo test > /tmp/other${ACTIVE_CANONICAL}/round-1-todos.md"
+if [[ $EXIT_CODE -eq 2 ]]; then
+    pass "Bash validator blocks a nested canonical path"
+else
+    fail "Bash validator nested canonical path" "exit 2" "exit $EXIT_CODE, output: $RESULT"
+fi
+
+# On a platform where /private is not an alias (a canonicalizer that returns
+# paths unchanged), the other spelling names a different directory.
+IDENTITY_BIN="$TEST_DIR/identity-realpath-bin"
+mkdir -p "$IDENTITY_BIN"
+printf '#!/bin/sh\nprintf "%%s\\n" "$1"\n' > "$IDENTITY_BIN/realpath"
+chmod +x "$IDENTITY_BIN/realpath"
+if [[ "$ACTIVE_CANONICAL" == /private/* ]]; then
+    OTHER_SPELLING="${ACTIVE_CANONICAL#/private}"
+else
+    OTHER_SPELLING="/private$ACTIVE_CANONICAL"
+fi
+
+run_bash_validator_without_alias() {
+    local command="$1"
+    HOOK_INPUT=$(jq -n --arg command "$command" '{tool_name: "Bash", tool_input: {command: $command}}')
+    set +e
+    RESULT=$(echo "$HOOK_INPUT" | CLAUDE_PROJECT_DIR="${ACTIVE_CANONICAL%/.humanize/*}" PATH="$IDENTITY_BIN:$PATH" "$PROJECT_ROOT/hooks/loop-bash-validator.sh" 2>&1)
+    EXIT_CODE=$?
+    set -e
+}
+
+# Test 45: without a filesystem alias the other spelling is a different directory
+echo "Test 45: Bash validator blocks the other /private spelling when it is not an alias"
+run_bash_validator_without_alias "echo test > $OTHER_SPELLING/round-1-todos.md"
+if [[ $EXIT_CODE -eq 2 ]]; then
+    pass "Bash validator blocks an unconfirmed /private alias"
+else
+    fail "Bash validator unconfirmed /private alias" "exit 2" "exit $EXIT_CODE, output: $RESULT"
+fi
+
+# Test 46: the exact active loop path is still accepted there
+echo "Test 46: Bash validator allows the exact loop path when /private is not an alias"
+run_bash_validator_without_alias "echo test > $ACTIVE_CANONICAL/round-1-todos.md"
+if [[ $EXIT_CODE -eq 0 ]]; then
+    pass "Bash validator allows the exact loop path without an alias"
+else
+    fail "Bash validator exact loop path without alias" "exit 0" "exit $EXIT_CODE, output: $RESULT"
+fi
+
+echo ""
+echo "=== Test: Goal Tracker Path Normalization Without Canonicalizers ==="
+echo ""
+
+# realpath and python3 that always fail force canonicalize_path to fall back
+# to the raw path, as on systems that have neither.
+NO_CANON_BIN="$TEST_DIR/no-canonicalizer-bin"
+mkdir -p "$NO_CANON_BIN"
+for tool in realpath python3; do
+    printf '#!/bin/sh\nexit 1\n' > "$NO_CANON_BIN/$tool"
+    chmod +x "$NO_CANON_BIN/$tool"
+done
+sed -i.bak 's/^current_round: 5$/current_round: 0/' "$LOOP_DIR/state.md" && rm -f "$LOOP_DIR/state.md.bak"
+
+# Test 43: Write validator accepts a lexically equivalent goal tracker path
+echo "Test 43: Write validator allows <loop>/./goal-tracker.md without canonicalizers"
+HOOK_INPUT=$(jq -n --arg path "$LOOP_DIR/./goal-tracker.md" '{tool_name: "Write", tool_input: {file_path: $path, content: "tracker"}}')
+set +e
+RESULT=$(echo "$HOOK_INPUT" | PATH="$NO_CANON_BIN:$PATH" "$PROJECT_ROOT/hooks/loop-write-validator.sh" 2>&1)
+EXIT_CODE=$?
+set -e
+if [[ $EXIT_CODE -eq 0 ]]; then
+    pass "Write validator normalizes the goal tracker path without canonicalizers"
+else
+    fail "Write validator goal tracker normalization" "exit 0" "exit $EXIT_CODE, output: $RESULT"
+fi
+
+# Test 44: Edit validator accepts a lexically equivalent goal tracker path
+echo "Test 44: Edit validator allows <loop>//goal-tracker.md without canonicalizers"
+HOOK_INPUT=$(jq -n --arg path "$LOOP_DIR//goal-tracker.md" '{tool_name: "Edit", tool_input: {file_path: $path, old_string: "a", new_string: "b"}}')
+set +e
+RESULT=$(echo "$HOOK_INPUT" | PATH="$NO_CANON_BIN:$PATH" "$PROJECT_ROOT/hooks/loop-edit-validator.sh" 2>&1)
+EXIT_CODE=$?
+set -e
+if [[ $EXIT_CODE -eq 0 ]]; then
+    pass "Edit validator normalizes the goal tracker path without canonicalizers"
+else
+    fail "Edit validator goal tracker normalization" "exit 0" "exit $EXIT_CODE, output: $RESULT"
+fi
+
 echo ""
 echo "========================================="
 echo "Test Results"