Privacy

Overview

Coding Friend includes automatic privacy protection that blocks agent access to sensitive files containing credentials, keys, and environment variables.

Protected Files

The privacy-block hook automatically protects:

• All .env files (except .env.example)
• .pem files (certificates and keys)
• .key files (private keys)
• id_rsa and other SSH identity files
• .ssh/ directory contents

These files are never exposed to the agent, even if explicitly requested.

How It Works

The privacy-block hook runs on every tool use. It scans file paths before they're accessed and blocks any matches automatically.

Disabling Privacy Block

If you need to disable automatic privacy protection (not recommended), set in .coding-friend/config.json:

{
  "hooks": {
    "privacyBlock": false
  }
}

Warning: Disabling privacy protection may expose sensitive credentials to the agent. Only disable if you're working in a isolated, non-production environment.

Best Practices

• Never add .env files to version control (use .env.example instead)
• Keep SSH keys (~/.ssh/) separate from your project directory
• Use .coding-friend/ignore for additional sensitive patterns
• Audit your .gitignore to ensure credentials aren't tracked