diff --git a/plugins/guardrails/.claude-plugin/plugin.json b/plugins/guardrails/.claude-plugin/plugin.json
index e31ad1d63..2d16e35d3 100644
--- a/plugins/guardrails/.claude-plugin/plugin.json
+++ b/plugins/guardrails/.claude-plugin/plugin.json
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 {
   "$schema": "https://json.schemastore.org/claude-code-plugin-manifest.json",
   "name": "guardrails",
-  "version": "0.9.1",
+  "version": "0.9.2",
   "description": "Eight safety guards that block secret/credential writes, hardcoded machine-specific paths, git hook-bypass attempts, irreversible git operations (force-push, reset --hard, worktree-wide checkout/restore discards), Bash file-write workarounds that circumvent Write/Edit hooks, (advisory) hallucinated CLI flags, (advisory) un-throttled Workflow fan-out that risks burst 529s, and (advisory) direct git commit/gh pr create calls bypassing this marketplace's own commit/pull-request skills — each independently toggleable.",
   "author": {
     "name": "Melodic Software",
diff --git a/plugins/guardrails/CHANGELOG.md b/plugins/guardrails/CHANGELOG.md
index 854e8ac9d..f9130c33b 100644
--- a/plugins/guardrails/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/plugins/guardrails/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -3,6 +3,21 @@
 All notable changes to the `guardrails` plugin are documented here. Format follows
 [Keep a Changelog](https://keepachangelog.com/en/1.1.0/); this plugin uses semantic versioning.
 
+## [0.9.2]
+
+### Fixed
+
+- **`hardcoded-path-check` no longer hard-denies every absolute path under a home-rooted
+  project.** The repo-path branch matched `PROJECT_ROOT` as a bare substring with no
+  context gate, so a session rooted at the user home flagged any real path under it
+  (`AppData\...`, `Desktop\...`) as a checkout-root leak. The branch now engages only
+  when the resolved project root is a real git checkout that is neither the home
+  directory nor one of its ancestors; a missing home resolution leaves the branch
+  active (fail toward detection). Adds the branch's first MUST-FIRE regression case
+  plus two stay-quiet repros (non-git home project; checkout equal to home). The
+  sibling percent-env false positive lives in the upstream-owned pattern library and
+  ships separately via the standards distribution.
+
 ## [0.9.1]
 
 ### Fixed
diff --git a/plugins/guardrails/hooks/hardcoded-path-check.sh b/plugins/guardrails/hooks/hardcoded-path-check.sh
index c387c0886..75558d9f5 100755
--- a/plugins/guardrails/hooks/hardcoded-path-check.sh
+++ b/plugins/guardrails/hooks/hardcoded-path-check.sh
@@ -124,6 +124,38 @@ else
   PROJECT_ROOT=""
 fi
 
+# hpp::scan_text's repo-path branch matches PROJECT_ROOT as a
+# literal substring and is never OS-suppressed. That is a valid machine-specific
+# marker ONLY when PROJECT_ROOT sits inside a genuine git checkout whose ROOT is
+# not the user's home (nor an ancestor of it). The comparison is against the
+# discovered TOPLEVEL, not PROJECT_ROOT itself: a project dir can be a
+# subdirectory of its checkout, and when home is itself a checkout (e.g.
+# chezmoi-managed dotfiles) a project dir like $HOME/Desktop would clear a
+# PROJECT_ROOT-only home test and wrongly re-enable the branch, hard-denying
+# every path under it. When the enclosing checkout is home — or the path is not
+# in a checkout at all — skip the branch. Resolve a SCAN_ROOT the scanner uses
+# for it: PROJECT_ROOT when the gate passes (the literal being scanned for is
+# still the project dir), empty otherwise (empty is the lib's documented seam to
+# skip the branch). PROJECT_ROOT is unchanged — telemetry below still uses it for
+# the repo-relative path. Native Windows exposes home as %USERPROFILE%, not $HOME,
+# so fall back to it; a missing home leaves the branch active (fail toward
+# detection, never a false negative).
+SCAN_ROOT=""
+if [[ -n "$PROJECT_ROOT" ]]; then
+  _toplevel="$(git -C "$PROJECT_ROOT" rev-parse --show-toplevel 2>/dev/null)"
+  if [[ -n "$_toplevel" ]]; then
+    _tl_norm="$(hook::normalize_path "$_toplevel")"
+    _tl_norm="${_tl_norm%/}"
+    _home_norm="$(hook::normalize_path "${HOME:-${USERPROFILE:-}}")"
+    _home_norm="${_home_norm%/}"
+    if [[ -n "$_home_norm" && ( "$_tl_norm" == "$_home_norm" || "$_home_norm" == "$_tl_norm"/* ) ]]; then
+      SCAN_ROOT="" # enclosing checkout is home or an ancestor of home — suppress the branch
+    else
+      SCAN_ROOT="$PROJECT_ROOT"
+    fi
+  fi
+fi
+
 # Repo-relative file for telemetry data.file (best-effort prefix strip).
 FILE_REL="$FILE"
 if [[ -n "$PROJECT_ROOT" ]]; then
@@ -154,7 +186,7 @@ emit_tel() {
   hook::emit_telemetry "hardcoded-path-check" "PreToolUse" "$1" "$start" "$data" "${CLAUDE_PROJECT_DIR:-}"
 }
 
-VIOLATIONS=$(hpp::scan_text "$CONTENT" "$PROJECT_ROOT" "$FILE")
+VIOLATIONS=$(hpp::scan_text "$CONTENT" "$SCAN_ROOT" "$FILE")
 if [[ -n "$VIOLATIONS" ]]; then
   {
     printf 'Hardcoded machine-specific path(s) in %s:\n\n' "$FILE"
diff --git a/plugins/guardrails/hooks/hardcoded-path-check.test.sh b/plugins/guardrails/hooks/hardcoded-path-check.test.sh
index 045a6ee1d..02992a222 100755
--- a/plugins/guardrails/hooks/hardcoded-path-check.test.sh
+++ b/plugins/guardrails/hooks/hardcoded-path-check.test.sh
@@ -55,6 +55,29 @@ assert_exit "Edit new_string → exit 2" 2 "$RC"
 OUT=$(bash "$HOOK" <<<"$(notebook_json "$FIXTURE" "cd ${MAC_HOME}")" 2>&1); RC=$?
 assert_exit "NotebookEdit new_source → exit 2" 2 "$RC"
 
+# Repo-path branch: a genuine (non-home) git checkout root hardcoded in content
+# is a machine-specific marker and MUST still fire — guards against the home-gate
+# over-suppressing the branch entirely (the branch had no prior test).
+REPO_REAL="$TEST_TMPDIR/realrepo"
+mkdir -p "$REPO_REAL"
+git -C "$REPO_REAL" init -q
+OUT=$(HOME="$TEST_TMPDIR/elsewhere" CLAUDE_PROJECT_DIR="$REPO_REAL" \
+  bash "$HOOK" <<<"$(write_json "$REPO_REAL/notes.txt" "checkout at $REPO_REAL/src")" 2>&1); RC=$?
+assert_exit "repo root in real non-home checkout → exit 2" 2 "$RC"
+assert_contains "repo root → machine-specific repo message" "$OUT" "Machine-specific repo path"
+
+# Project dir a SUBDIR of a genuine non-home checkout: the toplevel is non-home,
+# so the branch stays active and a hardcoded project-dir path still fires. Guards
+# the toplevel comparison against over-suppressing real checkouts reached via a
+# subdirectory.
+SUBREPO="$TEST_TMPDIR/subrepo"
+mkdir -p "$SUBREPO/pkg"
+git -C "$SUBREPO" init -q
+OUT=$(HOME="$TEST_TMPDIR/elsewhere2" CLAUDE_PROJECT_DIR="$SUBREPO/pkg" \
+  bash "$HOOK" <<<"$(write_json "$SUBREPO/pkg/notes.txt" "at $SUBREPO/pkg/x")" 2>&1); RC=$?
+assert_exit "repo subdir of non-home checkout → exit 2" 2 "$RC"
+assert_contains "repo subdir → machine-specific repo message" "$OUT" "Machine-specific repo path"
+
 # ============================ ALLOW (exit 0) ================================
 OUT=$(bash "$HOOK" <<<"$(write_json "$FIXTURE" 'echo "hello world"')" 2>&1); RC=$?
 assert_exit "clean content → exit 0" 0 "$RC"
@@ -102,6 +125,51 @@ OUT=$(CLAUDE_PLUGIN_OPTION_HARDCODED_PATH_CHECK_ENABLED=false bash "$HOOK" <<<"$
 assert_exit "kill switch off → exit 0" 0 "$RC"
 assert_silent "kill switch off → no stderr" "$OUT"
 
+# --- Repo-path branch must not flag paths under a project dir that is the
+# user's home (or a non-git dir). The branch matched PROJECT_ROOT as a literal
+# substring and was never OS-suppressed. ---
+
+# F1a — the reported incident: project dir is a NON-git home (e.g. a
+# chezmoi-managed home, which is not itself a work tree). A .cmd suppresses the
+# Windows-user branch, so ONLY the repo branch could fire; it must stay silent.
+HOME_DIR="C:${BS}Users${BS}bob"
+HOME_CMD="${HOME_DIR}${BS}Desktop${BS}run.cmd"
+HOME_UNDER="${HOME_DIR}${BS}AppData${BS}Local${BS}Docker${BS}img.vhdx"
+OUT=$(CLAUDE_PROJECT_DIR="$HOME_DIR" bash "$HOOK" <<<"$(write_json "$HOME_CMD" "copy $HOME_UNDER dst")" 2>&1); RC=$?
+assert_exit "F1: non-git home project + path under home → exit 0" 0 "$RC"
+assert_silent "F1: non-git home → no stderr" "$OUT"
+
+# The gate compares the git toplevel against $HOME, so the two must be in the
+# same path form. git canonicalizes an MSYS /tmp path to a native Windows path on
+# Git Bash, so derive $HOME from git's own --show-toplevel output (an identity on
+# Linux, where /tmp is not remapped) — this mirrors a real environment, where
+# $HOME and git agree on the path form.
+
+# F1b — belt-and-suspenders: project dir IS a git checkout but equals $HOME
+# (dotfiles-as-home). The enclosing-checkout-is-home clause suppresses the branch.
+GITHOME="$TEST_TMPDIR/githome"
+mkdir -p "$GITHOME"
+git -C "$GITHOME" init -q
+GITHOME_TL="$(git -C "$GITHOME" rev-parse --show-toplevel)"
+OUT=$(HOME="$GITHOME_TL" CLAUDE_PROJECT_DIR="$GITHOME" \
+  bash "$HOOK" <<<"$(write_json "$GITHOME/notes.txt" "path $GITHOME/data/app.bin")" 2>&1); RC=$?
+assert_exit "F1: git checkout equal to \$HOME → exit 0" 0 "$RC"
+assert_silent "F1: \$HOME checkout → no stderr" "$OUT"
+
+# F1c — the side door: $HOME is itself a git checkout (chezmoi dotfiles) and the
+# project dir is a SUBDIR of home (e.g. $HOME/Desktop). rev-parse discovers the
+# parent checkout at home; the home comparison must run against that TOPLEVEL,
+# not the subdir — comparing the subdir leaves it neither home nor a home-ancestor
+# and re-enables the branch, hard-denying paths under the subdir.
+HOMEREPO="$TEST_TMPDIR/homerepo"
+mkdir -p "$HOMEREPO/Desktop"
+git -C "$HOMEREPO" init -q
+HOMEREPO_TL="$(git -C "$HOMEREPO" rev-parse --show-toplevel)"
+OUT=$(HOME="$HOMEREPO_TL" CLAUDE_PROJECT_DIR="$HOMEREPO/Desktop" \
+  bash "$HOOK" <<<"$(write_json "$HOMEREPO/Desktop/run.txt" "path $HOMEREPO/Desktop/data.bin")" 2>&1); RC=$?
+assert_exit "F1: home-is-checkout, project = subdir of home → exit 0" 0 "$RC"
+assert_silent "F1: home-checkout subdir → no stderr" "$OUT"
+
 # ============================ TELEMETRY ====================================
 TEL="$(mktemp -p "$TEST_TMPDIR")"
 SINK="$(make_sink "cat >\"$TEL\"")"