ai-conflict-sync

Prevent AI coding tools from editing files with unsaved changes in your IDE.

The Problem

AI coding tools like Claude Code operate in the terminal, unaware of your IDE state. They frequently edit files you have open with unsaved changes, causing conflicts and lost work.

The Solution

ai-conflict-sync creates a bridge between your IDE and AI tools:

1. Watch Mode: Monitors files you're editing and creates lock markers
2. Check Mode: AI tools can check if a file is safe to edit
3. Hook Mode: Integrates with git pre-commit and AI tool hooks

Installation

npm install -g ai-conflict-sync

Usage

Start the Watcher Daemon

# Watch current directory for file changes
acs watch

# Watch specific directories
acs watch src/ lib/

# Run in background
acs watch --daemon

Check if Files are Safe to Edit

# Check a single file
acs check src/index.ts

# Check multiple files
acs check src/*.ts

# Exit codes: 0 = safe, 1 = conflicts found

Manual Lock/Unlock

# Mark a file as being edited
acs lock src/important.ts

# Release the lock
acs unlock src/important.ts

# List all locked files
acs list

Integration with Claude Code

Add to your CLAUDE.md:

Before editing any file, run: acs check <filepath>
If the check fails, ask the user to save their changes first.

Or use the Claude Code hook (in ~/.claude/hooks.json):

{
  "pre_edit": {
    "command": "acs check $FILE",
    "on_fail": "abort"
  }
}

How It Works

1. File Watching: Uses chokidar to detect file modifications
2. Lock Files: Creates .acs-lock markers in a temp directory
3. Staleness Detection: Compares file mtime with last known state
4. IDE Integration: Can read VS Code's workspace state (optional)

Lock File Format

Locks are stored in ~/.ai-conflict-sync/locks/:

{
  "file": "/path/to/file.ts",
  "lockedAt": "2026-01-04T12:00:00Z",
  "lastMtime": 1704369600000,
  "reason": "file_modified"
}

Configuration

Create ~/.ai-conflict-sync/config.json:

{
  "watchPaths": ["~/projects"],
  "ignorePaths": ["node_modules", ".git", "dist"],
  "lockTimeout": 300,
  "daemon": false
}

Commands

| Command | Description | | ---------------------- | ------------------------------- | | acs watch [paths...] | Start watching for file changes | | acs check <file> | Check if file is safe to edit | | acs lock <file> | Manually lock a file | | acs unlock <file> | Release a lock | | acs list | List all active locks | | acs clear | Clear all locks | | acs status | Show daemon status |

License

MIT