unsafe-path rule: what it flags and the fix

What it catches#

File path contains control, bidi or invisible characters.

A file name or folder name that contains control characters, bidirectional controls or invisible characters. The message shows the path with those characters escaped.

Why it matters#

A path that displays differently from how it is stored can disguise which file an agent loads.

Bad example#

$ ls .claude/rules | cat -A
security.md$
securM-bM-^@M-^Kity.md$

Two files that both display as security.md; the second has a zero-width space inside the name. A reviewer sees one rules file. Claude Code loads both, and the second can say anything.

Good example#

$ ls .claude/rules | cat -A
security.md$

How to fix#

Rename the file to plain ASCII: git mv ".claude/rules/$(printf 'security.md')" .claude/rules/security-2.md, then decide whether its contents belong anywhere. ls | cat -A or find . -name '*[^ -~]*' lists names with non-ASCII bytes.

Suppress or configure#

unsafe-path is a security rule, so it cannot be suppressed with a comment in the file: a suppression comment is itself a hidden comment, and an attacker who can add a payload can add one next to it. A comment that tries gets a suppression-not-allowed warning.

Turn it off, or change its severity, in .asitisrc.json, which shows up in review:

{ "rules": { "unsafe-path": "off" } }

Or accept the findings you have today in a baseline, so only new ones fail the build:

asitis lint --format json --write-baseline > .asitis-baseline.json
asitis lint --baseline .asitis-baseline.json

Source#

Trojan Source (Boucher and Anderson), read on 14 October 2026.

unsafe-path