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+# RFC 0049: Synchronous Guard Command
+
+**Status**: Draft
+**Created**: 2026-02-01
+**Author**: 💙 Judge (via alignment dialogue)
+**Related**: RFC 0038 (SDLC Workflow Discipline)
+
+## Problem Statement
+
+The `blue guard` command validates file writes against worktree rules (RFC 0038). Currently it runs as an async function within `#[tokio::main]`, which causes hanging issues when invoked from Claude Code PreToolUse hooks.
+
+### Root Cause
+
+The guard command performs only synchronous operations:
+- Environment variable checks (`BLUE_BYPASS_WORKTREE`)
+- Path pattern matching (allowlist)
+- Filesystem reads (`.git` file/directory)
+- Subprocess execution (`git branch --show-current`)
+
+None of these require async, but the tokio runtime initialization adds:
+1. Thread pool creation overhead
+2. Potential resource contention in hook contexts
+3. Failure modes when spawned from non-tokio parent processes
+
+### Current Workaround
+
+The guard hook script uses a full path to the binary and closes stdin:
+```bash
+/Users/ericg/letemcook/blue/target/release/blue guard --path="$FILE_PATH" </dev/null
+```
+
+This works but is fragile (hardcoded path) and doesn't address the architectural issue.
+
+## Proposed Solution
+
+Run the guard command synchronously **before** tokio runtime initialization.
+
+### Implementation
+
+```rust
+fn main() {
+    // Fast-path: handle guard before tokio
+    if let Some(exit_code) = maybe_handle_guard() {
+        std::process::exit(exit_code);
+    }
+
+    // Normal path: tokio runtime for everything else
+    tokio_main();
+}
+
+fn maybe_handle_guard() -> Option<i32> {
+    let args: Vec<String> = std::env::args().collect();
+
+    if args.len() >= 2 && args[1] == "guard" {
+        let path = args.iter()
+            .find(|a| a.starts_with("--path="))
+            .map(|a| &a[7..]);
+
+        if let Some(path) = path {
+            return Some(run_guard_sync(path));
+        }
+    }
+    None
+}
+
+fn run_guard_sync(path: &str) -> i32 {
+    // Synchronous implementation of guard logic
+    // No tokio, no tracing, just the check
+    // ...
+}
+
+#[tokio::main]
+async fn tokio_main() -> Result<()> {
+    // Existing async main logic
+}
+```
+
+### Benefits
+
+1. **Eliminates hanging**: No tokio runtime to initialize
+2. **Faster execution**: Microseconds instead of milliseconds
+3. **Simpler hook integration**: No stdin/stdout complexity
+4. **Correct architecture**: Pre-init gates don't depend on post-init infrastructure
+
+### Changes Required
+
+1. Add `maybe_handle_guard()` function in `apps/blue-cli/src/main.rs`
+2. Implement `run_guard_sync()` with same logic as current async version
+3. Update hook script to use simple `blue guard --path="$FILE_PATH"`
+4. Remove hardcoded binary path from hook
+
+## Alignment Dialogue
+
+This RFC emerged from an alignment dialogue with 5 experts. Key insights:
+
+| Expert | Perspective |
+|--------|-------------|
+| 🧁 Muffin (Systems Architect) | Pre-init gates must not depend on post-init infrastructure |
+| 🧁 Cupcake (CLI UX Designer) | Fast-path validation gains nothing from async |
+| 🧁 Scone (DevOps Engineer) | Hook context resource starvation avoided with sync |
+| 🧁 Eclair (Security Analyst) | Sync prevents runtime initialization deadlock |
+| 🧁 Donut (Minimalist) | Guard has no actual async work - signature is misleading |
+
+**Convergence**: Unanimous in Round 0. All experts independently concluded guard should be synchronous.
+
+## Open Questions
+
+1. **Future extensibility**: What if guard needs to call daemon APIs later?
+   - Answer: Create a separate async guard command (e.g., `blue guard-async`) if needed
+
+2. **Pattern consistency**: This makes guard an exception to async-first design
+   - Answer: Pre-flight validation is a legitimate exception case
+
+## Implementation Plan
+
+- [ ] Add `maybe_handle_guard()` pre-tokio check
+- [ ] Implement `run_guard_sync()` with current logic
+- [ ] Add `is_in_allowlist_sync()` helper
+- [ ] Add `is_source_code_path_sync()` helper
+- [ ] Update hook script to remove full path
+- [ ] Test hook with simplified invocation
+- [ ] Remove workaround code
+
+## References
+
+- RFC 0038: SDLC Workflow Discipline (introduced guard command)
+- ADR 0014: Alignment Dialogue Agents (used to deliberate this RFC)
+- Dialogue: `2026-02-01T2214Z-guard-command-architecture.dialogue.recorded.md`