diff --git a/src/utils/__tests__/file-utils.test.ts b/src/utils/__tests__/file-utils.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..b9f9f85b7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/utils/__tests__/file-utils.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,83 @@
+import fs from 'fs';
+import os from 'os';
+import path from 'path';
+import { walkProjectFiles } from '@utils/file-utils';
+import { analytics } from '@utils/analytics';
+import { logToFile } from '@utils/debug';
+
+vi.mock('@utils/analytics', () => ({
+  analytics: { captureException: vi.fn() },
+}));
+vi.mock('@utils/debug', () => ({
+  logToFile: vi.fn(),
+}));
+
+const captureException =
+  analytics.captureException as unknown as MockedFunction<
+    typeof analytics.captureException
+  >;
+const mockLogToFile = logToFile as unknown as MockedFunction<typeof logToFile>;
+
+describe('walkProjectFiles', () => {
+  let tmpDir: string;
+
+  beforeEach(() => {
+    vi.clearAllMocks();
+    tmpDir = fs.mkdtempSync(path.join(os.tmpdir(), 'wizard-walk-'));
+  });
+
+  afterEach(() => {
+    fs.rmSync(tmpDir, { recursive: true, force: true });
+  });
+
+  it('visits regular files', () => {
+    fs.writeFileSync(path.join(tmpDir, 'a.txt'), 'hi');
+    const seen: string[] = [];
+    walkProjectFiles(tmpDir, (name) => seen.push(name));
+    expect(seen).toContain('a.txt');
+  });
+
+  it('skips a broken symlink without reporting it as an exception', () => {
+    fs.writeFileSync(path.join(tmpDir, 'real.txt'), 'hi');
+    // Point a symlink at a target that does not exist → statSync throws ENOENT.
+    fs.symlinkSync(
+      path.join(tmpDir, 'does-not-exist'),
+      path.join(tmpDir, 'broken-link'),
+    );
+
+    const seen: string[] = [];
+    walkProjectFiles(tmpDir, (name) => seen.push(name));
+
+    // Traversal stays best-effort: the real file is still found.
+    expect(seen).toContain('real.txt');
+    // The broken link is skipped (not delivered as a file).
+    expect(seen).not.toContain('broken-link');
+    // And — the whole point — it is NOT reported to error tracking.
+    expect(captureException).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+    // It is downgraded to a log line instead.
+    expect(mockLogToFile).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+      expect.stringContaining('ENOENT'),
+    );
+  });
+
+  it('still reports an unexpected readdir failure as an exception', () => {
+    // A non-benign error code must still surface in error tracking.
+    const realReaddir = fs.readdirSync;
+    const spy = vi.spyOn(fs, 'readdirSync').mockImplementation(((
+      p: fs.PathLike,
+      opts: unknown,
+    ) => {
+      if (p === tmpDir) {
+        const err = new Error('boom') as NodeJS.ErrnoException;
+        err.code = 'EIO';
+        throw err;
+      }
+      return realReaddir(p, opts as Parameters<typeof fs.readdirSync>[1]);
+    }) as typeof fs.readdirSync);
+
+    walkProjectFiles(tmpDir, () => undefined);
+
+    expect(captureException).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
+    spy.mockRestore();
+  });
+});
diff --git a/src/utils/file-utils.ts b/src/utils/file-utils.ts
index 4d0c9f3c4..a65fd4fce 100644
--- a/src/utils/file-utils.ts
+++ b/src/utils/file-utils.ts
@@ -2,19 +2,35 @@ import path from 'path';
 import fs from 'fs';
 import type { Dirent } from 'fs';
 import { analytics } from './analytics';
+import { logToFile } from './debug';
 import type { WizardRunOptions } from './types';
 
 /**
- * Report a swallowed filesystem error to error tracking. Traversal stays
- * best-effort — the caller still skips the failing entry — but the failure is
- * no longer silent. Preserves the original Error (and its `code`, e.g. EACCES
- * / ENOENT) when available.
+ * Filesystem error codes that are expected during best-effort traversal of an
+ * arbitrary project tree: a broken symlink whose target is gone (ENOENT) or an
+ * entry we lack permission to read (EACCES / EPERM). The caller already skips
+ * these entries and keeps going, so they are normal operating conditions — not
+ * exceptions worth surfacing in error tracking. (A stale `~/Library/Logs`
+ * symlink alone produced 39 noise events across 3 users in ~4 hours.)
+ */
+const BENIGN_FS_ERROR_CODES = new Set(['ENOENT', 'EACCES', 'EPERM']);
+
+/**
+ * Report a swallowed filesystem error from best-effort traversal. Traversal
+ * still skips the failing entry either way; this just decides where the failure
+ * is recorded. Expected codes (broken symlinks, unreadable entries — see
+ * `BENIGN_FS_ERROR_CODES`) are downgraded to a debug log line so they don't
+ * clutter error tracking; genuinely unexpected failures are still captured as
+ * exceptions. Preserves the original Error (and its `code`) when available.
  */
 function reportFsError(step: string, path: string, error: unknown): void {
-  analytics.captureException(
-    error instanceof Error ? error : new Error(String(error)),
-    { step, path },
-  );
+  const err = error instanceof Error ? error : new Error(String(error));
+  const code = (error as NodeJS.ErrnoException | undefined)?.code;
+  if (code && BENIGN_FS_ERROR_CODES.has(code)) {
+    logToFile(`[fs] ${step} skipped ${path} (${code})`);
+    return;
+  }
+  analytics.captureException(err, { step, path });
 }
 
 export function getDotGitignore({
@@ -67,8 +83,8 @@ export const IGNORED_DIRS = new Set<string>([
  * regular file — including dotfiles like `.env` (the caller decides what it
  * cares about). Skips `IGNORED_DIRS` and hidden directories, follows symlinked
  * directories with realpath-based loop protection, and descends at most
- * `maxDepth` levels below `rootDir`. Filesystem errors are reported to error
- * tracking and then skipped: a missing/unreadable root simply yields no
+ * `maxDepth` levels below `rootDir`. Filesystem errors are recorded (see
+ * `reportFsError`) and then skipped: a missing/unreadable root simply yields no
  * callbacks (best-effort).
  *
  * Shared by the detection layers (warehouse sources, etc.) so traversal policy