diff --git a/services/platform/scripts/dev.ts b/services/platform/scripts/dev.ts
index b11d510ec..d70f76c52 100644
--- a/services/platform/scripts/dev.ts
+++ b/services/platform/scripts/dev.ts
@@ -23,9 +23,17 @@
 */
 
 import { type ChildProcess, spawn } from 'node:child_process';
-import { existsSync, readFileSync } from 'node:fs';
+import {
+  cpSync,
+  existsSync,
+  mkdirSync,
+  readFileSync,
+  renameSync,
+  rmSync,
+} from 'node:fs';
 import { createConnection } from 'node:net';
-import { join } from 'node:path';
+import { homedir } from 'node:os';
+import { basename, join } from 'node:path';
 import process from 'node:process';
 
 import kill from 'tree-kill';
@@ -55,6 +63,62 @@ function parseDotEnv(filePath: string): Record<string, string> {
   return result;
 }
 
+// Personal, gitignored config dir for the local dev instance. The app
+// mutates this on every provider/agent/workflow edit, so we MUST keep it
+// outside the tracked tree — otherwise routine UI clicks bleed into
+// `git status` and ride along on unrelated PRs (see #1729 fallout).
+//
+// Seeded once from the in-repo `examples/` starter on first run; never
+// overwritten after that, so the user's edits persist across sessions
+// and `git pull` updates to `examples/` don't clobber local state.
+function seedDevConfigDir(): string {
+  const taleDir = join(homedir(), '.tale');
+  const target = join(taleDir, 'dev-config');
+  if (existsSync(target)) return target;
+
+  const source = join(repoRoot, 'examples');
+  if (!existsSync(source)) {
+    // No examples to seed from; just create an empty dir so the convex
+    // file_utils don't blow up on the first read.
+    mkdirSync(target, { recursive: true });
+    console.log(
+      `[dev] 📁 Created empty dev config dir (no examples/ to seed from): ${target}`,
+    );
+    return target;
+  }
+
+  // Copy into a sibling temp dir first, then atomically rename to the
+  // final target. Prevents a crashed/interrupted seed from leaving a
+  // half-populated `dev-config/` that the `existsSync` short-circuit
+  // would then treat as "already seeded" on the next run.
+  mkdirSync(taleDir, { recursive: true });
+  const tempTarget = join(
+    taleDir,
+    `dev-config.tmp.${process.pid}.${Date.now()}`,
+  );
+  try {
+    cpSync(source, tempTarget, {
+      recursive: true,
+      // Skip macOS metadata; use basename so it works on Windows paths
+      // (which use backslashes) as well as POSIX.
+      filter: (src) => basename(src) !== '.DS_Store',
+    });
+    renameSync(tempTarget, target);
+  } catch (err) {
+    // Best-effort cleanup; if rmSync also throws, surface the original.
+    try {
+      rmSync(tempTarget, { recursive: true, force: true });
+    } catch {
+      // ignore
+    }
+    throw err;
+  }
+  console.log(
+    `[dev] 📁 Seeded dev config from ${source} → ${target} (one-time; your edits stay local)`,
+  );
+  return target;
+}
+
 function envNormalizeCommon() {
   process.env.NODE_ENV = 'development';
   if (!process.env.PORT) process.env.PORT = '3000';
@@ -71,9 +135,15 @@ function envNormalizeCommon() {
 
   // Root config directory only — Convex derives sub-dirs (agents/workflows/
   // integrations/providers) from TALE_CONFIG_DIR via `convex/*/file_utils.ts`.
+  //
+  // Default to a personal gitignored dir seeded from `examples/` so the
+  // tracked tree is never the runtime write target. Override by setting
+  // TALE_CONFIG_DIR in `.env.local` if you want a different location
+  // (e.g. a checked-out customer config).
   if (!process.env.TALE_CONFIG_DIR) {
-    process.env.TALE_CONFIG_DIR = join(repoRoot, 'examples');
+    process.env.TALE_CONFIG_DIR = seedDevConfigDir();
   }
+  console.log(`[dev] 📂 TALE_CONFIG_DIR=${process.env.TALE_CONFIG_DIR}`);
 }
 
 function ensureInstanceSecret() {