diff --git a/src/core/ignore/RooIgnoreController.ts b/src/core/ignore/RooIgnoreController.ts
index fda6c371757c..45054cce96d8 100644
--- a/src/core/ignore/RooIgnoreController.ts
+++ b/src/core/ignore/RooIgnoreController.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 import path from "path"
 import { fileExistsAtPath } from "../../utils/fs"
 import fs from "fs/promises"
+import fsSync from "fs"
 import ignore, { Ignore } from "ignore"
 import * as vscode from "vscode"
 
@@ -81,6 +82,7 @@ export class RooIgnoreController {
 
 	/**
 	 * Check if a file should be accessible to the LLM
+	 * Automatically resolves symlinks
 	 * @param filePath - Path to check (relative to cwd)
 	 * @returns true if file is accessible, false if ignored
 	 */
@@ -90,15 +92,25 @@ export class RooIgnoreController {
 			return true
 		}
 		try {
-			// Normalize path to be relative to cwd and use forward slashes
 			const absolutePath = path.resolve(this.cwd, filePath)
-			const relativePath = path.relative(this.cwd, absolutePath).toPosix()
 
-			// Ignore expects paths to be path.relative()'d
+			// Follow symlinks to get the real path
+			let realPath: string
+			try {
+				realPath = fsSync.realpathSync(absolutePath)
+			} catch {
+				// If realpath fails (file doesn't exist, broken symlink, etc.),
+				// use the original path
+				realPath = absolutePath
+			}
+
+			// Convert real path to relative for .rooignore checking
+			const relativePath = path.relative(this.cwd, realPath).toPosix()
+
+			// Check if the real path is ignored
 			return !this.ignoreInstance.ignores(relativePath)
 		} catch (error) {
-			// console.error(`Error validating access for ${filePath}:`, error)
-			// Ignore is designed to work with relative file paths, so will throw error for paths outside cwd. We are allowing access to all files outside cwd.
+			// Allow access to files outside cwd or on errors (backward compatibility)
 			return true
 		}
 	}
diff --git a/src/core/ignore/__tests__/RooIgnoreController.spec.ts b/src/core/ignore/__tests__/RooIgnoreController.spec.ts
index 3fa7914ee301..41d79476c689 100644
--- a/src/core/ignore/__tests__/RooIgnoreController.spec.ts
+++ b/src/core/ignore/__tests__/RooIgnoreController.spec.ts
@@ -6,10 +6,12 @@ import { RooIgnoreController, LOCK_TEXT_SYMBOL } from "../RooIgnoreController"
 import * as vscode from "vscode"
 import * as path from "path"
 import * as fs from "fs/promises"
+import * as fsSync from "fs"
 import { fileExistsAtPath } from "../../../utils/fs"
 
 // Mock dependencies
 vi.mock("fs/promises")
+vi.mock("fs")
 vi.mock("../../../utils/fs")
 
 // Mock vscode
@@ -66,6 +68,10 @@ describe("RooIgnoreController", () => {
 		mockFileExists = fileExistsAtPath as Mock<typeof fileExistsAtPath>
 		mockReadFile = fs.readFile as Mock<typeof fs.readFile>
 
+		// Setup fsSync mocks with default behavior (return path as-is, like regular files)
+		const mockRealpathSync = vi.mocked(fsSync.realpathSync)
+		mockRealpathSync.mockImplementation((filePath) => filePath.toString())
+
 		// Create controller
 		controller = new RooIgnoreController(TEST_CWD)
 	})
@@ -217,6 +223,27 @@ describe("RooIgnoreController", () => {
 			expect(emptyController.validateAccess("secrets/api-keys.json")).toBe(true)
 			expect(emptyController.validateAccess(".git/HEAD")).toBe(true)
 		})
+
+		/**
+		 * Tests symlink resolution
+		 */
+		it("should block symlinks pointing to ignored files", () => {
+			// Mock fsSync.realpathSync to simulate symlink resolution
+			const mockRealpathSync = vi.mocked(fsSync.realpathSync)
+			mockRealpathSync.mockImplementation((filePath) => {
+				// Simulate "config.json" being a symlink to "node_modules/package.json"
+				if (filePath.toString().endsWith("config.json")) {
+					return path.join(TEST_CWD, "node_modules/package.json")
+				}
+				return filePath.toString()
+			})
+
+			// Direct access to ignored file should be blocked
+			expect(controller.validateAccess("node_modules/package.json")).toBe(false)
+
+			// Symlink to ignored file should also be blocked
+			expect(controller.validateAccess("config.json")).toBe(false)
+		})
 	})
 
 	describe("validateCommand", () => {