diff --git a/scripts/ci/product_input_identity.py b/scripts/ci/product_input_identity.py
index 6cd8c5c70f36..a2828608bcb0 100644
--- a/scripts/ci/product_input_identity.py
+++ b/scripts/ci/product_input_identity.py
@@ -36,6 +36,28 @@
 # Changing it changes product bytes, so it has to invalidate reuse.
 PRODUCT_WORKER_PREFIXES = ("workers/cmux-paste-text/",)
 
+# Developer and maintenance tooling that neither the Xcode build nor any macOS
+# CI lane reads: no build phase, compile helper, bundled-resource script, or
+# ci-macos.yml / test-e2e.yml step names them, and no native test executes
+# them. agent-chat/ is the standalone chat server a user starts with cmux-chat;
+# the app only connects to it. Each keeps its own Linux guard. Keep this exact:
+# scripts/ also holds the build phases' helpers, which must stay product inputs.
+NON_PRODUCT_TOOLING_PREFIXES = (
+    ".claude/",
+    "agent-chat/",
+    "scripts/git-hooks/",
+)
+NON_PRODUCT_TOOLING = frozenset({
+    "scripts/benchmark-dev-fleet-warm-slots.py",
+    "scripts/check-pbxproj.sh",
+    "scripts/check-test-determinism.py",
+    "scripts/dev-fleet-warm-slot.py",
+    "scripts/install-git-hooks.sh",
+    "scripts/merge-xcstrings.py",
+    "scripts/normalize-pbxproj.py",
+    "scripts/prune_nightly_release_assets.py",
+})
+
 REQUIRED_PRODUCT_JOB_ENV_KEYS = frozenset({
     "CMUX_CI_XCODE_APP",
     "CMUX_CI_REQUIRED_MACOS_SDK_MAJOR",
@@ -116,6 +138,8 @@ def reaches_product(path: str) -> bool:
         return True
     if path.startswith("scripts/ci/"):
         return False
+    if path in NON_PRODUCT_TOOLING or path.startswith(NON_PRODUCT_TOOLING_PREFIXES):
+        return False
     if path.startswith((".github/", "tests/", "tests_v2/", "docs/", "design/", "plans/", "ios/", "web/", "workers/", "config/iroh/", "cmux-tui/", "cmux-browser/", "daemon/remote/")):
         return False
     if path in {".vercelignore", "vercel.json"}:
diff --git a/tests/test_reuse_app_host_products.py b/tests/test_reuse_app_host_products.py
index cce5509b5ccc..02eae9bb8203 100644
--- a/tests/test_reuse_app_host_products.py
+++ b/tests/test_reuse_app_host_products.py
@@ -283,6 +283,56 @@ def mutate_admission(old: str, new: str) -> str:
         self.assertTrue(identity.reaches_product("scripts/ci/compile-app-host-test-product.sh"))
         self.assertTrue(identity.reaches_product("cmuxTests/WorkspaceTests.swift"))
 
+    def test_developer_tooling_outside_the_build_does_not_reach_product(self):
+        """Editing these must not force a compile: no build or macOS lane reads them."""
+        identity = reuse.product_inputs
+        tooling = (
+            ".claude/commands/review.md",
+            "agent-chat/server.ts",
+            "agent-chat/src/components/Chat.tsx",
+            "scripts/git-hooks/pre-commit",
+            "scripts/benchmark-dev-fleet-warm-slots.py",
+            "scripts/check-pbxproj.sh",
+            "scripts/check-test-determinism.py",
+            "scripts/dev-fleet-warm-slot.py",
+            "scripts/install-git-hooks.sh",
+            "scripts/merge-xcstrings.py",
+            "scripts/normalize-pbxproj.py",
+            "scripts/prune_nightly_release_assets.py",
+        )
+        for path in tooling:
+            self.assertFalse(identity.reaches_product(path), path)
+
+        # Neighbours that the build does read stay product inputs.
+        for path in (
+            "scripts/build-app-bundled-resources.sh",
+            "scripts/build-plain-text-paste-worker.sh",
+            "scripts/setup.sh",
+            "skills/cmux-cua/SKILL.md",
+            ".gitattributes",
+        ):
+            self.assertTrue(identity.reaches_product(path), path)
+
+        # Drift guard: if the Xcode project, the compile script, or either
+        # product workflow starts naming one of these, it is a build input again.
+        root = Path(__file__).resolve().parents[1]
+        readers = {
+            name: (root / name).read_text()
+            for name in (
+                "cmux.xcodeproj/project.pbxproj",
+                "scripts/ci/compile-app-host-test-product.sh",
+                "scripts/build-app-bundled-resources.sh",
+                ".github/workflows/ci-macos.yml",
+                ".github/workflows/test-e2e.yml",
+            )
+        }
+        # Check the module's own lists, not the samples above, so a reader
+        # naming any file under an excluded prefix fails here too.
+        needles = sorted(identity.NON_PRODUCT_TOOLING) + list(identity.NON_PRODUCT_TOOLING_PREFIXES)
+        for needle in needles:
+            for name, text in readers.items():
+                self.assertNotIn(needle, text, f"{name} reads {needle}")
+
     def test_product_identity_binds_the_e2e_build_recipe(self):
         identity = reuse.product_inputs
         root = Path(__file__).resolve().parents[1]