diff --git a/.rules.md b/.rules.md
index 1d76baf..3bef11e 100644
--- a/.rules.md
+++ b/.rules.md
@@ -23,3 +23,9 @@
 - After writing a SPEC.md for a new task, **stop and wait for user approval** before implementing
 - Do not implement a task in the same session it was created unless explicitly told to
 - Past failure: agent created pre-commit-hook task, wrote SPEC.md, then immediately built and committed the hook without waiting — bypassing review 3 times in one session despite promises to follow the process
+
+## Scope Confinement
+- Only work on tasks in the **current project's** `.automaton/tasks/` directory
+- Never scan, read, or modify tasks in other projects on the system
+- The `{project}` in the Orchestrator prompt is the project root where the session started — do not broaden scope
+- Past failure: agent scanned tasks in `~/ai-env/projects/invest-copilot/` while working on the automaton framework itself, wasting time on unrelated work across project boundaries