The Scope Lock Prompt: Stop AI From Refactoring Code You Didn't Ask It to Touch

Here's a frustrating pattern: you ask an AI assistant to fix a bug in one function, and it comes back with changes to three files, a renamed variable, and a "small improvement" to your error handling. The fix is embarrassingly simple. I call it the scope lock. The Problem AI coding assistants optimize for "helpfulness." When they see adjacent code that could be "improved," they improve it — even when you didn't ask. This creates three problems: Harder code review — you're reviewing changes you didn't request Hidden regressions — the "improvements" might break something Noisy diffs — your PR becomes a mix of the fix and unrelated cleanup The Scope Lock Template Add this block to any prompt where you want precise changes: SCOPE LOCK: - Only modify: [list specific files or functions] - Do not rename, reformat, or refactor anything outside the scope - If you see something outside scope that needs fixing, mention it in a comment at the end — do not change it - Show me the exact diff of what