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API/folder.py

@@ -263,7 +263,31 @@ class API_folder_store:
         try:
             # Ensure the library root exists; sqlite cannot create parent dirs.
             try:
+                # User safety: Folder store must be created in a blank folder/no files in it.
+                # If the DB already exists, we skip this check (it's an existing library).
+                should_check_empty = not self.db_path.exists()
+                
                 self.library_root.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
+                
+                if should_check_empty:
+                    # Check if there are any files or directories in the library root (excluding the DB itself if it was just created)
+                    # We use a generator and next() for efficiency.
+                    existing_items = [item for item in self.library_root.iterdir() if item.name != self.DB_NAME]
+                    if existing_items:
+                        # Log the items found for debugging
+                        item_names = [i.name for i in existing_items[:5]]
+                        if len(existing_items) > 5:
+                            item_names.append("...")
+                        raise RuntimeError(
+                            f"Safety Check Failed: Local library root must be empty for new stores.\n"
+                            f"Directory: {self.library_root}\n"
+                            f"Found {len(existing_items)} items: {', '.join(item_names)}\n"
+                            f"Please use a clean directory to prevent accidental hashing of existing files."
+                        )
+
+            except RuntimeError:
+                # Re-raise our specific safety error
+                raise
             except Exception as exc:
                 raise RuntimeError(
                     f"Cannot create/open library root directory: {self.library_root}: {exc}"