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+---
+name: "Sparse checkout excludes pipeline files from agent worktrees"
+test_plan: pending
+---
+
+# Story 84: Sparse checkout excludes pipeline files from agent worktrees
+
+## User Story
+
+As a mergemaster, I want agent worktrees to exclude .story_kit/work/ via sparse checkout, so that feature branches never contain pipeline file changes that cause merge conflicts.
+
+## Acceptance Criteria
+
+- [ ] After git worktree add, sparse checkout is enabled and configured to exclude .story_kit/work/
+- [ ] The .story_kit/work/ directory does not exist on disk in agent worktrees
+- [ ] Agent prompts no longer instruct agents to read story files from .story_kit/work/ (content is already in the prompt)
+- [ ] Merges from feature branches into master produce no conflicts on .story_kit/work/ files
+- [ ] Existing worktree creation logic in agents.rs is updated
+- [ ] cargo clippy and cargo test pass
+
+## Out of Scope
+
+- TBD