diff --git a/crates/minimal/src/file_upload.rs b/crates/minimal/src/file_upload.rs
index e9f69f0c4..2a5cde14e 100644
--- a/crates/minimal/src/file_upload.rs
+++ b/crates/minimal/src/file_upload.rs
@@ -43,6 +43,23 @@ pub fn is_vcs_root(dir: &Path) -> bool {
     VCS_MARKERS.iter().any(|marker| dir.join(marker).exists())
 }
 
+/// Returns `true` when activating from `dir` should skip the workspace
+/// upload without prompting: either `dir` is empty (nothing to sync) or
+/// it is the user's home directory (`home`). An empty box has nothing
+/// worth a confirmation, and `$HOME` — even when non-empty or itself a
+/// VCS root — is far too much to bulk-upload on a stray keystroke, so
+/// the home check ignores contents entirely. `home` is `None` when the
+/// caller can't resolve one, leaving only the emptiness check. The
+/// escape hatch for a genuinely wanted upload (`--sync tarball` passed
+/// explicitly) is decided at the call site, not here.
+pub fn is_empty_or_home(dir: &Path, home: Option<&Path>) -> bool {
+    let canon = |p: &Path| std::fs::canonicalize(p).unwrap_or_else(|_| p.to_path_buf());
+    if home.is_some_and(|home| canon(dir) == canon(home)) {
+        return true;
+    }
+    std::fs::read_dir(dir).is_ok_and(|mut entries| entries.next().is_none())
+}
+
 fn is_default_excluded(name: &str) -> bool {
     DEFAULT_EXCLUDED_DIRS.contains(&name)
 }
@@ -1102,6 +1119,34 @@ mod tests {
         assert!(!is_vcs_root(dir.path()));
     }
 
+    #[test]
+    fn is_empty_or_home_skips_empty_dir() {
+        let dir = tempfile::TempDir::new().unwrap();
+        assert!(is_empty_or_home(dir.path(), None));
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn is_empty_or_home_skips_home_even_with_files() {
+        let dir = tempfile::TempDir::new().unwrap();
+        std::fs::write(dir.path().join("file.txt"), "x").unwrap();
+        assert!(is_empty_or_home(dir.path(), Some(dir.path())));
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn is_empty_or_home_skips_home_that_is_a_vcs_root() {
+        let dir = tempfile::TempDir::new().unwrap();
+        std::fs::create_dir(dir.path().join(".git")).unwrap();
+        assert!(is_empty_or_home(dir.path(), Some(dir.path())));
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn is_empty_or_home_keeps_ordinary_non_empty_dir() {
+        let dir = tempfile::TempDir::new().unwrap();
+        std::fs::write(dir.path().join("file.txt"), "x").unwrap();
+        let home = tempfile::TempDir::new().unwrap();
+        assert!(!is_empty_or_home(dir.path(), Some(home.path())));
+    }
+
     // ---- TarZstArchive per-entry API ----
 
     /// Build an archive against an owned `Vec<u8>` writer and
diff --git a/crates/minimal/src/lib.rs b/crates/minimal/src/lib.rs
index 0e486ffca..e739f2d1a 100644
--- a/crates/minimal/src/lib.rs
+++ b/crates/minimal/src/lib.rs
@@ -318,8 +318,12 @@ pub struct ActivateArgs {
     /// is given.
     pub path: Option<String>,
     /// How to load project files into the session.
-    #[arg(long, value_enum, default_value_t = SyncMode::Tarball)]
-    pub sync: SyncMode,
+    ///
+    /// Defaults to `tarball`. Passing `--sync tarball` explicitly is also
+    /// the escape hatch that uploads an empty directory or `$HOME`, which
+    /// are otherwise skipped without a prompt.
+    #[arg(long, value_enum)]
+    pub sync: Option<SyncMode>,
     /// Network mode: no-net, host-net (default), or own-ip.
     ///
     /// Hidden from `--help` while `own-ip` is not usable on an installed host:
@@ -1400,16 +1404,31 @@ pub async fn cmd_activate(global: &GlobalArgs, args: ActivateArgs) -> Result<(),
     let (contribution, user_policy) =
         loadouts::compose_user_contribution(active, user_policy, compose_options)?;
 
+    // `--sync` defaults to tarball; `sync_explicit` records whether the
+    // user actually typed the flag, which distinguishes a deliberate
+    // `--sync tarball` (the escape hatch that force-uploads an empty dir
+    // or `$HOME`) from the implicit default.
+    let sync_explicit = args.sync.is_some();
+    let sync_mode = args.sync.unwrap_or(SyncMode::Tarball);
+
     // Resolve the upload root before opening the daemon connection:
     // a malformed mfile in an ancestor should fail loudly before
     // we create a session on the daemon, so we don't leak a draft
     // session. Only needed for tarball sync — `--sync none` skips
     // the upload entirely (#770).
-    let upload_root = match args.sync {
+    let upload_root = match sync_mode {
         SyncMode::None => None,
         SyncMode::Tarball => Some(resolve_upload_root(&utf8_path)?),
     };
 
+    // Skip the upload without prompting when the resolved root is an
+    // empty directory or `$HOME` — unless the user asked for it with an
+    // explicit `--sync tarball`, the escape hatch.
+    let skip_empty_or_home = !sync_explicit
+        && upload_root.as_ref().is_some_and(|root| {
+            file_upload::is_empty_or_home(root.as_std_path(), std::env::home_dir().as_deref())
+        });
+
     let mut client = connect_daemon(global).await?;
 
     use minimald_rpc::{
@@ -1444,8 +1463,17 @@ pub async fn cmd_activate(global: &GlobalArgs, args: ActivateArgs) -> Result<(),
     // has to run before `ConfigureLoadout`. `--sync none` opts out;
     // the daemon then composes against an empty workspace and the
     // caller is on their own for getting files there.
-    match args.sync {
+    match sync_mode {
         SyncMode::None => {}
+        SyncMode::Tarball if skip_empty_or_home => {
+            // An empty directory has nothing to sync, and `$HOME` is far
+            // too much to ship on a stray confirmation keypress — and if
+            // `$HOME` is itself a VCS root the old gate uploaded it with
+            // no prompt at all. Skip both silently by default; a
+            // deliberate `--sync tarball` (via `sync_explicit`) is the
+            // escape hatch that still uploads them.
+            eprintln!("Starting with an empty box (nothing here to sync)");
+        }
         SyncMode::Tarball => {
             // Upload from the project root — the directory the mfile
             // lives in — rather than wherever the user invoked us. This
diff --git a/crates/minimal/tests/cli.rs b/crates/minimal/tests/cli.rs
index 3571fc9db..3d4c793f0 100644
--- a/crates/minimal/tests/cli.rs
+++ b/crates/minimal/tests/cli.rs
@@ -221,7 +221,7 @@ async fn activate_creates_session() {
     let activate_args = ActivateArgs {
         name: Some("test-session".to_string()),
         path: Some(project.path().to_string_lossy().to_string()),
-        sync: SyncMode::Tarball,
+        sync: Some(SyncMode::Tarball),
         network: CliNetworkMode::NoNet,
         ingress: vec![],
         loadout: vec![],
@@ -263,7 +263,7 @@ async fn activate_uploads_project_files() {
     let activate_args = ActivateArgs {
         name: Some("upload-test".to_string()),
         path: Some(project.path().to_string_lossy().to_string()),
-        sync: SyncMode::Tarball,
+        sync: Some(SyncMode::Tarball),
         network: CliNetworkMode::NoNet,
         ingress: vec![],
         loadout: vec![],
@@ -342,7 +342,7 @@ async fn activate_uses_repo_dir_when_no_positional_path() {
     let activate_args = ActivateArgs {
         name: Some("repo-dir-test".to_string()),
         path: None,
-        sync: SyncMode::Tarball,
+        sync: Some(SyncMode::Tarball),
         network: CliNetworkMode::NoNet,
         ingress: vec![],
         loadout: vec![],