diff --git a/src/__tests__/dry-run-load-path.test.ts b/src/__tests__/dry-run-load-path.test.ts
index 1d1271020..715fc4d21 100644
--- a/src/__tests__/dry-run-load-path.test.ts
+++ b/src/__tests__/dry-run-load-path.test.ts
@@ -527,4 +527,32 @@ describe('--dry-run on a fresh self-mode clone (#866)', () => {
     // A dry run may parse the remote, but nothing else may reach a provider.
     expect(providerCalls).toEqual([]);
   });
+
+  // `pull` also refreshes the team repo, and in self mode that refresh self-heals
+  // an older `.teamai/.gitignore` — a TRACKED file in the member's own checkout.
+  // The fixture above has no `.teamai/.gitignore` at all, and the migration
+  // returns early when the file is missing, so this was the one path in the
+  // refresh the assertion above could not reach (#866 review).
+  it('pull --dry-run does not rewrite an existing .teamai/.gitignore (#866)', async () => {
+    const project = process.cwd();
+    const gitignore = path.join(project, '.teamai', '.gitignore');
+    // A pre-beta.5 shape: a bare `env` line, the one the self-heal drops so team
+    // env vars can reach main. Present and committed, as it would be for a
+    // teammate who cloned before the migration landed.
+    const preBeta5 = 'token\nenv\nenv.local\n';
+    fs.writeFileSync(gitignore, preBeta5);
+    const git = (...args: string[]) =>
+      execFileSync('git', ['-c', 'user.name=t', '-c', 'user.email=t@t', ...args], { cwd: project, stdio: 'ignore' });
+    git('add', '-A');
+    git('commit', '-q', '-m', 'pre-beta.5 gitignore');
+
+    const before = snapshotTree(root);
+    const error = await pull({ dryRun: true }).then(() => null, (e: unknown) => e);
+
+    expect(error).toBeNull();
+    expect(fs.readFileSync(gitignore, 'utf-8')).toBe(preBeta5);
+    const after = snapshotTree(root);
+    for (const key of Object.keys(before)) expect(after[key]).toBe(before[key]);
+    expect(providerCalls).toEqual([]);
+  });
 });
diff --git a/src/pull.ts b/src/pull.ts
index 509a8135c..7559d8d39 100644
--- a/src/pull.ts
+++ b/src/pull.ts
@@ -83,9 +83,14 @@ const FILE_NOT_FOUND_ERROR_CODE = 'ENOENT';
  * `submodulesChanged` marks a run whose submodule update succeeded but moved the
  * tree on disk: the caller must then NOT take that same fast path *this* run,
  * because the parent rev alone cannot see the change (issue #525).
+ *
+ * `options.dryRun` marks a preview. The refresh still reads the tree, but the
+ * self-mode `.gitignore` self-heal is skipped: it rewrites a tracked file in the
+ * member's checkout, and a preview writes nothing (#866).
  */
 async function refreshTeamRepo(
   localConfig: LocalConfig,
+  options: { dryRun?: boolean } = {},
 ): Promise<{ label: string; version: string | null; submodulesFailed: boolean; submodulesChanged: boolean }> {
   if (localConfig.repo.kind === 'http') {
     const { resolveApiKey } = await import('./api-key.js');
@@ -108,10 +113,15 @@ async function refreshTeamRepo(
     // Self-heal an older .teamai/.gitignore that still ignores `env` (pre-beta.5),
     // which would keep team env vars off main. Best-effort; prompts the user to
     // commit the change.
-    try {
-      const { migrateSelfModeGitignore } = await import('./init.js');
-      await migrateSelfModeGitignore(localConfig);
-    } catch { /* best-effort */ }
+    //
+    // It rewrites a TRACKED file, so a preview must not run it. The migration is
+    // idempotent, so the next real pull performs it (#866).
+    if (!options.dryRun) {
+      try {
+        const { migrateSelfModeGitignore } = await import('./init.js');
+        await migrateSelfModeGitignore(localConfig);
+      } catch { /* best-effort */ }
+    }
 
     let version: string | null = null;
     try {
@@ -913,7 +923,7 @@ async function pullForScope(
   // unchanged-rev fast path for THIS run — the parent rev cannot see it (#525).
   let submodulesChanged = false;
   try {
-    const refresh = await refreshTeamRepo(localConfig);
+    const refresh = await refreshTeamRepo(localConfig, options);
     currentRev = refresh.version;
     submodulesFailed = refresh.submodulesFailed;
     submodulesChanged = refresh.submodulesChanged;