diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index c6cd0a3..5022b4b 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -10,3 +10,13 @@ quiz.db
 *.db
 *.db-shm
 *.db-wal
+
+# Real quiz pools must never be committed (they contain answer keys).
+# Only generic demo pools tracked under examples/pool_example.json.
+examples/*_pool.json
+!examples/pool_example.json
+
+# Codex build leftovers
+.codex_done
+codex_last_message.md
+codex_run.log