diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 7b9ddc62b..aba658068 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -13,6 +13,10 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0
 - CI: smoke tests in `build-release.yml`'s `build-and-test` job (Linux x86_64, Linux arm64, Windows) are now gated to promotion boundaries (tag/schedule/dispatch) instead of running on every push to main. Push-time smoke duplicated the merge-time smoke gate in `ci-integration.yml` and burned ~15 redundant codex-binary downloads/day. Tag-cut releases still run smoke as a pre-ship gate; nightly catches upstream codex URL drift; merge-time still gates merges into main. (#878)
 - CI docs: clarify that branch-protection ruleset must store the check-run name (`gate`), not the workflow display string (`Merge Gate / gate`); document the merge-gate aggregator in `cicd.instructions.md` and mark the legacy stub workflow as deprecated.
 
+### Fixed
+
+- `apm install` (user scope): `init_link_resolver` now scopes `discover_primitives` to `~/.apm/` instead of `~/`, preventing recursive-glob across the entire home directory. Fixes #830 (#850)
+
 ### Removed
 
 - CI: deleted `ci-integration-pr-stub.yml`. The four stubs were a holdover from the pre-merge-gate model where branch protection required each Tier 2 check name directly. After #867, branch protection requires only `gate`, so the stubs are dead weight. Reduced `EXPECTED_CHECKS` in `merge-gate.yml` to just `Build & Test (Linux)`.
diff --git a/src/apm_cli/integration/base_integrator.py b/src/apm_cli/integration/base_integrator.py
index fa7c92ee5..1fc42f91e 100644
--- a/src/apm_cli/integration/base_integrator.py
+++ b/src/apm_cli/integration/base_integrator.py
@@ -312,7 +312,13 @@ def init_link_resolver(self, package_info, project_root: Path) -> None:
         """Initialise and register the link resolver for a package."""
         self.link_resolver = UnifiedLinkResolver(project_root)
         try:
-            primitives = discover_primitives(package_info.install_path)
+            scan_root = package_info.install_path
+            # When install_path is $HOME (user-scope local package),
+            # only scan the .apm/ subdirectory to avoid recursive-
+            # globbing the entire home tree.  See issue #830.
+            if scan_root == Path.home():
+                scan_root = scan_root / ".apm"
+            primitives = discover_primitives(scan_root)
             self.link_resolver.register_contexts(primitives)
         except Exception:
             self.link_resolver = None
diff --git a/tests/unit/integration/test_base_integrator.py b/tests/unit/integration/test_base_integrator.py
index 8737d2dbe..6e5a95500 100644
--- a/tests/unit/integration/test_base_integrator.py
+++ b/tests/unit/integration/test_base_integrator.py
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@
 from unittest.mock import MagicMock, patch
 
 from apm_cli.integration.base_integrator import BaseIntegrator, IntegrationResult
+from apm_cli.primitives.discovery import discover_primitives
 
 
 # ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -592,3 +593,41 @@ class TestShouldIntegrate:
     def test_always_returns_true(self):
         bi = BaseIntegrator()
         assert bi.should_integrate(Path("/any/path")) is True
+
+
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# init_link_resolver — home-directory scoping (#830)
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+class TestInitLinkResolverHomeScoping:
+    """When install_path is $HOME, init_link_resolver must scope
+    discover_primitives to ~/.apm/ to avoid recursive-globbing the
+    entire home directory.  See issue #830."""
+
+    @patch("apm_cli.integration.base_integrator.discover_primitives")
+    @patch("apm_cli.integration.base_integrator.UnifiedLinkResolver")
+    def test_scopes_to_apm_subdir_when_install_path_is_home(
+        self, mock_resolver_cls, mock_discover
+    ):
+        mock_discover.return_value = []
+        bi = BaseIntegrator()
+        pkg_info = MagicMock()
+        pkg_info.install_path = Path.home()
+
+        bi.init_link_resolver(pkg_info, Path.home())
+
+        mock_discover.assert_called_once_with(Path.home() / ".apm")
+
+    @patch("apm_cli.integration.base_integrator.discover_primitives")
+    @patch("apm_cli.integration.base_integrator.UnifiedLinkResolver")
+    def test_uses_install_path_when_not_home(
+        self, mock_resolver_cls, mock_discover, tmp_path
+    ):
+        mock_discover.return_value = []
+        bi = BaseIntegrator()
+        pkg_info = MagicMock()
+        pkg_info.install_path = tmp_path
+
+        bi.init_link_resolver(pkg_info, tmp_path)
+
+        mock_discover.assert_called_once_with(tmp_path)
diff --git a/tests/unit/test_local_content_install.py b/tests/unit/test_local_content_install.py
index bf1ba4148..21d3ade5f 100644
--- a/tests/unit/test_local_content_install.py
+++ b/tests/unit/test_local_content_install.py
@@ -174,7 +174,7 @@ def test_skips_root_skill_md(self, mock_integrate, tmp_path):
 
     @patch("apm_cli.install.services.integrate_package_primitives")
     def test_package_info_install_path_is_project_root(self, mock_integrate, tmp_path):
-        """The synthetic PackageInfo must point to project_root, not .apm/."""
+        """The synthetic PackageInfo must point to project_root at project scope."""
         mock_integrate.return_value = _zero_counters()
 
         _integrate_local_content(tmp_path, **_make_integrators())
@@ -182,6 +182,22 @@ def test_package_info_install_path_is_project_root(self, mock_integrate, tmp_pat
         package_info = mock_integrate.call_args[0][0]
         assert package_info.install_path == tmp_path
 
+    @patch("apm_cli.install.services.integrate_package_primitives")
+    def test_user_scope_install_path_stays_project_root(self, mock_integrate, tmp_path):
+        """At user scope, install_path must remain project_root so that
+        integrators can still find <project_root>/.apm/<type>/.
+        The recursive-glob fix lives in init_link_resolver, not here.
+        Regression check for #830."""
+        from apm_cli.core.scope import InstallScope
+
+        mock_integrate.return_value = _zero_counters()
+        (tmp_path / ".apm").mkdir(exist_ok=True)
+
+        _integrate_local_content(tmp_path, **_make_integrators(), scope=InstallScope.USER)
+
+        package_info = mock_integrate.call_args[0][0]
+        assert package_info.install_path == tmp_path
+
     @patch("apm_cli.install.services.integrate_package_primitives")
     def test_returns_zero_counters_when_nothing_deployed(self, mock_integrate, tmp_path):
         """When nothing is deployed the result counters are all zero."""