I just started using the assistant on an existing annex. I fire up the assistant like so:
$ git annex webapp
Everything syncs and looks to be working fine. In another terminal, I then create a new file:
$ touch testfile.txt
The assistant sees that file, immediately adds it and syncs. Ok. So now I want to edit that file.
$ git annex unlock testfile.txt
As soon as I unlock the file, the assistant re-adds it to the annex and syncs, preventing me from editing the file. How can I edit files with the assistant running?
I suspect you have an old build of the assistant. Version 3.20121009 was supposed to fix this.
I re-tested with current git head today, and found I was able to unlock a file, repeatedly edit it in place without the assistant re-adding it, and then run "git annex add" and the assistant auto-committed the changed file. Better behavior than I was expecting in fact -- the ability to repeatedly edit is a pleasant surprise.