Note, this is the same as bindmounts in linux. $ mkdir a b $ sudo mount --bind a b $ rmdir a && mkdir a $ touch a/foo $ ls b # no foo

Note, this is the same as bindmounts in linux. $ mkdir a b $ sudo mount --bind a b $ rmdir a && mkdir a $ touch a/foo $ ls b # no foo This can be seen in docker containers if you bindmount things around as well. The solution for both is the same: simply bindmount a level higher. If you need to mutate "data", instead make the directory "myapp/data" and mutate the sub directory only while mounting/unveiling the parent.