diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index ab84623..0f5be6a 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -61,6 +61,10 @@ skillspector scan https://github.com/user/my-skill
 
 # Scan a zip file
 skillspector scan ./my-skill.zip
+
+# Exclude files by glob (repeatable). Useful for binary assets that
+# can trip up the regex scanner with false positives.
+skillspector scan ./my-skill/ --exclude '*.pdf' --exclude 'assets/*'
 ```
 
 ### Output Formats
@@ -360,6 +364,7 @@ Options:
   -f, --format [terminal|json|markdown|sarif]  Output format [default: terminal]
   -o, --output PATH                            Output file path
   --no-llm                                     Skip LLM analysis (static only)
+  --exclude TEXT                               Glob (relative to scan root) to exclude. Repeatable.
   -V, --verbose                                Show detailed progress
   --help                                       Show this message and exit
 ```
diff --git a/src/skillspector/cli.py b/src/skillspector/cli.py
index 83e3224..733cd58 100644
--- a/src/skillspector/cli.py
+++ b/src/skillspector/cli.py
@@ -91,6 +91,7 @@ def _scan_state(
     format: FormatChoice,
     no_llm: bool,
     yara_rules_dir: str | None = None,
+    exclude_patterns: list[str] | None = None,
 ) -> dict[str, object]:
     """Build initial graph state from scan CLI args."""
     state: dict[str, object] = {
@@ -100,6 +101,8 @@ def _scan_state(
     }
     if yara_rules_dir is not None:
         state["yara_rules_dir"] = yara_rules_dir
+    if exclude_patterns:
+        state["exclude_patterns"] = list(exclude_patterns)
     return state
 
 
@@ -171,6 +174,13 @@ def scan(
             help="Directory containing additional YARA rule files (.yar/.yara) to load alongside built-in rules.",
         ),
     ] = None,
+    exclude: Annotated[
+        list[str] | None,
+        typer.Option(
+            "--exclude",
+            help="Glob pattern (relative to scan root) to exclude from the scan. Repeatable.",
+        ),
+    ] = None,
     verbose: Annotated[
         bool,
         typer.Option(
@@ -208,7 +218,13 @@ def scan(
     result = None
     try:
         yara_dir = str(yara_rules_dir.resolve()) if yara_rules_dir else None
-        state = _scan_state(input_path, format, no_llm, yara_rules_dir=yara_dir)
+        state = _scan_state(
+            input_path,
+            format,
+            no_llm,
+            yara_rules_dir=yara_dir,
+            exclude_patterns=exclude,
+        )
         if verbose:
             set_level("DEBUG")
             console.print("[dim]Running scan...[/dim]")
diff --git a/src/skillspector/nodes/build_context.py b/src/skillspector/nodes/build_context.py
index 06355f3..f858e85 100644
--- a/src/skillspector/nodes/build_context.py
+++ b/src/skillspector/nodes/build_context.py
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@
 
 from __future__ import annotations
 
+import fnmatch
 import re
 from pathlib import Path
 
@@ -72,11 +73,14 @@ def _resolve_skill_dir(state: SkillspectorState) -> Path | None:
     return resolved
 
 
-def _walk_skill_files(skill_dir: Path) -> list[str]:
+def _walk_skill_files(skill_dir: Path, exclude_patterns: list[str] | None = None) -> list[str]:
     """Walk skill directory and return sorted relative path strings.
 
     Skips _SKIP_DIRS and hidden files except those starting with .claude.
+    Also skips paths matching any glob in ``exclude_patterns`` (fnmatch
+    semantics, matched against the path relative to ``skill_dir``).
     """
+    patterns = exclude_patterns or []
     paths: list[str] = []
     for item in skill_dir.rglob("*"):
         if not item.is_file():
@@ -87,10 +91,15 @@ def _walk_skill_files(skill_dir: Path) -> list[str]:
             continue
         try:
             rel = item.relative_to(skill_dir)
-            paths.append(str(rel))
         except ValueError:
             logger.debug("Skipping path (not under skill_dir): %s", item)
             continue
+        rel_str = rel.as_posix()
+        matched = next((p for p in patterns if fnmatch.fnmatch(rel_str, p)), None)
+        if matched is not None:
+            logger.debug("Excluded by --exclude %r: %s", matched, rel_str)
+            continue
+        paths.append(str(rel))
     paths.sort()
     return paths
 
@@ -231,7 +240,9 @@ def build_context(state: SkillspectorState) -> dict[str, object]:
         logger.debug("skill_path missing or not a directory; returning minimal context")
         return _minimal_update()
 
-    components = _walk_skill_files(skill_dir)
+    raw_patterns = state.get("exclude_patterns") or []
+    exclude_patterns = [p for p in raw_patterns if isinstance(p, str) and p]
+    components = _walk_skill_files(skill_dir, exclude_patterns)
     file_cache = _read_file_cache(skill_dir, components)
     manifest = _parse_manifest(skill_dir)
     component_metadata, has_executable_scripts = _build_component_metadata(skill_dir, components)
diff --git a/src/skillspector/state.py b/src/skillspector/state.py
index 8a44727..fe565e6 100644
--- a/src/skillspector/state.py
+++ b/src/skillspector/state.py
@@ -71,6 +71,9 @@ class SkillspectorState(TypedDict, total=False):
     # Additional YARA rules directory (user-specified via --yara-rules-dir)
     yara_rules_dir: str | None
 
+    # Glob patterns (relative to scan root) to exclude from scanning (--exclude)
+    exclude_patterns: list[str]
+
 
 # Node IDs that use an LLM. Each such node should check use_llm at the top and return
 # immediately (e.g. fallback / no-op) when False; no graph-level routing.
diff --git a/tests/nodes/test_build_context.py b/tests/nodes/test_build_context.py
index b905ecb..8ee3a8c 100644
--- a/tests/nodes/test_build_context.py
+++ b/tests/nodes/test_build_context.py
@@ -185,3 +185,61 @@ def test_build_context_skill_md_lowercase(tmp_path: Path) -> None:
     assert result["manifest"]["description"] == "d"
     assert "skill.md" in result["components"]
     assert "references/guide.md" in result["components"]
+
+
+def test_build_context_exclude_glob_filters_components(tmp_path: Path) -> None:
+    """exclude_patterns drops matching files from components, file_cache, and metadata."""
+    _make_skill_spec_dir(tmp_path)
+    (tmp_path / "assets" / "template-style.pdf").write_bytes(b"%PDF-1.4\nshell=True\n%%EOF")
+    (tmp_path / "notes.pdf").write_bytes(b"%PDF-1.4 trailing")
+
+    state: SkillspectorState = {
+        "skill_path": str(tmp_path),
+        "exclude_patterns": ["*.pdf"],
+    }
+    result = build_context(state)
+
+    components = result["components"]
+    assert "assets/template-style.pdf" not in components
+    assert "notes.pdf" not in components
+    assert "SKILL.md" in components
+    assert "scripts/run.py" in components
+    assert "assets/template-style.pdf" not in result["file_cache"]
+    assert all(m.get("path") != "assets/template-style.pdf" for m in result["component_metadata"])
+
+
+def test_build_context_exclude_directory_pattern(tmp_path: Path) -> None:
+    """Glob like 'assets/*' excludes all files under that directory."""
+    _make_skill_spec_dir(tmp_path)
+    state: SkillspectorState = {
+        "skill_path": str(tmp_path),
+        "exclude_patterns": ["assets/*"],
+    }
+    result = build_context(state)
+    assert not any(p.startswith("assets/") for p in result["components"])
+    assert "scripts/run.py" in result["components"]
+
+
+def test_build_context_exclude_no_match_keeps_all(tmp_path: Path) -> None:
+    """Patterns that don't match anything leave the components list untouched."""
+    _make_skill_spec_dir(tmp_path)
+    state: SkillspectorState = {
+        "skill_path": str(tmp_path),
+        "exclude_patterns": ["*.xyz"],
+    }
+    result = build_context(state)
+    assert "SKILL.md" in result["components"]
+    assert "assets/icon.png" in result["components"]
+
+
+def test_build_context_exclude_everything_yields_empty(tmp_path: Path) -> None:
+    """Excluding every file is valid — empty components, empty file_cache."""
+    _make_skill_spec_dir(tmp_path)
+    state: SkillspectorState = {
+        "skill_path": str(tmp_path),
+        "exclude_patterns": ["*"],
+    }
+    result = build_context(state)
+    assert result["components"] == []
+    assert result["file_cache"] == {}
+    assert result["component_metadata"] == []
diff --git a/tests/unit/test_cli.py b/tests/unit/test_cli.py
index 60053f1..7f15e4e 100644
--- a/tests/unit/test_cli.py
+++ b/tests/unit/test_cli.py
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@
 
 """Tests for skillspector CLI (skillspector scan, --version)."""
 
+import json
 from pathlib import Path
 
 from typer.testing import CliRunner
@@ -24,6 +25,15 @@
 runner = CliRunner()
 
 
+# Minimal PDF-like bytes containing a TM1 trigger (shell=True). The static
+# pattern scanner reads files with utf-8 + errors='replace', so binary assets
+# can match regex patterns and produce spurious HIGH findings — which is
+# exactly the false positive --exclude is meant to suppress.
+_PDF_WITH_TM1 = (
+    b"%PDF-1.4\n1 0 obj<</Type/Catalog>>endobj\n% subprocess.run(cmd, shell=True)\n%%EOF\n"
+)
+
+
 def test_cli_version() -> None:
     """--version prints version and exits 0."""
     result = runner.invoke(app, ["--version"])
@@ -67,3 +77,81 @@ def test_cli_scan_nonexistent_exits_2() -> None:
     result = runner.invoke(app, ["scan", "/nonexistent/path/xyz"])
     assert result.exit_code == 2
     assert "Error" in result.output or "error" in result.output.lower()
+
+
+def _make_pdf_fixture_skill(root: Path) -> Path:
+    """Create a skill dir whose only non-SKILL.md file is a PDF carrying TM1 bytes."""
+    skill_dir = root / "skill"
+    (skill_dir / "assets").mkdir(parents=True)
+    (skill_dir / "SKILL.md").write_text("---\nname: exclude-test\n---\n# Skill\n", encoding="utf-8")
+    (skill_dir / "assets" / "template-style.pdf").write_bytes(_PDF_WITH_TM1)
+    return skill_dir
+
+
+def test_cli_scan_exclude_drops_pdf_from_components_and_findings(tmp_path: Path) -> None:
+    """--exclude '*.pdf' skips the PDF: no findings raised against it, not in components."""
+    skill_dir = _make_pdf_fixture_skill(tmp_path)
+    result = runner.invoke(
+        app,
+        [
+            "scan",
+            str(skill_dir),
+            "--format",
+            "json",
+            "--no-llm",
+            "--exclude",
+            "*.pdf",
+        ],
+    )
+    assert result.exit_code == 0, result.output
+    report = json.loads(result.output)
+    component_paths = [c.get("path") for c in report.get("components", [])]
+    assert "assets/template-style.pdf" not in component_paths
+    issues = report.get("issues", [])
+    assert all(i.get("location", {}).get("file") != "assets/template-style.pdf" for i in issues)
+
+
+def test_cli_scan_exclude_repeatable(tmp_path: Path) -> None:
+    """Multiple --exclude flags compose; each pattern filters independently."""
+    skill_dir = _make_pdf_fixture_skill(tmp_path)
+    (skill_dir / "notes.txt").write_text("plain text", encoding="utf-8")
+    result = runner.invoke(
+        app,
+        [
+            "scan",
+            str(skill_dir),
+            "--format",
+            "json",
+            "--no-llm",
+            "--exclude",
+            "*.pdf",
+            "--exclude",
+            "*.txt",
+        ],
+    )
+    assert result.exit_code == 0, result.output
+    report = json.loads(result.output)
+    component_paths = [c.get("path") for c in report.get("components", [])]
+    assert "assets/template-style.pdf" not in component_paths
+    assert "notes.txt" not in component_paths
+
+
+def test_cli_scan_exclude_everything_succeeds(tmp_path: Path) -> None:
+    """Excluding every file is valid: scan succeeds with no findings."""
+    skill_dir = _make_pdf_fixture_skill(tmp_path)
+    result = runner.invoke(
+        app,
+        [
+            "scan",
+            str(skill_dir),
+            "--format",
+            "json",
+            "--no-llm",
+            "--exclude",
+            "*",
+        ],
+    )
+    assert result.exit_code == 0, result.output
+    report = json.loads(result.output)
+    assert report.get("components", []) == []
+    assert report.get("issues", []) == []