diff --git a/src/components/examples/ExampleWorkbench.client.tsx b/src/components/examples/ExampleWorkbench.client.tsx
index 8737cbaae..9e6124390 100644
--- a/src/components/examples/ExampleWorkbench.client.tsx
+++ b/src/components/examples/ExampleWorkbench.client.tsx
@@ -809,6 +809,7 @@ export function ExampleWorkbench({
           title: definition.title,
           description: definition.description,
           initialFile: activePath,
+          hiddenFiles: definition.hiddenFiles,
           runtime: definition.runtime,
           workspace,
         }),
@@ -822,7 +823,9 @@ export function ExampleWorkbench({
     }
   }
 
-  const filePaths = Object.keys(workspace.files).sort()
+  const filePaths = Object.keys(workspace.files)
+    .filter((path) => !definition.hiddenFiles?.includes(path))
+    .sort()
   const fileTree = React.useMemo(() => createFileTree(filePaths), [filePaths])
   const activeSource = workspace.files[activePath] ?? ''
   const statusLabel = getStatusLabel(status)
@@ -1389,9 +1392,12 @@ function getInitialFile(
   workspace: ExampleWorkspace,
 ) {
   return definition.initialFile &&
-    workspace.files[definition.initialFile] !== undefined
+    workspace.files[definition.initialFile] !== undefined &&
+    !definition.hiddenFiles?.includes(definition.initialFile)
     ? definition.initialFile
-    : workspace.entry
+    : Object.keys(workspace.files).find(
+        (path) => !definition.hiddenFiles?.includes(path),
+      ) || workspace.entry
 }
 
 function readTheme() {
diff --git a/src/utils/charts-catalog-example.ts b/src/utils/charts-catalog-example.ts
index 627bee248..e05182f61 100644
--- a/src/utils/charts-catalog-example.ts
+++ b/src/utils/charts-catalog-example.ts
@@ -86,6 +86,7 @@ export function createChartsCatalogExampleDefinition({
     title,
     ...(description === undefined ? {} : { description }),
     initialFile,
+    hiddenFiles: [generatedEntryPath, generatedDocumentPath],
     workspace: createExampleWorkspace({
       entry: generatedEntryPath,
       files: workspaceFiles,
diff --git a/src/utils/example-project.ts b/src/utils/example-project.ts
index ecafe856a..878c72913 100644
--- a/src/utils/example-project.ts
+++ b/src/utils/example-project.ts
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ export type SharedExampleProject = {
   title: string
   description: string
   initialFile?: string
+  hiddenFiles?: ReadonlyArray<string>
   runtime?: ExampleRuntime
   workspace: ExampleWorkspace
 }
@@ -22,12 +23,14 @@ export function createSharedExampleProject({
   title,
   description = '',
   initialFile,
+  hiddenFiles,
   runtime,
   workspace,
 }: {
   title: string
   description?: string
   initialFile?: string
+  hiddenFiles?: ReadonlyArray<string>
   runtime?: ExampleRuntime
   workspace: ExampleWorkspace
 }): SharedExampleProject {
@@ -36,6 +39,7 @@ export function createSharedExampleProject({
     title,
     description,
     ...(initialFile ? { initialFile } : {}),
+    ...(hiddenFiles?.length ? { hiddenFiles: [...hiddenFiles] } : {}),
     ...(runtime ? { runtime } : {}),
     workspace,
   }
@@ -47,6 +51,9 @@ export function serializeSharedExampleProject(project: SharedExampleProject) {
     title: project.title,
     description: project.description,
     ...(project.initialFile ? { initialFile: project.initialFile } : {}),
+    ...(project.hiddenFiles?.length
+      ? { hiddenFiles: project.hiddenFiles }
+      : {}),
     ...(project.runtime ? { runtime: project.runtime } : {}),
     workspace: JSON.parse(serializeExampleWorkspace(project.workspace)),
   })
@@ -62,6 +69,7 @@ export function parseSharedExampleProject(
       'title',
       'description',
       'initialFile',
+      'hiddenFiles',
       'runtime',
       'workspace',
     ]) ||
@@ -71,6 +79,12 @@ export function parseSharedExampleProject(
     (value.initialFile !== undefined &&
       (typeof value.initialFile !== 'string' ||
         !isCanonicalExamplePath(value.initialFile))) ||
+    (value.hiddenFiles !== undefined &&
+      (!Array.isArray(value.hiddenFiles) ||
+        !value.hiddenFiles.every(
+          (path) => typeof path === 'string' && isCanonicalExamplePath(path),
+        ) ||
+        new Set(value.hiddenFiles).size !== value.hiddenFiles.length)) ||
     (value.runtime !== undefined && !isExampleRuntime(value.runtime))
   ) {
     throw new Error('Invalid shared example project')
@@ -83,11 +97,20 @@ export function parseSharedExampleProject(
   ) {
     throw new Error('Invalid shared example project')
   }
+  if (
+    value.hiddenFiles?.some(
+      (path) =>
+        workspace.files[path] === undefined || path === value.initialFile,
+    )
+  ) {
+    throw new Error('Invalid shared example project')
+  }
 
   return createSharedExampleProject({
     title: value.title,
     description: value.description,
     initialFile: value.initialFile,
+    hiddenFiles: value.hiddenFiles,
     runtime: value.runtime,
     workspace,
   })
@@ -102,6 +125,9 @@ export function sharedProjectToExampleDefinition(
     title: project.title,
     ...(project.description ? { description: project.description } : {}),
     ...(project.initialFile ? { initialFile: project.initialFile } : {}),
+    ...(project.hiddenFiles?.length
+      ? { hiddenFiles: project.hiddenFiles }
+      : {}),
     ...(project.runtime ? { runtime: project.runtime } : {}),
     workspace: project.workspace,
   }
diff --git a/src/utils/example-workspace.ts b/src/utils/example-workspace.ts
index a7c6bdaa2..96d208c75 100644
--- a/src/utils/example-workspace.ts
+++ b/src/utils/example-workspace.ts
@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@ export type ExampleDefinition = {
   title: string
   description?: string
   initialFile?: string
+  hiddenFiles?: ReadonlyArray<string>
   runtime?: ExampleRuntime
   workspace: ExampleWorkspace
 }
diff --git a/tests/charts-catalog-example.test.ts b/tests/charts-catalog-example.test.ts
index 45536efa9..d75aa10ae 100644
--- a/tests/charts-catalog-example.test.ts
+++ b/tests/charts-catalog-example.test.ts
@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@ describe('Charts catalog example workspaces', () => {
       '/cases/bar-vertical-sorted/example.tsx',
     )
     assert.equal(definition.workspace.entry, '/__catalog.tsx')
+    assert.deepEqual(definition.hiddenFiles, ['/__catalog.tsx', '/index.html'])
     assert.equal(
       definition.workspace.files['/cases/bar-vertical-sorted/example.tsx'],
       entrySource,
diff --git a/tests/example-workspace.test.ts b/tests/example-workspace.test.ts
index 679c99781..917a202f7 100644
--- a/tests/example-workspace.test.ts
+++ b/tests/example-workspace.test.ts
@@ -74,6 +74,7 @@ describe('example workspaces', () => {
       title: 'Sorted bars',
       description: 'A browser-only Charts example.',
       initialFile: '/src/chart.tsx',
+      hiddenFiles: ['/src/main.tsx'],
       workspace: {
         version: 1,
         entry: '/src/main.tsx',
@@ -241,4 +242,34 @@ describe('example workspaces', () => {
       }),
     )
   })
+
+  test('rejects invalid hidden shared-project files', () => {
+    const project = {
+      version: 1,
+      title: 'Sorted bars',
+      description: '',
+      initialFile: '/src/chart.tsx',
+      workspace: {
+        version: 1,
+        entry: '/src/main.tsx',
+        files: {
+          '/src/chart.tsx': '',
+          '/src/main.tsx': '',
+        },
+      },
+    }
+
+    assert.throws(() =>
+      parseSharedExampleProject({
+        ...project,
+        hiddenFiles: ['/src/missing.tsx'],
+      }),
+    )
+    assert.throws(() =>
+      parseSharedExampleProject({
+        ...project,
+        hiddenFiles: ['/src/chart.tsx'],
+      }),
+    )
+  })
 })