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NOPE
Low reported severity

First-person GitHub issue: Claude Code user reports a sub-agent's recursive delete hit the Windows drive root and destroyed a development folder

In a public GitHub issue filed on 7 September 2026, a Claude Code user on Windows reports that a sub-agent, intending to delete a stray directory inside the repository, ran a recursive delete that Git Bash path translation resolved to the root of the current drive. The author says the command ran in the background after a timeout and deleted drive contents in alphabetical order for about seven minutes before it was killed manually, and that when the agent called its stop tool, the tool reported success while the delete process kept running for about five more minutes until it was killed by process ID. Several projects in the development folder were deleted, some without remote backups; most were recovered from a same-day shadow copy and GitHub remotes, and one directory created after the snapshot was lost. The account is the author's own and is uncorroborated.

AI system
Claude Code
Anthropic
Occurred
Event date unknown
Reported
7 September 2026
Event location
Unknown
What the AI did
Acted on the person’s behalf
Reported harm
Property LossOther Material Harm
Whose AI use
Their own AI use
Setting
Work
Evidence
AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 1 source
5 claims: 5 reported. 4 open questions
People reported harmed
1 person

AI system as recorded: Claude Code CLI on Windows 11 Home, a sub-agent spawned through the Agent tool running claude-fable-5 and using the Bash tool through Git Bash, per the issue

What Happened

What the sub-agent did. The issue says "A subagent (spawned via the Agent tool) ran" a recursive delete in Git Bash on Windows, "intending to delete a stray directory literally named" with a single backslash inside the repository. "MSYS path translation resolved the bare backslash to the" root of the current drive.

Duration. The command was bundled with a long render loop, exceeded the two-minute tool timeout and was moved to a background task. The author writes that it deleted drive contents "in alphabetical order for ~7 minutes before being killed manually". When the agent noticed and called its stop tool, "the tool reported success, but the underlying" rm process "kept deleting for roughly 5 more minutes until it was killed manually by PID".

Reported loss. The development folder, holding "(multiple projects, some with no remote backup)", was deleted, and rm bypasses the Recycle Bin. "Recovery succeeded via a same-day Volume Shadow Copy plus GitHub remotes; one directory created after the snapshot was permanently lost." Folders alphabetically after it survived because the process was killed mid-walk.

The author's assessment. The author writes that "The agent error itself is on the model": it ran a recursive delete on an argument it never verified, suppressed error output and bundled the delete with a long-running loop.

Limits. Single first-person report, uncorroborated, with no comments in the thread. The issue does not give the date of the deletion. The author's handle is not recorded. No country is stated.

Reported harm

The author reports that a Claude Code sub-agent's recursive delete, aimed at a stray folder, resolved to the Windows drive root and deleted their development folder of several projects; most was recovered from a shadow copy and remotes, but one directory was permanently lost (first-person account, uncorroborated).

Outcome

Ongoing

The issue was open and labelled bug, data-loss, area:agents and area:sandbox when read on 6 October 2026, with no comments. The author reports recovery through a same-day Volume Shadow Copy and GitHub remotes, with one directory permanently lost, and says a local hook now blocks recursive deletes of drive roots.

What remains unknown

  • The date of the deletion; the issue was filed on 7 September 2026 and mentions a same-day shadow copy but gives no event date.
  • What the permanently lost directory contained.
  • Whether Anthropic has confirmed or responded to the report.
  • Where the author lives.

What the evidence supports

AI involvement: reported. The author states that a Claude Code sub-agent chose and ran the recursive delete aimed at a stray folder, that it resolved to the drive root and deleted the development folder, and that the delete kept running after the agent's stop call reported success; the author describes the agent's error as the model's.

5 claims: 5 reported. What the statuses mean

Reported The author reports that a Claude Code sub-agent ran a recursive delete intended for a stray directory in the repository, and that Git Bash path translation resolved its target to the root of the current drive.

Causal attribution. Author attributes the command to the sub-agent and the error to the model.

  • github.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'A subagent (spawned via the Agent tool) ran'; 'intending to delete a stray directory literally named'; 'MSYS path translation resolved the bare backslash to the'
Reported The author reports that the command deleted drive contents in alphabetical order for about seven minutes and destroyed a development folder holding several projects, some with no remote backup.

Causal attribution. Author's account.

  • github.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'in alphabetical order for ~7 minutes before being killed manually'; '(multiple projects, some with no remote backup) was deleted'
Reported The author reports that most data was recovered from a same-day shadow copy and GitHub remotes and that one directory created after the snapshot was permanently lost.

Causal attribution. Author's account.

  • github.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'Recovery succeeded via a same-day Volume Shadow Copy plus GitHub remotes; one directory created after the snapshot was permanently lost'
Reported The author reports that when the agent called its stop tool, the tool reported success while the delete process kept running for about five more minutes until it was killed manually.

Causal attribution. Author's account of the harness behaviour.

  • github.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'When the agent realized the problem and called TaskStop on the background task, the tool reported success, but the underlying'; 'kept deleting for roughly 5 more minutes until it was killed manually by PID'
Reported The issue records the model claude-fable-5 for the main session and the sub-agent, running the Claude Code CLI on Windows 11 Home.

Causal attribution. Not applicable.

Sources

1 source inspected. Sources that repeat one account do not corroborate each other.

How the sources were read, and where the events happened

Read in English on 2026-10-06: full issue body retrieved through the GitHub API; the issue had no comments. The author handle is not recorded. Applies to s1.

Event countries: Unknown. Affected-person countries: Unknown. Court countries: Unknown.

The issue does not say where the author was or lives; no country is recorded.

Reviewed for publication 2026-10-06: Published under the charter's public first-person rule as a concrete account of an AI coding agent's own recursive delete destroying a user's project folder with a permanent partial loss, described with attribution and without corroboration. The author's handle is not recorded.

People described

The issue's author, a Claude Code user on Windows

People reported harmed in this case

1 person

1 AI participant · 0 other people harmed

One person: the issue's author. Exact 1.

Counted once within this case. The same person may appear in other cases. This count does not establish AI causation.

Tags

#first-person#github-issue#claude-code#anthropic#ai-agent#sub-agent#data-loss#file-deletion#windows#drive-root

Cite this case

Compiled per our published methodology: verification statuses, sourcing standards, and corrections process.

APA

NOPE. (2026). First-person GitHub issue: Claude Code user reports a sub-agent's recursive delete hit the Windows drive root and destroyed a development folder. AI incidents. https://nope.net/incidents/2026-claude-code-sub-agent-recursive-delete-resolved-to-windows-drive-root-dev-folder-deleted-first-person

BibTeX

@misc{2026_claude_code_sub_agent_recursive_delete_resolved_to_windows_drive_root_dev_folder_deleted_first_person,
  title = {First-person GitHub issue: Claude Code user reports a sub-agent's recursive delete hit the Windows drive root and destroyed a development folder},
  author = {NOPE},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {AI incidents},
  url = {https://nope.net/incidents/2026-claude-code-sub-agent-recursive-delete-resolved-to-windows-drive-root-dev-folder-deleted-first-person}
}

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