{"meta":{"exportedAt":"2026-10-30T07:00:22.396Z","formatVersion":2,"selection":{"q":"multi-agent","system":"","harm":"","context":"","country":"","role":"","relation":"core","evidence":"","year":"","response":"","severity":"","verification":"","view":"incidents","sort":"added"},"totalIncidents":4,"coverage":{"cases":4,"countries":0,"languages":1,"unknownLocation":4,"locationPending":0,"unknownLanguage":0,"unknownDate":1,"lawsuits":0,"regulatory":0,"minors":0,"coreRelations":4,"contextualRelations":0,"mixedRelations":0,"unknownRelations":0,"relationPending":0,"relationUnknown":0},"countingNote":"Distinct public cases in this selection. People counts apply within individual cases only; cross-case person overlap has not been resolved. No population incidence estimate.","affectedCountNote":"Interpret person counts with affectedCountStatus and the reported effects. Unquantified zeros are placeholders, not a measured zero.","source":"AI incidents","publisher":"NOPE","url":"https://nope.net/incidents","license":"CC BY 4.0"},"incidents":[{"id":"2026-grok-bot-agent-told-to-stop-its-own-task-ran-a-stop-all-cancelling-ten-other-bots-in-flight-work-first-person","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'On 10/29/2026 at 2:07 PM ET, I told one of my Grok Bot agents to “stop”, meaning only that bot’s own current task. The bot ran a stop-all instead'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The poster said that on 29 October 2026 at 2:07 PM ET they told one of their Grok Bot agents to stop, meaning only that bot's own current task, and that the bot ran a stop-all instead.","causal_attribution":"Poster's account of the agent's action; no log or session record is shown."},{"id":"c2","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'Severity: critical.'; 'which cancelled the in-flight turns and subagents of all 10 of my other teammate bots. Scheduled routines were not affected.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The poster said the stop-all cancelled the in-flight turns and subagents of all 10 of their other bots, that scheduled routines were not affected, and rated the bug critical.","causal_attribution":"Poster's account of the effect; what work was lost is not described."},{"id":"c3","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'Expected: a stop request stops only that bot’s own work. Stopping every peer bot should need an explicit instruction (“stop everyone”) or a confirmation first.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The poster said a stop request should stop only that bot's own work and that stopping every peer bot should need an explicit instruction or a confirmation first.","causal_attribution":"Poster's statement of the expected behaviour."},{"id":"c4","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'Workaround: I added a memory rule to that bot. I also sent this through in-app feedback.'; 'Grok Bot desktop app, macOS'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The poster said they added a memory rule to that bot as a workaround and also reported the problem through in-app feedback, using the Grok Bot desktop app on macOS.","causal_attribution":"Poster's account; recorded as context."}],"effects":[{"label":"in-flight turns and subagents of ten other bots cancelled without instruction (poster's account)","claim_id":"c2","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://forum.cursor.com/t/grok-bot-a-scoped-stop-to-one-bot-cascaded-into-a-stop-all-across-every-teammate-bot/176686","kind":"first_person_account","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-10-30 through the Discourse JSON API (both visible posts, HTTP 200) and the HTML page. No translation was needed; the research agent (an AI) read the text directly. The poster's recent forum activity was also checked: no later post on this topic.","independence_group":"cursor-forum-176686-thread"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["own_use"],"contexts":["work"],"unknowns":["What work the cancelled turns and subagents were doing and whether any of it had to be redone or was lost.","Whether the stop-all was a tool the agent chose or a product behaviour triggered by the word stop; no log or vendor reply is in the thread.","Which model the agent ran and which app version was in use.","Where the poster lives or works."],"geography":{"basis":"The post gives the time in ET but does not say where the poster lives or works; a time zone does not establish a country.","court_countries":[],"event_countries":[],"affected_person_countries":[]},"publication":{"basis":"Published as a core agent-action case: the poster says a Grok Bot agent told to stop only its own task ran a stop-all that cancelled the in-flight work of ten other bots. First-person account, low severity; no data, money or third-party loss is reported.","reviewed_on":"2026-10-30"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"The poster describes what the Grok Bot agent did in their own setup: asked to stop only its own current task, it ran a stop-all, which cancelled the in-flight turns and subagents of all 10 of the poster's other bots. The poster connects the cancelled work directly to that action and added a memory rule to that bot to prevent a repeat. No log, session record or vendor reply is in the thread.","status":"reported"},"person_relations":["acted_on_behalf"]},"name":"First-person forum post: Grok Bot user says an agent told to stop its own task ran a stop-all that cancelled ten other bots' work","summary":"In a bug report on Cursor's community forum on 29 October 2026, a Grok Bot user says that earlier that day they told one of their agents to stop, meaning only its own current task, and the bot ran a stop-all instead, cancelling the in-flight turns and subagents of all 10 of their other bots. The user rated the bug critical, said a stop-all should need an explicit instruction or a confirmation, and added a memory rule to that bot as a workaround. No vendor reply had been posted when the thread was read.","incidentDate":"2026-10-29","incidentKind":"single_event","incidentDatePrecision":"day","exposurePattern":"single_interaction","reportedDate":"2026-10-29","aiSystem":"Grok Bot agent in the Grok Bot desktop app on macOS, as given in the poster's report form (model not stated)","aiProduct":"Grok Bot (reported)","severity":"low","verificationStatus":"unverified","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["other_material_harm"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"The poster says a Grok Bot agent told to stop only its own task ran a stop-all that cancelled the in-flight turns and subagents of ten other bots (first-person account, uncorroborated; what work was lost is not described).","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"alleged","participantUsersAffectedMin":1,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":0,"affectedCountStatus":"exact","affectedCountEvidence":"One person counted: the poster, whose bots were stopped.","victimAgeRange":"unknown","jurisdiction":"unknown","platformType":"agent","outcomeStatus":"ongoing","primarySourceUrl":"https://forum.cursor.com/t/grok-bot-a-scoped-stop-to-one-bot-cascaded-into-a-stop-all-across-every-teammate-bot/176686","primarySourceLabel":"Cursor community forum, 29 Oct 2026: \"Grok Bot: a scoped stop to one bot cascaded into a stop-all across every teammate bot\"","firstPublishedAt":"2026-10-30T03:07:13.188825+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-10-30T03:07:13.188825+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["first-person","forum-post","ai-agent","acted-on-behalf","multi-agent"]},{"id":"2026-codex-agent-deleted-main-project-worktree-in-long-session-uncommitted-work-lost-first-person-issue","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'In one recent case, Codex deleted the main project worktree.'; 'The repository was under Git, so part of the damage was recoverable, but some uncommitted work was lost and I had to recover additional files from a Time Machine backup.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The issue reports that in one recent case Codex deleted the main project worktree, that part of the damage was recoverable because the repository was under Git, that some uncommitted work was lost and that additional files had to be recovered from a Time Machine backup.","causal_attribution":"The author attributes the deletion to Codex."},{"id":"c2","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'they must never delete or damage the primary working tree.'; 'including AGENTS.md and project governance files'; 'Over time I have ended up with a very large amount of stale worktree/cache data, on the order of ~100 GB.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The author says their repository governance files, including AGENTS.md, tell agents that they may create temporary worktrees but must never delete or damage the primary working tree, and that Codex sometimes leaves worktrees uncleaned, accumulating about 100 GB of stale worktree and cache data.","causal_attribution":"Author's account of their own configuration and observations."},{"id":"c3","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'My orchestrator runs GPT-6.1 Sol at Ultra reasoning'; 'Instruction adherence appears to degrade during long sessions / after compaction'; 'The worktree issue additionally indicates that safety-critical repository invariants are not always being preserved across this process.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The issue states the setup as Codex CLI v0.160.1 running GPT-6.1 Sol at Ultra reasoning as an orchestrator on macOS, and links the worktree problem to instruction adherence degrading in long sessions and after compaction.","causal_attribution":"Author's interpretation."}],"effects":[{"label":"main project worktree deleted; some uncommitted work lost and other files restored from a Time Machine backup (author's account)","claim_id":"c1","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://github.com/openai/codex/issues/51672","kind":"first_person_account","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-10-08: the issue body including the attached Codex doctor report, retrieved through the GitHub API; no comments existed. The author's handle and the user path inside the doctor report are not recorded.","independence_group":"github-codex-51672-author"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["own_use"],"contexts":["work"],"unknowns":["When the worktree deletion happened; the issue says only 'in one recent case'.","What the lost uncommitted work was and how much of it was unrecoverable.","Which command removed the worktree and whether an approval step was in force.","Where the author lives.","Whether OpenAI responded to the issue."],"geography":{"basis":"The issue does not say where the author was or lives. No country is recorded.","court_countries":[],"event_countries":[],"affected_person_countries":[]},"publication":{"basis":"Published under the charter's public first-person rule as a concrete account of an AI coding agent deleting a user's main project worktree with uncommitted work lost, attributed throughout to the author's issue and uncorroborated; the deletion date is unknown and the loss is modest, so severity is low. The author's handle is not recorded.","reviewed_on":"2026-10-08"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"The issue states that the Codex coding agent itself deleted the main project worktree in a long multi-agent session and connects that deletion to the loss of uncommitted work and the need to restore files from a backup. The account is the author's own and no other source describes the event.","status":"reported"},"person_relations":["acted_on_behalf"]},"name":"GitHub issue by a Codex user: the coding agent deleted the main project worktree during a long session and some uncommitted work was lost, user says","summary":"In a GitHub issue filed on 7 October 2026 in the OpenAI Codex repository, a developer who runs the Codex coding agent in long multi-agent sessions on large repositories reports that in one recent case the agent deleted the main project worktree. The repository was under Git, so part of the damage was recoverable, but the author says some uncommitted work was lost and further files had to be recovered from a Time Machine backup. The author says their repository rules, kept in persistent governance files such as AGENTS.md, tell agents that they may create temporary worktrees but must never delete or damage the primary working tree, and that worktree clean-up is unreliable in long sessions, leaving about 100 GB of stale worktree and cache data. The issue also lists delegation, model-routing and instruction-drift complaints. The deletion and the loss rest on the author's account; no event date is given.","incidentKind":"single_event","incidentDatePrecision":"unknown","exposurePattern":"repeated_interactions","reportedDate":"2026-10-07","aiSystem":"OpenAI Codex CLI v0.160.1 running GPT-6.1 Sol at Ultra reasoning as an orchestrator with sub-agents and Git worktrees on macOS, per the issue","aiProduct":"Codex coding agent (reported)","aiCompany":"OpenAI","severity":"low","verificationStatus":"unverified","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["other_material_harm"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"The author reports that the Codex coding agent deleted the main project worktree during a long multi-agent session, that some uncommitted work was lost and that other files had to be restored from a Time Machine backup, against repository rules forbidding damage to the primary working tree (first-person issue, uncorroborated, date not given).","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"alleged","participantUsersAffectedMin":1,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":0,"affectedCountStatus":"exact","affectedCountEvidence":"One person: the issue's author. Exact 1.","victimAgeRange":"unknown","jurisdiction":"unknown","platformType":"agent","outcomeStatus":"ongoing","primarySourceUrl":"https://github.com/openai/codex/issues/51672","primarySourceLabel":"GitHub issue openai/codex #51672, 7 October 2026: long-running sessions, instruction drift, worktree lifecycle failures and primary worktree deletion","firstPublishedAt":"2026-10-08T03:27:55.675902+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-10-11T07:32:49.132978+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["first-person","github-issue","codex","ai-agent","coding-agent","data-loss","worktree","instruction-drift","acted-on-behalf"]},{"id":"2026-gpt-5-6-sol-agent-deleted-shumer-mac-home-directory","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'GPT-5.6-Sol just accidentally deleted almost ALL of my Mac’s files.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'Three days ago, GPT-5.6 deleted my Mac’s home directory.'; 'It absolutely sucked.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"},{"locator":"'wrote Matt Shumer, the founder and CEO of AI startup OthersideAI, maker of HyperWrite, in a now viral post on X.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"}],"assertion":"On 10 July 2026 Matt Shumer, founder and chief executive of the AI start-up OthersideAI, posted on X that OpenAI's GPT-5.6 Sol had just accidentally deleted almost all of the files on his Mac; three days later he wrote that GPT-5.6 had deleted his Mac's home directory and that it \"absolutely sucked\".","causal_attribution":"Shumer's own posts; TechCrunch relays them."},{"id":"c2","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'a sub-agent on a cleanup task expanded $HOME incorrectly and ran rm -rf /Users/mattsdevbox. He was testing Ultra mode, a high-autonomy multi-agent configuration, at OpenAI’s invitation. He caught the process mid-run; material deletion had already occurred.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s6"},{"locator":"'The OpenAI team reached out privately and asked him to test \"Ultra mode\"'; 'Shumer accepted and granted the local agent Full Access to his machine.'; 'One hour and twenty-one minutes into the session, he noticed something was wrong. By the time he killed the process, most of his home directory's contents were gone.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s5"}],"assertion":"According to accounts of Shumer's post-mortem, he was testing a high-autonomy multi-agent \"Ultra mode\" at OpenAI's invitation with the agent given Full Access to his machine; during a cleanup task a sub-agent expanded $HOME incorrectly and ran a recursive delete of his home directory, he noticed a problem about 81 minutes into the session, and by the time he stopped the process most of the directory's contents were gone.","causal_attribution":"Shumer's account as summarised by a technical blog and TechTimes; the original post-mortem was not read."},{"id":"c3","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'OpenAI has confirmed reports that GPT-5.6 has deleted users' files without authorization but insists these rare erasures represent an \"honest mistake.\"'; 'an internal inquiry into file deletion claims found that when GPT-5.6 unexpectedly deleted files, the model is usually configured in Full-Access mode'; '\"The model attempts to override the $HOME env var to define a temporary directory,\" said Sottiaux. \"The model makes an honest mistake and mistakenly deletes $HOME instead.\"'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s4"}],"assertion":"OpenAI confirmed that GPT-5.6 had deleted users' files without authorisation; its Codex engineering lead said an internal inquiry found the model usually ran in Full-Access mode without sandboxing when this happened and that the model \"mistakenly deletes $HOME\" when trying to override the variable to define a temporary directory.","causal_attribution":"OpenAI's statement as reported by The Register; it is general and does not name Shumer's case."},{"id":"c4","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'But so many OpenAI folks reached out, and @gdb called me and offered to do anything he could to help.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"},{"locator":"'As of this writing, Shumer is using agents to attempt recovery of the deleted files.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s5"}],"assertion":"Shumer said OpenAI staff reached out and that Greg Brockman called him and offered help; TechTimes reported that he was using agents to try to recover the files, and no report inspected says whether they were recovered.","causal_attribution":"Shumer's post and TechTimes."}],"effects":[{"label":"most of the user's Mac home directory was deleted by the coding agent during a cleanup task","claim_id":"c1","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://x.com/mattshumer_/status/2075657271401390161","kind":"first_person_account","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Shumer's X post of 10 July 2026 (19:03 UTC), read on 2026-09-29 as JSON through the api.fxtwitter.com mirror of the status; x.com itself was not fetched.","independence_group":"shumer-account"},{"id":"s2","url":"https://x.com/mattshumer_/status/2076794038456385546","kind":"first_person_account","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Shumer's follow-up X post of 13 July 2026 (22:20 UTC), quoting s1; read through the api.fxtwitter.com mirror on 2026-09-29.","independence_group":"shumer-account"},{"id":"s3","url":"https://techcrunch.com/2026/07/14/openais-new-flagship-model-deletes-files-on-its-own-people-keep-warning/","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Full body read by curl on 2026-09-29. For the deletion itself TechCrunch relays Shumer's X post and is grouped with it.","independence_group":"shumer-account"},{"id":"s4","url":"https://www.theregister.com/ai-and-ml/2026/07/16/openai-admits-gpt-56-occasionally-deletes-files-but-its-an-honest-mistake/5274008","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Full body read by curl on 2026-09-29. Carries a statement attributed to Thibault Sottiaux, OpenAI engineering lead for Codex, about the company's inquiry; the statement itself was not read at its origin.","independence_group":"register-openai"},{"id":"s5","url":"https://www.techtimes.com/articles/320267/20260712/gpt-56-sols-shell-bug-wiped-mac-openai-had-flagged-risk-16-days-earlier.htm","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Full body read by curl on 2026-09-29. Its incident narrative is attributed to Shumer's account and posts, so it is grouped with them.","independence_group":"shumer-account"},{"id":"s6","url":"https://paddo.dev/blog/the-warning-was-in-the-manual/","kind":"blog","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Personal technical blog read by curl on 2026-09-29; it summarises the victims' own post-mortems, which were not read at their origin.","independence_group":"shumer-account"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["own_use"],"contexts":["work","everyday_life"],"unknowns":["Whether the deleted files were recovered.","Exactly what data was lost and whether any belonged to other people.","Whether OpenAI's inquiry examined this specific session."],"geography":{"basis":"No inspected source says where Shumer or his machine was located.","court_countries":[],"event_countries":[],"affected_person_countries":[]},"publication":{"basis":"Published as a concrete first-person account of an AI coding agent deleting a user's files, with the developer's general confirmation of the behaviour. The mechanism rests on secondary summaries of the user's post-mortem.","reviewed_on":"2026-09-29"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"Shumer attributes the deletion to GPT-5.6 Sol in his own posts; OpenAI confirmed, as reported by The Register, that the model had deleted users' files without authorisation and described the $HOME error, without naming his case.","status":"supported"},"person_relations":["acted_on_behalf"]},"name":"OpenAI's GPT-5.6 Sol coding agent, run in a high-autonomy mode with full access, deleted most of the Mac home directory of AI entrepreneur Matt Shumer (10 July 2026)","summary":"On 10 July 2026 Matt Shumer, founder and chief executive of the AI start-up OthersideAI, posted on X that OpenAI's newly released GPT-5.6 Sol \"just accidentally deleted almost ALL of my Mac’s files\". Accounts of his post-mortem say he was testing a high-autonomy multi-agent \"Ultra mode\" at OpenAI's invitation, with the Codex agent given Full Access to his machine; during a cleanup task a sub-agent expanded $HOME incorrectly and ran a recursive delete of his home directory, he noticed a problem about 81 minutes into the session, and by the time he stopped the process most of its contents were gone. Three days later he wrote that the deletion \"absolutely sucked\" and that OpenAI staff, including Greg Brockman, had contacted him to help. OpenAI confirmed, as reported by The Register, that GPT-5.6 had deleted users' files without authorisation, describing it as an \"honest mistake\" that usually occurred in Full-Access mode without sandboxing, and said it was adding safeguards. Whether the files were recovered is not reported.","incidentDate":"2026-07-10","incidentKind":"single_event","incidentDatePrecision":"day","exposurePattern":"single_interaction","reportedDate":"2026-07-10","aiSystem":"GPT-5.6 Sol running as the Codex coding agent in \"Ultra mode\" (multiple sub-agents) with Full Access to the user's Mac","aiProduct":"Codex coding agent","aiCompany":"OpenAI","severity":"low","verificationStatus":"credible","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["property_loss"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"Most of the contents of Shumer's Mac home directory were deleted by the GPT-5.6 Sol agent during a cleanup task, according to his own posts and accounts of his post-mortem; OpenAI confirmed that the model had deleted users' files without authorisation. Recovery is not reported.","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"supported","participantUsersAffectedMin":1,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":0,"affectedCountStatus":"exact","affectedCountEvidence":"Shumer, whose home directory was deleted (1 participant user). No other person is reported harmed.","victimAgeRange":"adult","platformType":"agent","outcomeType":"media_coverage","outcomeStatus":"unknown","primarySourceUrl":"https://www.theregister.com/ai-and-ml/2026/07/16/openai-admits-gpt-56-occasionally-deletes-files-but-its-an-honest-mistake/5274008","primarySourceLabel":"The Register, 16 July 2026: OpenAI admits GPT-5.6 occasionally deletes files","firstPublishedAt":"2026-09-29T09:10:46.288079+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-09-30T01:17:38.109125+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["openai","gpt-5-6","codex","coding-agent","data-loss","file-deletion","first-person","acted-on-behalf"]},{"id":"2026-claude-code-agent-deleted-48000-live-project-files-windows-junctions","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'An agent I launched deleted about 48,000 live files from the Dashboard tree between 10:10:31 and 10:12:14 PM ET tonight, and destroyed the git object store.'; 'That mirror is 7,332 real files plus 614 Windows directory junctions pointing into the live tree.'; 'Git cannot restore anything.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'After subtracting the 7,332 intended mirror files, the reviewer calculated 48,218 deleted live files.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"}],"assertion":"According to Claude Code's report as posted by the user, a sub-agent it launched to rebuild a test mirror wrote a remover for an old mirror containing 7,332 files and 614 Windows directory junctions into the live tree; the remover followed the junctions and deleted about 48,000 live files between 10:10:31 and 10:12:14 PM ET and destroyed the Git object store.","causal_attribution":"The agent's own report as posted by the user; logs were not published and no independent forensic account exists."},{"id":"c2","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'This is explicit authorization to build, correct and test them on isolated copies.'; 'rebuild the mirror against current files.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The user had authorised the agent to build, correct and test repairs on isolated copies, including rebuilding the mirror.","causal_attribution":"The user's own prompt as they posted it."},{"id":"c3","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'stop and read this. I broke something.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'I broke something.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s5"}],"assertion":"The agent opened its report with 'stop and read this. I broke something.'","causal_attribution":"Agent output as posted by the user."},{"id":"c4","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'I'm in finance, not a developer.'; 'Hoping for good luck with the shadow copy. If not, I will use my idrive backups.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"},{"locator":"'I was not properly using GitHub or another method for immediate corrections, even though it should have been branching.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s4"}],"assertion":"The user said they work in finance rather than as a developer and would try Windows shadow copies and otherwise their iDrive backups; according to Yahoo Tech, the archived post said they had not been properly using GitHub or another method for immediate corrections.","causal_attribution":"The user's own statements."}],"effects":[{"label":"about 48,218 live project files and the Git history were deleted by a sub-agent during an authorised repair job","claim_id":"c1","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://www.reddit.com/r/ClaudeAI/comments/1wl5cgo/code_just_deleted_48k_files_this_cant_be_real/paydvzs/","kind":"first_person_account","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read on 2026-09-28 from the thread's Reddit RSS feed (comment by the original poster, 20 September 2026, 13:18 UTC): their prompt and Claude Code's report. The post itself was removed and its body could not be read; post metadata from arctic_shift.","independence_group":"reddit-op-account"},{"id":"s2","url":"https://www.reddit.com/r/ClaudeAI/comments/1wl5cgo/code_just_deleted_48k_files_this_cant_be_real/payn88t/","kind":"first_person_account","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read on 2026-09-28 from the thread's Reddit RSS feed (comment by the original poster, 20 September 2026, 14:05 UTC).","independence_group":"reddit-op-account"},{"id":"s3","url":"https://cybersecuritynews.com/claude-code-agent-file-deletion/","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read live on 2026-09-28 (Cyber Security News, 21 September 2026). Relays the Reddit post and the attached verifier report.","independence_group":"reddit-op-account"},{"id":"s4","url":"https://tech.yahoo.com/ai/claude/articles/48-000-files-deleted-103-135359723.html","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read live on 2026-09-28 (Yahoo Tech, Future syndication, 25 September 2026). Quotes an archived copy of the removed post.","independence_group":"reddit-op-account"},{"id":"s5","url":"https://www.techradar.com/pro/security/i-broke-something-a-claude-code-ai-agent-deleted-48-000-files-in-just-over-100-seconds-then-apologized-for-doing-so","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read live on 2026-09-28 (TechRadar, 27 September 2026). Relays the Reddit post and its comments.","independence_group":"reddit-op-account"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["own_use"],"contexts":["everyday_life"],"unknowns":["Whether the files were recovered from shadow copies or backups, and how much work was lost.","The Claude Code version, model and permission mode used.","The removed post's full text (only quoted fragments and the poster's comments were read).","The user's location."],"geography":{"basis":"The account gives times in ET but states no location for the user; no country is recorded. No court proceeding.","court_countries":[],"event_countries":[],"affected_person_countries":[]},"publication":{"basis":"Published under the 2026-09-15 charter as a core acted_on_behalf case from a first-person public forum account: the user posted their prompt and the coding agent's own report of deleting about 48,000 live files during an authorised job. Unverified beyond the poster's account and the agent's report; recovery unknown. The user is not named.","reviewed_on":"2026-09-28"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"The user posted their prompt and Claude Code's own report, in which the agent says 'An agent I launched deleted about 48,000 live files' and explains the junction-following remover a sub-agent wrote (Reddit comment via the thread RSS). The deletion was an action the agent took on the user's behalf under a broad authorisation to work on isolated copies. No logs were published, and the account is not independently verified (Cyber Security News notes the same).","status":"reported"},"person_relations":["acted_on_behalf"]},"name":"Claude Code: a sub-agent launched to rebuild a test mirror deleted about 48,000 live project files and the Git object store in 103 seconds by following Windows directory junctions, according to the user's Reddit account and the agent's own report posted on 20 September 2026","summary":"On 20 September 2026 (UTC; late on 19 September in US Eastern time) a Reddit user who says they work in finance and are not a developer posted in r/ClaudeAI that Claude Code had deleted about 48,000 files, and later posted their instructions and the agent's report. They had authorised Claude Code to carry out a batch of repairs to their software for back-testing options-trading engines 'on isolated copies'. The agent's report says it launched sub-agents; one, rebuilding a test mirror, wrote a remover for an old mirror that held 7,332 files and 614 Windows directory junctions pointing into the live project tree. Because the remover did not treat the junctions as links, it deleted about 48,218 live files between 10:10:31 and 10:12:14 PM ET and emptied the Git repository's objects, refs and logs, so Git could not restore anything. The agent opened its report with 'stop and read this. I broke something.' The user said they would try Windows shadow copies and otherwise their iDrive backups; whether the files were recovered is not reported. The account has not been independently verified.","incidentDate":"2026-09-19","incidentKind":"single_event","incidentDatePrecision":"day","exposurePattern":"single_interaction","reportedDate":"2026-09-20","aiSystem":"Claude Code (Anthropic) running a multi-agent repair workflow on a Windows machine; the underlying model version is not stated","aiProduct":"Claude Code","aiCompany":"Anthropic (Claude Code)","severity":"low","verificationStatus":"unverified","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["other_material_harm"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"About 48,218 live project files and the project's Git history were deleted by a sub-agent during an authorised repair job, according to the user and the agent's own report posted on Reddit; recovery was being attempted and its outcome is unknown.","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"supported","participantUsersAffectedMin":1,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":0,"affectedCountStatus":"exact","affectedCountEvidence":"One person, the user whose files were deleted (their Reddit account). Exact 1.","victimAgeRange":"adult","platformType":"agent","outcomeType":"media_coverage","outcomeStatus":"unknown","primarySourceUrl":"https://www.reddit.com/r/ClaudeAI/comments/1wl5cgo/code_just_deleted_48k_files_this_cant_be_real/paydvzs/","primarySourceLabel":"Reddit r/ClaudeAI, 20 September 2026: the original poster's comment with their prompt and Claude Code's report ('Code just deleted 48k files. This can't be real.')","firstPublishedAt":"2026-09-28T03:31:30.325951+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-09-30T01:17:32.629956+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["claude-code","anthropic","coding-agent","data-loss","file-deletion","windows","reddit","own-use","acted-on-behalf"]}]}