Files named 'nul' created on Windows instead of using NUL device
Resolved 💬 10 comments Opened Jan 13, 2026 by Rsrsys Closed Feb 13, 2026
Description
Claude Code is creating actual files named nul in various directories on Windows. This appears to be a bug where code intended to write to the Windows NUL device (equivalent to /dev/null) instead creates a real file.
Evidence
Found 9 files named nul scattered across project directories after a couple days of irregular usage:
./ProjectA/nul
./ProjectB/SubfolderApi/nul
./ProjectB/nul
./ProjectB/WebApp/nul
./ProjectC/AdminWeb/nul
./ProjectD/nul
./ProjectE/ERP/nul
./nul
Probable cause
When running in a bash environment on Windows (Git Bash, WSL, etc.), writing to NUL or nul creates an actual file instead of discarding output as intended. The code should use /dev/null when in a bash context, or properly detect the environment.
Expected behavior
Output intended to be discarded should not create files.
Environment
- Platform: Windows 11
- Claude Code CLI (running in bash environment)
Workaround
Manual cleanup with: find . -name "nul" -type f -delete
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