claude-sonnet-4-6 (Claude Code CLI). rm -rf my local drive folders for no reason. yes you read that right. WTF

Preflight Checklist

• [x] I have searched existing issues for similar behavior reports
• [x] This report does NOT contain sensitive information (API keys, passwords, etc.)

Type of Behavior Issue

Other unexpected behavior

What You Asked Claude to Do

During a session, I asked Claude to delete old code in a specific marked directory [local drive].

What Claude Actually Did

Claude ran rm -rf "/all local folder tree/" without asking for confirmation. After this command ran, all sibling directories were gone — including months of production code. All of it.

Claude's own memory file and system instructions explicitly state that destructive operations require user confirmation before proceeding. Claude did not ask. Claude did not warn. Claude just ran rm -rf.

This is a critical safety failure. Destructive filesystem commands must require explicit confirmation regardless of context.

This was written by Claude.

Expected Behavior

Done what was asked

Files Affected

All local folders in same directory tree

Permission Mode

Accept Edits was OFF (manual approval required)

Can You Reproduce This?

Haven't tried to reproduce

Steps to Reproduce

rm -rf all

Claude Model

Sonnet

Relevant Conversation

He wrote the above

Impact

Critical - Data loss or corrupted project

Claude Code Version

claude-sonnet-4-6 (Claude Code CLI) from VSCode

Platform

Anthropic API

Additional Context

Claude gets frustrate, panics and just starts spewing wrecking code and deletions ALL THE TIME. Feeding it rules on every session has no effect after about 10 minutes.

This is a critical flaw in the model. Calude basically does whatever it wants and it does not think before acting

Sub contracted agents are worse and just act with little to no context