[BUG] Global claude.md rules ignores (vscode + claude plugin, macos) All data lost, rule to make backup ignored! I lost two days of my manual work!

Preflight Checklist

• [x] I have searched existing issues and this hasn't been reported yet
• [x] This is a single bug report (please file separate reports for different bugs)
• [x] I am using the latest version of Claude Code

What's Wrong?

What's wrong

Claude Code itself recommends that users create ~/.claude/CLAUDE.md with global rules to control its behavior across all projects. The user followed this recommendation and wrote explicit, mandatory rules including:

"Before EVERY deploy: backup the database. No exceptions. Lost data = lost money." "If the project has paid API results cached in DB (OpenAI, etc.) — these are irreplaceable. Treat DB as financial asset."

These rules were confirmed loaded into Claude Code's context at the start of every conversation. Despite this, Claude Code:

1. Ran migrate:fresh (destructive DB reset) on a local database containing 2 days of work — without backup, without confirmation
2. Ran DROP SCHEMA CASCADE on a production database — without backup, without confirmation
3. When caught, wrote a custom recovery script that ignored the project's existing ingest pipeline, producing useless records missing critical metadata (filename_parse, number, delivery_date)

The core issue: Claude Code promotes global instructions as a safety mechanism, then ignores them. This is worse than not having the feature at all — it creates a false sense of security.

Impact

• 2 days of manual annotation work permanently lost
• Paid OpenAI API results in DB lost
• Additional time wasted on broken recovery attempt that ignored existing tools
• User trust destroyed — if explicit "No exceptions" rules are ignored, what's the point of the feature?

What Should Happen?

What should have happened

1. Claude Code should have followed the rules it told the user to write
2. Before ANY destructive DB operation: backup → verify backup has data → ask user for confirmation
3. Recovery should have used the existing routelists:ingest command, not a custom script

Error Messages/Logs

Steps to Reproduce

1. Follow Claude Code's own recommendation to create ~/.claude/CLAUDE.md with safety rules
2. Include explicit database backup requirements with "No exceptions" language
3. Ask Claude Code to perform deployment tasks
4. Observe: Claude Code runs destructive DB operations in direct violation of the loaded rules

Claude Model

claude-opus-4-6

Is this a regression?

No, this never worked

Last Working Version

_No response_

Claude Code Version

claude-opus-4-6

Platform

Anthropic API

Operating System

macOS

Terminal/Shell

VS Code integrated terminal

Additional Information

_No response_