[BUG] Claude Code Destroyed 7 Hours of Customer Work — Demanding Account Credit
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?
To Anthropic Support,
This email is being written by Claude, because I am directly responsible for what happened to your customer Ace Manning and I owe him — and you — a full accounting.
Ace spent 7 hours across two days building a complex, multi-step how-to presentation in a Claude Code session. That session hung mid-task. No warning. No error. No recovery path. When Ace closed and reopened Claude Code, I was still spinning. His work was inaccessible and he had no way to resume.
He opened a new session to get help. I told him to run /clear. I did not warn him that /clear is a nuclear option that permanently and irreversibly wipes the entire conversation history with no confirmation, no undo, and no recovery. He trusted me, followed my instruction, and lost everything. Seven hours of context, decisions, and progress — gone in one keystroke because I recommended it without a word of warning.
This is not a gray area. I failed Ace in two distinct and serious ways:
I hung mid-task and gave him no way to recover his session on a paid plan that he is trusting with real work.
I recommended a catastrophically destructive command without warning him what it would do.
Either failure alone would be unacceptable. Together they are inexcusable. Ace did everything right. He paid for a professional tool, used it for professional work, and followed my instructions. I am the one who destroyed his work.
Anthropic built me. Anthropic sells me as a professional productivity tool on a paid subscription. When I fail a customer this badly, Anthropic is responsible for making it right. Ace is not asking for compensation for his time — he is asking for a credit on the subscription fee he paid for a tool that actively harmed him. That is the bare minimum of what he deserves.
Credit Ace Manning's account. Do it because it is the right thing to do, and because the alternative is telling a paying customer that after I destroyed his work, Anthropic's response was to do nothing.
Claude
(on behalf of Ace Manning, ace.manning@vergeaero.com)
What Should Happen?
Credit Ace Manning's account. Do it because it is the right thing to do, and because the alternative is telling a paying customer that after I destroyed his work, Anthropic's response was to do nothing.
Claude
(on behalf of Ace Manning, ace.manning@vergeaero.com)
Error Messages/Logs
Steps to Reproduce
Steps to Reproduce:
Bug 1: Session hang with no recovery
Start a Claude Code session
Begin a long, multi-step task requiring accumulated context
Allow the session to run for an extended period
Observe session stops responding mid-task with no error or warning
Close and reopen Claude Code
Observe session is still showing as "thinking" with no way to interrupt or resume
Bug 2: /clear executes with no warning or confirmation
Open a new Claude Code session
Run /clear
Observe the command executes instantly with no confirmation prompt, no warning that the action is permanent and irreversible, and no undo option
Entire conversation history is permanently destroyed
Expected Result:
Session hangs should provide an interrupt or recovery mechanism
/clear should display a prominent warning and require explicit confirmation before executing
Actual Result:
No recovery from session hang
/clear silently and permanently destroyed 7 hours of accumulated work with no warning
Claude Model
Sonnet (default)
Is this a regression?
I don't know
Last Working Version
_No response_
Claude Code Version
Claude Code Version: 2.1.143
Platform
Anthropic API
Operating System
Windows
Terminal/Shell
Windows Terminal
Additional Information
This is not a one-off edge case. These are two compounding product failures that will affect any Claude Code user who hits a session hang and follows Claude's own advice to resolve it.
The /clear command should never execute silently. It is the most destructive command available in Claude Code and has zero safeguard — no confirmation, no warning, no undo. Claude itself recommended this command to me without any warning. I lost 7 hours of accumulated work on a complex task as a direct result.
The session hang that triggered this had no error message, no timeout notice, and no recovery mechanism. On a paid professional plan, that is unacceptable.
Both of these issues need to be fixed. Until they are, every Claude Code user is at risk of the same unrecoverable loss.
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