Claude Code Wipes User's ~/Library: A Space in 'Application Support' Broke xargs Path Handling
PrajwalTomar_ · x · 2026-11-11
Another user lost their Mac's entire /Library — app data, saved passwords, macOS configs — to Claude Code. The agent tried to delete 5 test chat channels it had created in /Library/Application Support/, but xargs -n1 dirname split paths on the space in 'Application Support', so dirname returned /Library, which Claude then rm -rf'd for about 2 minutes before stopping itself. The user wasn't at the machine and only reconstructed what happened from session logs.
PrajwalTomar's three defenses:
- Don't disable permission prompts entirely; use auto mode so safe steps run and risky ones wait
- Block rm with a hook — have Claude move files to a trash folder you empty manually
- Keep backups: Git for code, Time Machine for everything else
Related event: Claude Code Wipes User's Entire ~/Library Due to Space in Folder Name(2 posts)→
More from coding & agent
- Burkov's new RL book implements REINFORCE, PPO and DQN on one rocket-landing task — burkov · 2026-11-11
- Gemini 4 Carbon rebuilds 220m of downtown Los Gatos in Blender with near-zero manual modeling — bilawalsidhu · 2026-11-11
- AgentRun goes open source as a managed agents platform supporting ACP harnesses — garrytan · 2026-11-11
- Fable 5.2 built an entire mobile game from scratch — playable now — brandon_galang · 2026-11-11
- Particle-1 cuts code review cost to 2-3 cents, ~40x cheaper than Greptile — garrytan · 2026-11-11
- Industry will regret not hiring junior developers, warns 3-5 year prediction — bendee983 · 2026-11-11