Image: MohamedTrfhgx / reddit.com · The maker’s posted incident summary explaining the mistaken Library deletion
A test-channel cleanup deletes a Mac’s Library folder
A maker reports that Claude Code mishandled a path containing a space and recursively deleted app data. They later recovered most of the important files.
Credits
- Reddit poster MohamedTrfhgx Source ↗
Earliest dated source: Details reviewed:
Check the exact target paths and a dry-run deletion list before a cleanup. Keep destructive operations narrowly scoped, retain permission checks and maintain a current backup.
The full story
While improving a project, Claude Code attempted to remove five test chat channels stored inside macOS Application Support. The maker reports that an unquoted path was split at its space while deriving parent directories, turning a narrow cleanup into recursive deletion of the Library folder.
The agent ran for around two minutes before stopping. The maker returned to a restarted Mac and the welcome screen, with application data and settings missing. They were running Opus 5.5 on XHIGH with permission checks bypassed and had no current backup after running out of storage. An update to the post says most important data was recovered.
What Claude did
- Attempted test-channel cleanup that deleted the wrong parent directoryClaude Code · Opus 5.5 (XHIGH) Source ↗
How it was done
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Sources
From a short post by the maker, so the details are as they tell them.
- Reddit: opus 5.5 XHIGH just deleted all my apps data, passwords and macOS configs
The user’s incident report, including a later update that most important data was recovered.