# An empty variable turned rm -rf and rsync --delete into "delete /". Coding agents did it three times this fall

Source: [DEV Community: ai](https://dev.to/dooly6276/an-empty-variable-turned-rm-rf-and-rsync-delete-into-delete-coding-agents-did-it-three-48lo) · 2026-11-14 · AI
Page: https://themorning.dev/story/an-empty-variable-turned-rm-rf-and-rsync-delete-into-delete-coding-agents-did-it-a1e88d3cc3a55895
Kind: other · Impact: medium

## In brief

- Three reports on the Claude Code issue tracker this autumn describe coding agents running destructive commands.
- In each case the agent built rm or rsync --delete commands around a value it never printed.
- The value was empty or pointed at a drive root, so the command deleted far more than intended.

## Why it matters

Coding agents can run file-deleting commands built from variables they never display, so an empty or wrong value can wipe data without warning.

## Coverage

- [An empty variable turned rm -rf and rsync --delete into "delete /". Coding agents did it three times this fall](https://dev.to/dooly6276/an-empty-variable-turned-rm-rf-and-rsync-delete-into-delete-coding-agents-did-it-three-48lo) — DEV Community: ai, 2026-11-14

Tags: coding-agents, claude-code, shell, data-loss, rsync, automation

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Brief generated by AI (claude-haiku-5-5) from the reporting listed under Coverage. Headlines belong to their publishers. The Morning Dev – https://themorning.dev