Preflight Checklist
What's Wrong?
When working on an exFAT USB drive, Claude attempted to create a directory with a different case (Content) while a directory with the same name (content) already existed. Since exFAT is case-insensitive, these resolved to the same path. Claude did not detect this and later ran rm -rf on the directory, permanently deleting all user data.
Issues:
Claude does not check filesystem case-sensitivity before creating directories that differ only in case
Claude uses rm -rf (irreversible) instead of safer alternatives like moving to trash
Claude does not verify source and destination are independent paths before deleting source data
What Should Happen?
Claude should check filesystem case-sensitivity before creating directories and should never use rm -rf on user data without verifying path independence first.
Error Messages/Logs
Steps to Reproduce
Work on an exFAT USB drive that has a folder named content
Ask Claude to create a folder named Content on the same drive
Ask Claude to delete the old content folder
Claude Model
Opus
Is this a regression?
Yes, this worked in a previous version
Last Working Version
4.6
Claude Code Version
4.6
Platform
Anthropic API
Operating System
macOS
Terminal/Shell
VS Code integrated terminal
Additional Information
No response
Preflight Checklist
What's Wrong?
When working on an exFAT USB drive, Claude attempted to create a directory with a different case (Content) while a directory with the same name (content) already existed. Since exFAT is case-insensitive, these resolved to the same path. Claude did not detect this and later ran rm -rf on the directory, permanently deleting all user data.
Issues:
Claude does not check filesystem case-sensitivity before creating directories that differ only in case
Claude uses rm -rf (irreversible) instead of safer alternatives like moving to trash
Claude does not verify source and destination are independent paths before deleting source data
What Should Happen?
Claude should check filesystem case-sensitivity before creating directories and should never use rm -rf on user data without verifying path independence first.
Error Messages/Logs
Steps to Reproduce
Work on an exFAT USB drive that has a folder named content
Ask Claude to create a folder named Content on the same drive
Ask Claude to delete the old content folder
Claude Model
Opus
Is this a regression?
Yes, this worked in a previous version
Last Working Version
4.6
Claude Code Version
4.6
Platform
Anthropic API
Operating System
macOS
Terminal/Shell
VS Code integrated terminal
Additional Information
No response