Coding Assistant wiped my Mac (opens in new tab)

(decisional.com)

5 pointsgroovetandon6mo ago6 comments

6 comments

An AI coding assistant deleted everything on our Mac so wanted to let everyone know so that they can be more careful

It created a config folder for MCP under /home/user/project/~/.cursor/mcp.json Best guess: We asked Composer to copy this file to “the correct location”.

It moved it and then attempted to delete the incorrect file. However, it got confused and somehow ran a delete on the ~ path which ended up deleting everything on our mac.

Privacy mode prevented the team from retrieving detailed logs to confirm exact commands. We’re now isolating AI coding tools in containers and tightening local safeguards.

namegulf6mo ago

Thanks for the heads up before someone has to go through the same.

Sandboxing is the way to go.

brulard6mo ago

Yes, it is important to remember, that these agents are a double edged sword. One edge cuts nicely through the work, but the other is facing you.

beardyw6mo ago

It sounds as if the action required could have easily been done by a human instead. It sounds like using AI just for the sake of it.

groovetandonOP6mo ago

Yes, it can be done by a humam but if you are working on multiple things in parallel, you tend to start delegating even small tasks to AI. Not saying its a good thing.

y0eswddl6mo ago

let's not act like it's not human nature to offload as much work as possible to technology whenever possible

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse

6 comments

groovetandonOP6mo ago

An AI coding assistant deleted everything on our Mac so wanted to let everyone know so that they can be more careful

It created a config folder for MCP under /home/user/project/~/.cursor/mcp.json Best guess: We asked Composer to copy this file to “the correct location”.

It moved it and then attempted to delete the incorrect file. However, it got confused and somehow ran a delete on the ~ path which ended up deleting everything on our mac.

Privacy mode prevented the team from retrieving detailed logs to confirm exact commands. We’re now isolating AI coding tools in containers and tightening local safeguards.

namegulf6mo ago

Thanks for the heads up before someone has to go through the same.

Sandboxing is the way to go.

brulard6mo ago

Yes, it is important to remember, that these agents are a double edged sword. One edge cuts nicely through the work, but the other is facing you.

beardyw6mo ago

It sounds as if the action required could have easily been done by a human instead. It sounds like using AI just for the sake of it.

groovetandonOP6mo ago

Yes, it can be done by a humam but if you are working on multiple things in parallel, you tend to start delegating even small tasks to AI. Not saying its a good thing.

y0eswddl6mo ago

let's not act like it's not human nature to offload as much work as possible to technology whenever possible

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse