The one command you must by no means let Claude Code or Codex run
Different AI slipups may be devastating, and should you cruise across the Claude, ChatGPT, or Gemini subreddits lengthy sufficient, you’ll discover tales of woe like this one, usually brought on by a easy however very highly effective command:
rm -rf
That little command strikes concern — or at the least, it ought to strike concern — into the center of any Linux consumer. And should you’re utilizing Claude Code or Codex for vibe coding, make no mistake: You’re a Linux consumer.
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The “rm” stands for “take away,” the usual Linux command for deleting a file. By itself, “rm” can solely accomplish that a lot injury, however when mixed with the “-r” (for “recursive”) and “-f” (for “pressure”) arguments, “rm -rf” can lay waste to a tough drive, nuking a listing, its information, and its subdirectories in seconds.
What makes “rm -rf” actually scary is whenever you – or Claude – use it wherever within the neighborhood of your own home listing, as in:
“rm -rf /Customers/benpatt/deleteme”
That command ought to simply wipe the “deleteme” subdirectory in my (instance) dwelling listing, however had been I to unintentionally pass over the “/delememe” half, growth! All my dwelling information and folders, gone perpetually.
A fair scarier model of the command is:
