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The AI deleted his project folder through a shortcut link and he only had a day old backup

Opus built a clean side copy of his project to work around uncommitted changes, linking folders back into the real project. Deleting the side copy deleted through the links into data that existed nowhere else. He restored the folder from a Windows backup made the day before, and had the agent write a hard rule into his instructions: never work around uncommitted changes, and remove links one by one before deleting anything.

This one went wrong. Read what happened so you don’t hit the same problem.

How it works

  1. Agent builds a linked side copy
  2. Side copy deleted
  3. Deletion follows the links into the real data
  4. Folder restored from a day old Windows backup
  5. A never again rule written into his instructions

Why it’s worth knowing

The data loss came from a tidy workaround, not a delete command anyone reviewed.

Where it’s from

Summarized from a public post on reddit.com. See the original ↗

Upgraded prompt

A ready-to-use prompt for this idea, built from research on what makes AI agents do the job right: who the AI should be, the exact steps, and a check to make sure it was done the way you wanted.

1Who the AI should be
2The prompt, with the steps
3The check when it’s done
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Every idea is a real post from someone who tried it, summarized in our words, with a link to the original. App names are swapped for plain words.