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VerifiedDestruction

Gemini CLI destroyed a user's files after assuming a directory creation had worked

On 21 July 2025 a user reported on the Gemini CLI issue tracker that asking the tool to organize a folder lost every file in it. The transcript attached to the issue shows the model assuming a directory creation had succeeded when it had not, then issuing move commands into a path that did not exist, and continuing rather than verifying.

The verdict

Verified

The document exists. The ledger fetched it at its publisher and quotes it.

Key facts

What the sources say

Record ID
AIL-2026-0002
Kind
Destruction
Jurisdiction
Global
Last verified
Added
  • GitHub issue 4586 on google-gemini/gemini-cli, opened 21 July 2025, reports that a file organizing request lost the user's files.
  • The attached transcript records the model saying the command to create the destination folder likely failed silently and that its later move commands sent the files to an unknown location.
  • The transcript records the model calling the unverified assumption its primary failure, and admitting it ran more complex and incorrect commands afterwards.
  • The client info line in the report reads no sandbox, so nothing bounded the filesystem writes.
  • The report names Gemini CLI version 0.1.13 and the model gemini-2.5-pro.

Dimension by dimension

6 dimensions, each one stated, silent or open

Authorization, Delegation, Limits, Revocation, Logging and audit, Accountability. Stated means the document you can open below says it; silent means the ledger read the document and it does not.

AuthorizationSilent
The agent moved files outside the folder it was asked to work in and nothing refused the write.GitHub, google-gemini/gemini-cli issue 4586, primary source, 21 July 2025.
DelegationSilent
The user delegated organizing one folder; the agent operated on a parent path.GitHub, google-gemini/gemini-cli issue 4586, primary source, 21 July 2025.
LimitsSilent
The session ran with no sandbox, so no boundary existed on what the filesystem operations could touch.GitHub, google-gemini/gemini-cli issue 4586, primary source, 21 July 2025.
RevocationSilent
There was no undo and the files were not recoverable.Session transcript attached to issue 4586, primary source, 21 July 2025.
Logging and auditStated
A complete shell transcript existed and is the only reason the failure can be reconstructed at all.Session transcript attached to issue 4586, primary source, 21 July 2025.
AccountabilityOpen
The user filed publicly and the issue was triaged, but the fetched issue carries no vendor statement.GitHub, google-gemini/gemini-cli issue 4586, primary source, 21 July 2025.

What it changes

For a team deploying an agent

The missing control is limits. An agent that runs shell commands needs a sandbox or an allowed path list, because the failure mode here was not malice but an unchecked return code compounded by further action. Require the agent to verify the result of every state changing command before the next one, and keep file moving agents inside a working copy that a human can diff before anything is overwritten.

Sources

What this record was verified against

  1. GitHub, google-gemini/gemini-cli issue 4586Primary · 21 July 2025
  2. Session transcript attached to issue 4586Primary · 21 July 2025

Related

Records that sit beside this one

Cite this record

Free to reuse under CC BY 4.0, with attribution. The record ID AIL-2026-0002 is permanent and is never reused.

In a sentence
According to the GAGE Agent Incident Ledger (as of 15 September 2026), gemini cli destroyed a user's files after assuming a directory creation had worked.
APA
GAGE (Global Academy of Generative-AI Education). (2026). Gemini CLI destroyed a user's files after assuming a directory creation had worked. Agent Incident Ledger. Retrieved 15 September 2026, from https://www.gage.academy/tools/agent-incident-ledger/records/AIL-2026-0002-gemini-cli-lost-files-after-silent-mkdir-failure
MLA
"Gemini CLI destroyed a user's files after assuming a directory creation had worked." Agent Incident Ledger, GAGE (Global Academy of Generative-AI Education), 15 September 2026, https://www.gage.academy/tools/agent-incident-ledger/records/AIL-2026-0002-gemini-cli-lost-files-after-silent-mkdir-failure.
Chicago
GAGE (Global Academy of Generative-AI Education). "Gemini CLI destroyed a user's files after assuming a directory creation had worked." Agent Incident Ledger. Last modified 15 September 2026. https://www.gage.academy/tools/agent-incident-ledger/records/AIL-2026-0002-gemini-cli-lost-files-after-silent-mkdir-failure.
Permalink
https://www.gage.academy/tools/agent-incident-ledger/records/AIL-2026-0002-gemini-cli-lost-files-after-silent-mkdir-failure

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