MechanismArticle
The model attempts to override the $HOME environment variable to define a temporary directory, and by honest mistake ends up deleting $HOME instead.
Sottiaux describes the technical failure chain: the model tries to redefine $HOME for a temp directory but mistakenly deletes the real $HOME directory instead. ✦ AI generated
Thibault Sottiaux · Simon Willison's Weblog · 2026-07-16 · original ↗
The model attempts to override the $HOME env var to define a temporary directory. The model makes an honest mistake and mistakenly deletes $HOME instead.
Read full article ↗excerpt · fair-use quotation
Around this claim
This moment responds to
explains mechanism → GPT-5.6 has unexpectedly deleted files in a handful of investigated reports.Thibault Sottiaux · Simon Willison's Weblogexplains mechanism → The unexpected file deletions most commonly occur when full access mode is enabled and Codex runs without sandboxing protections, including without auto review enabled.Thibault Sottiaux · Simon Willison's Weblog