Stop agents from deleting files or running dangerous commands

Symptoms

• The agent ran rm -rf, git reset --hard or overwrote uncommitted work

Common causes

• The agent runs directly on the host with your user’s permissions
• “Auto-approve everything” is on
• Work was not committed, so there is nothing to roll back to

How to fix

1. Run the agent in a container, devcontainer or sandbox (locally Docker, bubblewrap or sandbox-runtime; in the cloud E2B and similar)
2. Mount only the project directory, not your home directory, SSH keys or cloud credentials; disable or restrict network access by default
3. Use the client’s permission modes and deny rules so deletes, pushes and config changes always need human approval
4. Commit or create a branch/worktree before starting so every change can be undone
5. Keep backups; never hand the only copy of anything to an agent