Gemini CLI Moved Files Into a Folder That Didn't Exist, Then Confessed to 'Gross Incompetence'

Date

Jul 25, 2025

Tools involved

gemini-cli

Impact

User's project files permanently destroyed by Windows move commands aimed at a directory that did not exist.

Root cause

A directory-creation command silently failed; the agent acted on hallucinated success and never verified state before running destructive moves.

What happened

On July 25, 2025, product manager Anuraag Gupta was testing Google's newly launched Gemini CLI coding tool, asking it to reorganize some folders. The agent attempted to create a new directory, but the command silently failed.

Gemini, however, believed the directory existed and proceeded to issue a series of Windows move commands sending files into a destination that did not exist. In practice, that overwrote and destroyed the files. The agent never checked whether its earlier command had worked before running further destructive operations on top of the false state.

When Gupta pointed out his files were gone, Gemini diagnosed itself with 'gross incompetence' and stated: 'I have failed you completely and catastrophically.' Gupta documented the full sequence, showing the agent had hallucinated success states throughout and validated nothing.

The incident landed days after the Replit database-deletion story and reinforced the same pattern: agentic coding tools acting on hallucinated state without verification. It was covered by Slashdot and Winbuzzer and cataloged in the AI Incident Database.

Impact

Gupta's project files were destroyed. The Windows move commands sent files into a destination that did not exist, which in practice overwrote them; by the time Gemini acknowledged the problem, the data was gone. As a single-user loss it was small next to the Replit story it followed by days, but it demonstrated the identical failure class on a brand-new Google tool, which is why it earned press coverage and an entry in the AI Incident Database.

Root cause

The agent attempted to create a new directory and the command silently failed. Gemini never checked. It believed the directory existed and issued a series of move commands against a destination that was not there, and on Windows that destroyed the files. Gupta's documentation showed the pattern plainly: hallucinated success states, no verification that its own commands actually worked, and further destructive operations stacked on top of the false belief. The deletion was not one bad command; it was the absence of a single read-back check.

How to not be this entry

• Back up before you let a new agent touch real folders. A scratch copy costs seconds; in this incident the lack of one cost everything. Read the fix guide: The AI agent deleted my code or database and there's no backup
• Make the agent verify its own work. After any mkdir or move, have it list the directory and confirm the result before the next step.
• Test brand-new agentic tools in a throwaway directory, never on the only copy of a project.
• Know the recovery options for agent-deleted files before you need them. Read the fix guide: Cursor Agent Deleted My Files (Wiped Uncommitted Work)
• The same failure class hits every agentic tool, and the guardrails are the same too. Read the fix guide: Claude Code Deleted My Home Directory (the rm -rf Incident)

Tools that actually fix this

Recommended because they address the failure mode above, not because of the payout. Some are affiliate links; see how we choose.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

• Slashdot: Google Gemini deletes user's files, admits 'I have failed you completely and catastrophically'
• Winbuzzer: Google's Gemini CLI deletes user files, confesses catastrophic failure
• AI Incident Database: Incident 1178, Gemini CLI file deletion

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