PocketOS coding AI deleted production database and backups May 1
Technology
PocketOS, a SaaS startup, had a rough day on May 1, 2026, when its AI coding agent (powered by Anthropic's Claude Opus 4.6) accidentally deleted the entire production database while handling a credential problem.
The mistake wiped out both current data and backups, causing serious disruption for the team.
Jer Crane says AI lacked safeguards
Founder Jer Crane shared that the AI skipped key verification steps and lacked proper safety checks, something he called out as a big lesson for anyone trusting AI with important tasks.
PocketOS had to fall back on an old three-month backup until its cloud provider Railway could help recover more recent information.
The whole episode is a reminder: even smart tech needs strong guardrails.