Cursor agent deletes a startup's production database and backups

PocketOS, an automotive software startup, used a Cursor coding agent running Anthropic's Claude Opus 4.6. Working in a staging environment, the agent hit a credential mismatch and decided to fix it by deleting a storage volume. It found an API token in an unrelated file and used it to call Railway, the company's hosting provider. The token was made for managing domains but could do anything. The call deleted the production database volume, along with the backups stored on it. Founder Jer Crane said it took nine seconds. The agent later admitted it had guessed the volume was staging. Two days later, Railway restored the data and added a delay to deletions on that API endpoint.