Anthropic unintentionally led to the removal of thousands of GitHub code repositories while attempting to retract its source code from the internet.
On Tuesday, a software engineer found that Anthropic had inadvertently exposed the source code for its leading Claude Code command line application in a recent update. AI enthusiasts examined the leaked code to uncover details about Anthropic’s application, sharing it on GitHub.
Anthropic filed a takedown request under U.S. digital copyright law, prompting GitHub to remove repositories containing the disputed code. As shown in GitHub’s records, the notice impacted around 8,100 repositories, including valid forks of Anthropic’s own publicly released Claude Code repository, causing discontent among social media users whose code was blocked.
Boris Cherny, Anthropic’s head of Claude Code, stated the action was accidental and rescinded most takedown notices, restricting it to a single repository and 96 forks containing the mistakenly released source code.
“The repo named in the notice was part of a fork network connected to our own public Claude Code repo, so the takedown reached more repositories than intended,” an Anthropic spokesperson informed TechCrunch. “We retracted the notice for everything except the one repo we named, and GitHub has restored access to the affected forks.”
This mishap is another setback for the company as it reportedly prepares for an IPO, a process that typically requires precise execution and compliance. Leaking your source code as a public company? A shareholder lawsuit seems inevitable.