Destructive Commands

Whisp includes a safety layer that detects potentially dangerous commands and requires confirmation before adding them to your shell history.

Safety Confirmation

When whisp generates a potentially destructive command, it displays a warning and asks for confirmation:

, delete all files in this folder
➜ rm -rf ./*

⚠️  This command may be destructive
Command: rm -rf ./*
Add to history? [y/N]

Only commands you confirm with y are added to your shell history.

Detection Methods

Whisp uses two layers of destructive command detection:

1. Server-side: The AI model flags commands it recognizes as dangerous
2. Client-side: Pattern matching against known dangerous commands (as a safety net)

This dual approach ensures protection even if the AI doesn't catch something.

Detected Patterns

The following patterns trigger the safety confirmation:

File Deletion

Disk Operations

System Modification

Dangerous Constructs

Understanding the Risks

Fork Bomb Explained

The pattern :(){:|:&};: is a fork bomb. It defines a function : that calls itself twice and backgrounds both calls. This creates an exponential process explosion that will freeze or crash your system.

:()      # Define a function named ":"
{        # Function body starts
  :|:&   # Call itself, pipe to itself, background both
};       # End function definition
:        # Call the function

Never run this command, even to test it.

Why rm -rf is Dangerous

The rm -rf combination is dangerous because:

• -r (recursive): Deletes directories and their contents
• -f (force): Ignores nonexistent files, never prompts

Combined with a wrong path, this can delete your entire system in seconds:

# DANGEROUS - deletes everything from root
rm -rf /

# DANGEROUS - space before / is a common typo
rm -rf / home/user/folder

# SAFE - deletes only the specified directory
rm -rf ./my-temp-folder

Safe vs Unsafe Variations

Disabling Confirmation

For automation or if you prefer to live dangerously:

Per-Command

WHISP_CONFIRM_DESTRUCTIVE=false , delete all temp files

Per-Session

export WHISP_CONFIRM_DESTRUCTIVE=false

Permanently (Not Recommended)

Add to your shell profile (~/.bashrc, ~/.zshrc, etc.):

export WHISP_CONFIRM_DESTRUCTIVE=false

Best Practices

1. Keep confirmation enabled — It has probably saved you more than you realize
2. Review commands carefully — Read the full command before pressing y
3. Use dry-run flags — Many commands support --dry-run to preview changes
4. Use the ,d shortcut — Whisp can analyze what a command will do before you run it:

   ,d rm -rf ./build
   # Shows: Deletes directory ./build and all contents
   #        Reversible: No

5. Prefer relative paths — ./folder is safer than /folder (typo protection)
6. Double-check paths with spaces — rm -rf my folder deletes TWO things

What's NOT Flagged

Some commands that modify data are intentionally not flagged to avoid alert fatigue:

• rm file.txt — Single file deletion (no recursive flag)
• cp -r — Copying (non-destructive)
• mv file.txt newname.txt — Renaming within same directory
• chmod 644 file — Normal permission changes
• git reset --hard — Git operations (version controlled)

The goal is to catch catastrophic mistakes, not every potentially risky operation.