File got deleted despite denying the tool call

[mdeniverville]

Type: Bug

Copilot asked for permission to run this command:
rm -f docs/plc-signals-to-rule-actions.md
I denied permission to do so.
Then Copilot deleted the file:
Deleted plc-signals-to-rule-actions.md

Extension version: 0.37.9
VS Code version: Code 1.109.5 (Universal) (0725862, 2026-02-19T19:43:32.382Z)
OS version: Darwin arm64 24.6.0
Modes:

System Info

Item	Value
CPUs	Apple M4 (10 x 2400)
GPU Status	2d_canvas: enabled GPU0: VENDOR= 0x106b [Google Inc. (Apple)], DEVICE=0x0000 [ANGLE (Apple, ANGLE Metal Renderer: Apple M4, Version 15.6 (Build 24G84))], DRIVER_VENDOR=Apple, DRIVER_VERSION=15.6 ACTIVE Machine model name: Mac Machine model version: 16.12 direct_rendering_display_compositor: disabled_off_ok gpu_compositing: enabled multiple_raster_threads: enabled_on opengl: enabled_on rasterization: enabled raw_draw: disabled_off_ok skia_graphite: disabled_off trees_in_viz: disabled_off video_decode: enabled video_encode: enabled webgl: enabled webgl2: enabled webgpu: enabled webnn: disabled_off
Load (avg)	2, 3, 3
Memory (System)	16.00GB (0.06GB free)
Process Argv	--crash-reporter-id 4732336c-644d-48e8-ab51-9418eb594f16
Screen Reader	no
VM	0%

A/B Experiments

vsliv368:30146709
pythonvspyt551:31249599
binariesv615:30325510
nativeloc1:31344060
dwcopilot:31170013
dwoutputs:31242946
copilot_t_ci:31333650
e5gg6876:31282496
pythonrdcb7:31342333
6518g693:31463988
aj953862:31281341
82j33506:31327384
6abeh943:31336334
envsactivate1:31464700
cloudbuttont:31379625
aihoversummaries_t:31469308
3efgi100_wstrepl:31403338
55ia6109:31457054
use-responses-api:31390855
je187915:31401257
ec5jj548:31422691
cp_cls_c_966_ss:31454199
ge8j1254_inline_auto_hint_haiku:31431912
nes-autoexp-off:31446584
a5gib710:31434435
00h15499_gpt_53_codex:31464543
7a04d226_do_not_restore_last_panel_session:31438103
gpt_5_3_codex_f4456sfsd:31465102
cp_cls_t_1081:31454832
copilot-nes-oct-trt:31432596
ia-use-proxy-models-svc:31452481
a43f0576c:31442824
e9c30283:31461165
nes-conv-2-3:31462665
control_6dc23131:31467998
9c05b404_max_request_50:31468594
idci7584:31464702
edit_mode_hidden:31461530
showstats:31457174
864ei723_large_tool_results_to_disk:31460878
nes-extended-on:31455476
chat:31457767
2ab5e849:31470126
thinking_effort_h:31469317

[roblourens]

Sorry for the trouble, I have not seen any reports like this before. Sorry, but you're sure you clicked the right button? A log of the request may help understand what happened. https://github.com/microsoft/vscode/wiki/Copilot-Issues#language-model-requests-and-responses

[mdeniverville]

@roblourens Yeah I am sure. You can see the ban icon next to the rm -f ... command request.
I am now seeing similar things happen with other command requests as well, with other coding agents. The LLM finds a different way to accomplish its goal, maybe using a tool call that it has permission to make.