An Anthropic-backed attempt to remove leaked Claude Code client source code from GitHub accidentally took down many legitimate forks. While the issue has been reversed, it highlights the challenges of managing leaks in an open-source world.

GitHub received a DMCA notice focused on nearly 100 specific forks but ended up disabling 8,100 repositories due to the expansive takedown request. This action inadvertently silenced coders who had forked Anthropic’s official Claude Code repository for legitimate purposes like reporting bugs and contributing fixes.

Coder Robert McLaws commented: 'I’m sorry that your people shipped your source code, and that your lawyers don’t know how to read a repo.' Many expressed their intent to file counter-notices against the takedown, showing that they are no longer cowed by legal threats in an age of widespread code leaks.

Anthropic’s head of Claude Code, Boris Cherny, admitted: 'The overzealous takedowns were not intentional and were a result of a communication mistake.' The company has since asked GitHub to restrict its actions to the 96 specifically listed fork URLs. Thariq Shihipar added that while the issue was unintentional, it underscores the difficulty in policing code once it’s out there.

This incident serves as a reminder for tech companies and legal teams dealing with open-source projects: when you leak code, expect an unpredictable response from the community.