Gate News message, March 31, Anthropic accidentally leaked 510,000 lines of source code for Claude Code in a routine npm update, including critical debugging files, exposing the complete architecture of this flagship AI coding tool. It is reported that the tool generates about $2.5 billion in recurring annual revenue for the company.
Security researcher Chaofan Shou found a source-code mapping file in the Claude Code 2.1.88 version and posted a download link on X (Twitter). The code spread quickly across GitHub within hours, accumulating tens of thousands of forks, and Anthropic subsequently issued a DMCA takedown notice. This leak happened five days after another CMS misconfiguration leaked about 3,000 internal files, including details of the unreleased “Mythos” model; within a week, two unexpected incidents have raised concerns in the market about Anthropic’s $350 billion valuation and its planned IPO in Q4 2026.
The leaked files reveal an internal feature called “Undercover Mode,” designed to prevent Claude from leaking confidential information, while also exposing 44 feature flags, the unreleased back-end daemon process KAIROS, and the internal codename “Capybara” for a Claude 4.6 variant. Anthropic said this was an inadvertent packaging error. Enterprise customers make up 80% of Claude Code revenue and now face risks of exposure to security-logic and permission-bypass techniques.
Korean-Canadian developer Sigrid Jin was reported to have cashed in on 25 billion Claude Code tokens; after the leak, he reworked the Python code and received 50,000 GitHub stars within two hours. This indicates that despite the risks posed by the leak, open-source the community’s interest in Claude Code remains extremely high.
The incident highlights the importance for AI enterprises to strengthen code security and internal permission management before an IPO, and it also serves as a reminder for investors and institutions to watch how potential technical risks affect market valuations. As Anthropic faces increased scrutiny, its prospects ahead of going public may experience significant volatility.
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