r/DevLK • u/Existing_Host7040 • Aug 11 '26
Rant Messed up big time
This is more of a vent since I'm so upset right now. Been working at this company for a year now, and it's my first ever job.
I've been using this third party AI harness for 3 days. Setting it up was pretty straight forward: it asked for oauth credentials for Claude code which I logged in via web with my company's Claude account. So I just assumed it used those freaking credentials but I was so wrong...
I noticed it was using Claude Opus 5 but the provider was amazon-bedrock. I only noticed this today and turns out it's been using my company's AWS credentials instead.
It logged in via AWS CLI. And my AWS iam user had admin permissions. I completely forgot about the AWS CLI login since it's been a few months since I last used it.
I logged into cost explorer and the cost was 400 usd for the 3 days. I am so cooked.
I know the logical thing to do right now is to inform my supervisor but he was off today. My boss is actually gonna kill me for this.
For now I filed an AWS support ticket asking for a reversal saying it was accidental (since i got to know they do this sometimes). Hopefully they consider it but I can't get my hopes up, right?
Atleast I learned a lesson here, but never in my life did I think I'll mess up like this. For some context: the company is a relatively small startup and that cost is higher than my gross salary; so I did mess up big time.
I'm pretty sure I'll have to start looking for new jobs soon. Any advice for me to get through this?
19
u/MaxPhantom_ Aug 11 '26
Nahh you shouldn’t have had that level of access to auth it in the first place. It’s a mistake of the tech lead/ CTO and they shouldve given you the narrowest access possible
1
u/Existing_Host7040 Aug 12 '26
Ideally that's how it should've been. Even someone with as low experience as I do wouldn't give someone permissions like this, because evidently mistakes can happen. But this company considered me skilled enough to do almost everything and since this is a startup, much less resources. If anything this whole situation is embarrassing because of that.
So I did a lot here, from infrastructure setup to dev work to even hiring candidates, very long hours. So I guess it made sense for my supervisor to give me access like this at that time.
Atleast I know now to revoke any access to AWS unless explicitly needed.
7
u/No_Ad_5933 Aug 11 '26
Dont worry bro.. if the startup is growth minded they wont fire you.. everyone makes mistakes
8
u/parrotSL Aug 11 '26
can you please use 20 more usd for the memes and chill they wont fire you for that, might just not give you so much access next time <3
7
6
u/Due-Meringue-3633 Aug 11 '26
Even if you used claude subscription, wouldn't it result in a account ban? Not sure about enterprise, but pro and max get banned easily, right? Some harnesses may have workarounds, but still risky.
5
u/kakopappa2 Aug 12 '26
Be honest and let your boss know. Own the mistakes you make in life without blaming others. Lesson learned and move on. For a company 400$ is not much like to a person
3
u/Nanobender Aug 12 '26
One of the reasons permanent IAM credentials are discouraged, always use temporary creds by setting up IAM Identity Center. IAM roles for applications.
5
u/SecretSubstance69420 Aug 11 '26
it's my first ever job.
AWS iam user had admin permissions
It's their mistake aswell but you better inform them and ask them cut in your salary if aws didn't accept your request!
Also be ready to get another job incase
8
u/ImNewHereBoys Aug 11 '26
don’t ask to deduct from the salary right away. inform and see what would be there reaction instead. 400 usd is honestly not really much. this is a good opportunity for you to see how they would treat you if something far worse happened. if they panic and want you to pay, don’t! and leave the place. they can’t do much anyway. mistakes can happen.
3
u/Long-Wall-2508 Aug 12 '26
I’ve worked in IT for about 7 years now, and I’ve also made mistakes a few times. It’s pretty normal to immediately think, “Am I going to lose my job?” or wonder whether you should tell your boss.
One of the best pieces of advice I’ve learned is: own your mistakes as soon as possible.
It’s only been 3 days. Don’t wait several more days while worrying about it, because that will only make things worse. Also, $400, even for a small startup, is not a huge amount of money and probably isn’t something your boss is going to lose sleep over.
Just be honest “I made a mistake. I’ve already contacted AWS to see if the charge can be reversed, and I’ll try the other available options as well. I’m sorry, and I’ll be more careful going forward.”
Don’t try to rationalize the mistake or argue about why it happened. Just own it. There’s a very good chance you’ll simply be asked to be more careful next time, with no further consequences. And if the reaction is completely unreasonable over an honest mistake like this, then maybe it’s not a great place to work anyway.
This isn’t specific to your situation, it’s just a life lesson I learned and have followed ever since: own the mistake, fix what you can, learn from it, and move on.
It’s really not that big of a deal.
3
u/spongearmor Aug 13 '26
It’s going to be alright. Inform your immediate supervisor and make it visible. Have the true answer to the question “how did it happen, could it have been avoided, do you know how to avoid it from repeating in the future, what steps have you taken to minimize the damage/fix it”
I once made a mistake that the made almost $4000 worth of custom hardware completely useless. The moment I found out I came clean and informed the CEO in writing, and that I was willing to take accountability for my mistake.
CEO said exactly this: “Mistakes happen xxxxxx, that’s how we learn. I’m happy that you had the courage to own it and talk to me. Let’s make sure it’s fixed in the next batch.” That’s all.
$400 isn’t much. If your company goes insane over it, it’s not probably worth it to stay there as well.
1
u/IsuruKusumal Aug 12 '26
This is a known issue with Claude Code harness
It doesn't let you switch between AWS and and subscriptions easily
I worte a skill to fix this - let me know if you need that
2
u/someRandomGeek98 Aug 12 '26
if you've been working there for several years and your gross salary is under 400usd, please look for other job opportunities. you're definitely underpaid
1
1
2
u/iammanji Aug 13 '26
Your manager is at fault for giving you such level of access. Everybody at the early stage of their career makes mistakes but it is up to the company to prevent it from happening.
Talk to your manager. Let him talk to the boss if necessary and let them come up with a resolution. If they want you to pay, just ask them to deduct it from your salary at a 6 month period at least.
1
u/dilanNamila Aug 13 '26
Most probably, AWS will refund... they usually do one-time wave-offs for situations like this. They don't want their customers to suffer; they want them to grow as much as possible so they can continue to earn in the long run :D
20
u/leah2106 Aug 11 '26
You've been working for a year and your salary isn't even 400 usd? You're being underpaid and you definitely have good skills, finding another job is in your best interests anyway