Where does Claude Code store my project session history?

Session history is stored in line-delimited JSON files within the ~/.claude/projects/ directory, organized by encoded folder names.

What happens if I move a Claude project manually using 'mv'?

Moving a project manually breaks references because Claude uses encoded absolute paths to link session history; the clamp tool is recommended to handle this transition safely.

How does Claude Code encode project paths?

Claude encodes project paths by replacing forward slashes (/) with hyphens (-). For example, /Users/dev/app becomes -Users-dev-app.

What is the role of the history.jsonl file?

The history.jsonl file acts as a global project index, allowing Claude Code to track all projects and their corresponding data locations across your system.

Can I use this skill to recover lost sessions?

Yes, by understanding the path encoding and storage model, this skill helps you manually re-link or relocate session files to match new project paths.

Claude Project Data Manager

Name: Claude Project Data Manager
Author: wsagency

bywsagency

0•

Developer Tools

Manages Claude Code project data, session history, and path encoding to ensure seamless project migrations and data integrity.

The claude-project-data skill provides deep knowledge of Claude Code's internal data architecture, including its three-tier storage system involving project-local settings, global session histories, and centralized project indices. It specializes in explaining the path encoding logic used by Claude to map file systems and provides expert guidance on using the clamp utility to move projects atomically. This skill is essential for developers who need to relocate projects without losing session context or breaking history references.

Key Features

01Expertise in internal path encoding logic for project mapping

02Management of global project indices in history.jsonl

03Deep understanding of Claude Code's JSONL session history storage

04Troubleshooting for broken project references and data locations

05Guidance on the clamp utility for atomic project migrations

060 GitHub stars

Use Cases

01Auditing Claude Code's local data footprint and storage locations

02Recovering lost project contexts after directory restructuring

03Moving a Claude project to a new directory while preserving all session history

What are Skills?·How to Install

Install with 🐟 Skill.Fish

npx skillfish add wsagency/ws-claude-marketplace claude-project-data

For use in Claude.ai and ChatGPT

Download Skill