PSA: Claude Code silently deletes local history older than 30 days
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Claude Code automatically deletes local session transcripts older than 30 days, a process that runs silently at startup. This deletion is permanent, with no trash or server-side copy for recovery. Users can prevent this by modifying the "cleanupPeriodDays" setting in their ~/.claude/settings.json file to a higher value, such as 3650 days. This is a known issue, referenced in GitHub issues #59248, #62476, and #64999.
Found out the hard way that Claude Code auto-deletes local session transcripts older than 30 days :/
It's the default: cleanupPeriodDays: 30
it runs silently at startup, and deletion is permanent.... no trash, no warning, no server side copy to recover
to fix it you can add this to your ~/.claude/settings.json
{"cleanupPeriodDays": 3650}
its a known issue: GitHub #59248, #62476, #64999