# Beware, Claude Code deletes >30 day old transcripts. Anthropic won't fix it

> Source: <https://github.com/anthropics/claude-code/issues/62476>
> Published: 2026-06-30 13:58:21+00:00

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# [BUG] Claude Code silently deletes conversation transcripts after 30 days by default #62476

[bugSomething isn't working](https://github.com/anthropics/claude-code/issues?q=state%3Aopen%20label%3A%22bug%22)Something isn't working

## Description

### Preflight Checklist

- I have searched
[existing issues](https://github.com/anthropics/claude-code/issues?q=is%3Aissue%20state%3Aopen%20label%3Abug)and this hasn't been reported yet - This is a single bug report (please file separate reports for different bugs)
- I am using the latest version of Claude Code

### What's Wrong?

cleanupPeriodDays defaults to 30, causing Claude Code to silently delete

~/.claude/projects//.jsonl files older than 30 days on

startup. There is no first-run disclosure, no warning before deletion, and the

setting is not surfaced in /config. I lost months of conversation history

before realizing this was happening.

**Repro:** Use Claude Code for >30 days without setting cleanupPeriodDays. Old

transcripts disappear.

**Evidence on my machine:** ~/.claude/history.jsonl shows 14 sessions / 1,315

prompts for one project from March–April. Only the current session's .jsonl

survives in ~/.claude/projects/. The cutoff matches the 30-day default

exactly. My settings.json does not override the default.

**Impact:** The code and git history remain, but the reasoning trail — design

discussions, debugging context, analysis — is gone. For research work that

context is the artifact.

### What Should Happen?

**Requested:**

- Change the default to non-destructive (disabled, or very long retention).
- Disclose at first run; require opt-in for auto-deletion.
- Soft-delete to a trash folder instead of unlink().
- Surface the setting in /config.

Workaround for others: add "cleanupPeriodDays": 3650 to

~/.claude/settings.json immediately.

### Error Messages/Logs

### Steps to Reproduce

Use Claude Code for >30 days without setting cleanupPeriodDays. Old transcripts disappear.

### Claude Model

None

### Is this a regression?

I don't know

### Last Working Version

*No response*

### Claude Code Version

2.1.150

### Platform

Anthropic API

### Operating System

Ubuntu/Debian Linux

### Terminal/Shell

Other

### Additional Information

*No response*

## Metadata

## Metadata

### Assignees

### Labels

[bugSomething isn't working](https://github.com/anthropics/claude-code/issues?q=state%3Aopen%20label%3A%22bug%22)Something isn't working

### Type

### Fields

[Give feedback](https://github.com/orgs/community/discussions/189141)