Claude Code Session Recovery Skill

Quick Reference

When to use this skill:

• "No conversations found to resume" when running claude -r
• New conversations not creating session files
• Sessions appearing in wrong locations (/tmp/ instead of ~/.claude/projects/)
• Session history missing after environment changes
• IDE/terminal settings affecting session creation
• Need to migrate or recover 600+ legacy sessions

Official Session Storage

Standard Location: ~/.claude/projects/

Structure:

~/.claude/projects/
├── -home-username-my-project/     # Encoded absolute path
│   └── 364695f1-13e7-4cbb-ad4b-0eb416feb95d.jsonl
└── -tmp-another-project/
    └── a8e39846-ceca-421d-b4bd-3ba0eb1b3145.jsonl

Format: One JSON event per line (JSONL), UUID-based filenames

Critical Pitfall: HOME Variable

Problem

Claude Code uses $HOME environment variable to determine session storage location. If $HOME is incorrect, sessions go to wrong directory or disappear.

Symptoms

• claude -r shows "No conversations found to resume"
• New conversations work but files don't appear in expected location
• Sessions found in /tmp/ or other unexpected paths
• Works on one machine but not another

Diagnosis

/usr/bin/env bash << 'PREFLIGHT_EOF'
# Step 1: Check current HOME
echo "Current HOME: $HOME"

# Step 2: Check system expectation
echo "Expected HOME: $(getent passwd $(whoami) | cut -d: -f6)"

# Step 3: Find where Claude is actually writing
find /tmp -name "*.jsonl" -path "*/.claude/projects/*" 2>/dev/null
PREFLIGHT_EOF

Reference Documentation

For detailed diagnostic steps and solutions, see:

• Troubleshooting Guide - Detailed diagnostic procedures and fixes