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claude-code - 💡(How to fix) Fix [BUG] Windows: Claude Code Desktop app shows sessions in sidebar but all message content missing after auto-update — content not persisted to claude-code-sessions JSONL files [2 comments, 2 participants]

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anthropics/claude-code#53717•Fetched 2026-04-28 06:48:55
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guan64guan64
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github-actions[bot]github-actions[bot]guan64guan64
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Error Message

Error Messages/Logs

no error msg

Root Cause

Root Cause (suspected)

Code Example

no error msg
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Preflight Checklist

  • I have searched existing issues 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?

Preflight Checklist

  • I have searched existing issues and this hasn't been reported yet
  • This is a single bug report
  • I am using the latest version of Claude Code

Platform: Windows App: Claude Code Desktop Area: Session persistence / Desktop app

What's Wrong?

After the Claude Code Desktop app auto-updated, all session message content disappeared. The session list in the left sidebar still shows all previous sessions correctly, but clicking any session shows "No messages yet." — even for sessions that were actively used.

Reinstalling the app and clearing cache did not fix the issue.

Steps to Reproduce

  1. Use Claude Code Desktop on Windows over multiple sessions
  2. App auto-updates in the background
  3. Relaunch the app after the update
  4. Session titles are visible in the left sidebar
  5. Clicking any session shows "No messages yet." — content is gone

Expected Behavior

All previous session message content should be visible after an app update.

Actual Behavior

  • Sidebar session list renders correctly (titles intact)
  • All session message content is missing ("No messages yet.")
  • Cache clear does not fix it
  • Full uninstall + reinstall does not fix it
  • Running /resume in the Claude Code CLI shows only a small subset of sessions, confirming content was never flushed to the claude-code-sessions JSONL files on disk
  • The JSONL files in %APPDATA%\Claude\claude-code-sessions are all only 1KB (empty stubs with no message content)

Root Cause (suspected)

The Desktop app (Electron renderer) was storing session message content in IndexedDB / in-memory cache but never properly flushing it to the claude-code-sessions JSONL files on disk. When the update cleared the Electron cache, all message content was permanently lost.

Impact

Permanent data loss of all session conversation history prior to the update. Work output files on disk are unaffected, but all conversation transcripts are gone with no way to recover them.

Additional Context

  • %APPDATA%\Claude\claude-code-sessions contains JSONL files all sized 1KB
  • %APPDATA%\Claude\DIPS-wal was 910KB at time of investigation (WAL not checkpointed)
  • Claude Code CLI /resume only shows sessions from AFTER the update
  • Issue persists across reinstall, confirming it is a data persistence bug and not an Electron cache issue

What Should Happen?

NA

Error Messages/Logs

no error msg

Steps to Reproduce

NA

Claude Model

Sonnet (default)

Is this a regression?

Yes, this worked in a previous version

Last Working Version

No response

Claude Code Version

latest

Platform

Anthropic API

Operating System

Windows

Terminal/Shell

Windows Terminal

Additional Information

No response

extent analysis

TL;DR

The issue is likely due to the Desktop app not properly flushing session message content to disk, resulting in permanent data loss after an update.

Guidance

  • Investigate the Electron renderer's IndexedDB and in-memory cache to understand why session message content was not flushed to the claude-code-sessions JSONL files on disk.
  • Verify that the %APPDATA%\Claude\claude-code-sessions directory contains empty JSONL files (1KB in size) to confirm the suspected root cause.
  • Check the %APPDATA%\Claude\DIPS-wal file (910KB at the time of investigation) to see if it contains any relevant data that could be used to recover the lost session conversation history.
  • Consider implementing a backup or export feature for session conversation history to prevent similar data loss in the future.

Example

No code snippet is provided as the issue is related to data persistence and caching, and the exact implementation details are not available.

Notes

The issue is confirmed to be a regression, and the last working version is not specified. The Claude Code CLI /resume command only shows sessions from after the update, indicating that the data loss is permanent.

Recommendation

Apply a workaround by implementing a backup or export feature for session conversation history to prevent similar data loss in the future, as the current version of the app does not properly handle data persistence.

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#api#conversation history#tool integration#LLM response#cache issue

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