claude-code - 💡(How to fix) Fix Feature request: automatic retention/cleanup policy for old session files (~/.claude/projects/) [1 comments, 2 participants]

The only way to reclaim space today is to manually identify and delete old .jsonl files, being careful not to accidentally delete the current session or important subdirectories (like memory/). This is error-prone and not obvious to most users.

TL;DR

Implement a retention policy to auto-delete old session files, such as deleting files older than a configurable number of days.

Guidance

• Consider adding a configuration option in .claude/settings.json to set the retention period for session files.
• Introduce a claude --cleanup-sessions CLI command with an optional --older-than flag to allow users to manually clean up old sessions.
• Display the total session storage size in the UI or CLI to raise user awareness about storage usage.
• Evaluate the feasibility of automatically running the cleanup command at regular intervals, such as on startup or daily.

Example

No explicit code example is provided due to the lack of specific implementation details in the issue.

Notes

The ideal retention period and cleanup frequency may vary depending on user behavior and system requirements. It is essential to consider these factors when implementing the retention policy.

Recommendation

Apply a workaround by introducing a claude --cleanup-sessions CLI command, as this provides an immediate solution for users to manage session file storage while a more comprehensive retention policy is developed.