claude-code - 💡(How to fix) Fix Feature Request: Notify users before auto-deleting conversation history [1 participants]

Problem

Claude Code automatically deletes conversation history after 30 days by default, with no warning or notification to the user. Many users are completely unaware this cleanup mechanism exists until they discover their history is gone.

I built a tool specifically to manage and review my past Claude Code conversations — tracking what I've built, ideas I've explored, and decisions I've made. Today I opened that tool and found only the last 30 days of data remained. All older conversations had been silently deleted. If I hadn't built this tool, I might never have noticed.

Why this matters

Conversation history serves as a work journal — it records what was built, why certain decisions were made, and preserves ideas and thought processes. Silently deleting this without user consent is a serious issue.

Suggestions

1. Terminal notification before cleanup: When conversations are approaching the cleanup threshold, display a warning in the CLI (e.g., "X conversations will be deleted in Y days. Run claude config set cleanupPeriodDays N to extend retention.")
2. Email notification: Send users an email reminder before their conversation history is cleaned up, similar to how other services handle data retention.
3. First-run disclosure: When a user first uses Claude Code, clearly inform them about the auto-cleanup policy and how to configure it.
4. Opt-in, not opt-out: Consider making auto-cleanup an opt-in feature rather than a silent default. Users should explicitly consent to having their data deleted.

Current workaround

Setting the environment variable CLAUDE_HISTORY_MAX_AGE_DAYS=3650 in shell config — but most users won't know about this until it's too late.