Claude Code session history (~/.claude/projects): safe to delete?

What it is

Every Claude Code session is saved as a JSONL transcript in a per-project folder under ~/.claude/projects, which is what lets you continue or resume a conversation later. Related folders hold file-history snapshots used to rewind edits, per-session todo lists and session environment data.

Why it gets so big

Long agentic sessions record every message, tool call and tool result, including file contents and command output, so transcripts get large. File-history snapshots keep copies of the files Claude edited.

Is it safe to delete?

For sessions that have been idle for a while, yes: deleting them only means you can no longer resume or review those conversations or rewind their edits. Your code and git history are unaffected. Leave active sessions alone and quit any running claude processes before cleaning, and keep transcripts you might want to look back at.

Tip

Claude Code prunes old transcripts by itself: the cleanupPeriodDays setting in settings.json controls how many days they're kept, 30 by default.