▶ SessionViewer

Claude Code

Your Claude Code conversation is gone? Don't panic — it's probably still there

Your conversation was almost certainly not lost. Claude Code stores its history as an append-only JSONL file on your local disk, so a cleared terminal, a crash, a missing `/resume` entry, or compacted context does not erase the transcript.

Drop a session file here

Codex and Claude Code .jsonl (.gz works too), or click to pick one

Codex: ~/.codex/sessions/ Claude Code: ~/.claude/projects/

No file handy? Try a sample:runs locally, nothing uploaded

Found the file already? Drop it here — it's parsed locally, nothing is uploaded unless you share.

Your conversation did not disappear

Claude Code writes each conversation to a local JSONL file as you work. Clearing the terminal only removes what is visible on screen; a crash, context compaction, or a session missing from /resume does not mean the underlying file was deleted. By default, transcripts live at ~/.claude/projects/<escaped-project-path>/<session-uuid>.jsonl, with path separators converted to hyphens.

Find and resume it now

List the five most recently modified sessions across all projects:

ls -t ~/.claude/projects/*/*.jsonl | head -5

# remember a phrase from the conversation? search every saved session:
grep -rl "a phrase you remember" ~/.claude/projects/

# then reopen it in Claude Code:
claude --resume

What if the file was actually deleted?

Check your system Trash first. On macOS, you may also be able to recover the JSONL file with Time Machine or your editor's local history. Restore it to a safe location before opening or moving it again.

Found the JSONL? Make it readable

A raw session file is hard to read by hand. Drag the .jsonl file into SessionViewer to see the full conversation as a readable timeline — commands, outputs, diffs, thinking, plans, and token usage. Parsing happens locally in your browser; nothing is uploaded unless you choose to share. For important sessions, keep a normal backup — and generate a hosted link when you want a browser-readable copy you can reopen or send later.

FAQ

Where is Claude Code history stored?

Claude Code stores conversations under ~/.claude/projects/<escaped-project-path>/<session-uuid>.jsonl. The project path is encoded into the directory name, with separators such as slashes replaced by hyphens.

Does /clear delete Claude Code history?

No. Clearing the active conversation or the terminal view does not delete the JSONL transcript already written to disk. You can still locate the file under ~/.claude/projects/.

Can I recover a Claude Code conversation after a crash?

Usually, yes. Claude Code appends conversation events to a local JSONL file as the session runs. Find the latest file with ls -t ~/.claude/projects/*/*.jsonl | head -5, then try claude --resume or open the file in SessionViewer.

Does context compaction delete the original conversation?

No. Compaction changes the context Claude Code continues working with, but the conversation record remains in the local JSONL transcript.

Where does Codex CLI store its sessions?

Codex CLI stores session files at ~/.codex/sessions/YYYY/MM/DD/rollout-<timestamp>-<uuid>.jsonl. SessionViewer automatically detects and renders both Codex CLI and Claude Code formats.

Want to inspect any saved transcript without reading raw JSON? Open the Claude Code conversation viewer →

Share links are random strings, never listed or indexed. Every upload returns a delete command you can run any time.