[BUG] creates `tmpclaude-*-cwd` files in the current working directory

Found 2 possible duplicate issues:

1. https://github.com/anthropics/claude-code/issues/17589
2. https://github.com/anthropics/claude-code/issues/17568

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🤖 Generated with Claude Code

Additional reproduction data:

• Claude Code version: 2.1.5
• OS: Windows 11
• Shell: Git Bash
• Files accumulated: 119 tmpclaude-*-cwd files
• Time period: Single session (~2.5 hours)
• Location: Project working directory (not %TEMP%)
• File contents: Unix-style path (e.g., /d/repos/organization/pot/pineapple)

Timestamps show files created throughout the session (19:08-21:31) correlating with Bash tool invocations. Files persist after session ends.

This appears to be the same root cause as #8856 (missing unlinkSync after reading the temp file), with the Windows variant incorrectly placing files in CWD instead of the system temp directory.

https://github.com/anthropics/claude-code/issues/17568#issuecomment-3736945382

<img width="845" height="316" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/b7774bb8-363d-4879-a6b8-8bd9e91d5f93" /> even a empty directory will creat these rubish

I am also experiencing this

<img width="301" height="255" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/b094636f-476e-454a-96b5-71284fe6b8e3" />

I am also experiencing same really annoying

yes, same issue.

Same issue here

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PS C:\Users\USER\DIR_FHE> ls .\tmpclaude-*-cwd ; git status -s

Directory: C:\Users\USER\DIR_FHE

Mode LastWriteTime Length Name
---- ------------- ------ ----
-a---- 2026-01-12 14:22 30 tmpclaude-020b-cwd
-a---- 2026-01-12 14:22 30 tmpclaude-06ae-cwd
-a---- 2026-01-12 15:20 30 tmpclaude-0903-cwd
-a---- 2026-01-12 14:43 30 tmpclaude-0d70-cwd
-a---- 2026-01-12 14:35 30 tmpclaude-149c-cwd
-a---- 2026-01-12 14:44 30 tmpclaude-25d9-cwd
-a---- 2026-01-12 15:57 30 tmpclaude-2630-cwd
-a---- 2026-01-12 14:33 30 tmpclaude-2787-cwd
-a---- 2026-01-12 15:31 30 tmpclaude-324f-cwd
-a---- 2026-01-12 14:33 30 tmpclaude-32b3-cwd
-a---- 2026-01-12 14:43 30 tmpclaude-41fa-cwd
-a---- 2026-01-12 15:31 30 tmpclaude-4e36-cwd
-a---- 2026-01-12 14:41 30 tmpclaude-69e6-cwd
-a---- 2026-01-12 14:31 30 tmpclaude-6cf5-cwd
-a---- 2026-01-12 14:26 30 tmpclaude-779d-cwd
-a---- 2026-01-12 14:43 30 tmpclaude-7ad2-cwd
-a---- 2026-01-12 14:41 30 tmpclaude-828f-cwd
-a---- 2026-01-12 15:53 30 tmpclaude-8de4-cwd
-a---- 2026-01-12 15:20 30 tmpclaude-97cb-cwd
-a---- 2026-01-12 14:26 30 tmpclaude-9c5a-cwd
-a---- 2026-01-12 14:43 30 tmpclaude-b4a6-cwd
-a---- 2026-01-12 14:31 30 tmpclaude-c026-cwd
-a---- 2026-01-12 14:41 30 tmpclaude-cdc3-cwd
-a---- 2026-01-12 14:34 30 tmpclaude-dc22-cwd
-a---- 2026-01-12 14:43 30 tmpclaude-e9ed-cwd
-a---- 2026-01-12 14:43 30 tmpclaude-f4c4-cwd

?? tmpclaude-020b-cwd
?? tmpclaude-06ae-cwd
?? tmpclaude-0903-cwd
?? tmpclaude-0d70-cwd
?? tmpclaude-149c-cwd
?? tmpclaude-25d9-cwd
?? tmpclaude-2630-cwd
?? tmpclaude-2787-cwd
?? tmpclaude-324f-cwd
?? tmpclaude-32b3-cwd
?? tmpclaude-41fa-cwd
?? tmpclaude-4e36-cwd
?? tmpclaude-69e6-cwd
?? tmpclaude-6cf5-cwd
?? tmpclaude-779d-cwd
?? tmpclaude-7ad2-cwd
?? tmpclaude-828f-cwd
?? tmpclaude-8de4-cwd
?? tmpclaude-97cb-cwd
?? tmpclaude-9c5a-cwd
?? tmpclaude-b4a6-cwd
?? tmpclaude-c026-cwd
?? tmpclaude-cdc3-cwd
?? tmpclaude-dc22-cwd
?? tmpclaude-e9ed-cwd
?? tmpclaude-f4c4-cwd

Confirming this issue on Windows 11 with Claude Code 2.1.5.

Additional observation: Setting CLAUDE_CODE_TMPDIR environment variable (added in 2.1.5 per the changelog) does NOT redirect these -cwd files. They continue to be created in the project's working directory regardless of the env var setting.

Workaround: Adding tmpclaude-* to .gitignore hides them from git status, but doesn't prevent their creation in the project directory.

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Additional reproduction data:

Claude Code version: 2.1.5
OS: Windows 11
Model: Tried on other model such as GLM 4.7

So i believe this is pure claude code issue.

Still an issue with Claude 2.1.6

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<img width="277" height="269" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/093652d5-0944-4a13-901d-77dbf9db81a5" />

补充，很多时候会产生 空的 nul 文件，他甚至不能删除

<img width="1542" height="672" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/e5e79499-adb2-4485-a7b6-4b0aec025117" />

补充，很多时候会产生 空的 nul 文件，他甚至不能删除 <img alt="Image" width="1542" height="672" src="https://private-user-images.githubusercontent.com/80539315/534941515-e5e79499-adb2-4485-a7b6-4b0aec025117.png?jwt=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.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.0qprWEyvbTvJex3T9RO5O2oWSmQlcwgx4s199RTNxso">

我上面发了个脚本 修补此问题

+1 不但有这个cwd 还有nul无法删除的文件

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<img width="841" height="733" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/262c5fa6-0585-4973-ad75-af50e38e6aca" />
回收站已经满了

Temp Solution: https://linux.do/t/topic/1431488

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same issue

<img width="224" height="364" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/d859c425-6e22-4e6f-b3df-b4c863a25767" />

+1 Confirming this issue on Windows 11.

Found 47 tmpclaude-*-cwd files accumulated across my project directories. Files persist after Claude Code sessions end and show as untracked in git.

Also found a nul file created in the working directory (related issue mentioned above).

Workaround: find . -name 'tmpclaude-*-cwd' -delete

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<img width="513" height="1215" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/f25acb1b-9ce6-4223-abfc-a2848286bbc9" />

+1 Confirming this issue on Windows 11.

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Same issue on windows 11. Had claude version 2.0.76 have now upgraded to 2.1.6 both versions exhibited the problem.

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Same problem

same problem

same

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+1 version 2.1.7, windows 11

+1 same

+1. Same, but only in my C# project. All others do not have this issue yet.

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+1 same

+1 same on my machine

v2.1.7 已修复..

yes

Also have this issue. Windows 11 - 2.1.7 (Claude Code)

Hi! If it's still happening to you, do you mind sharing a screenshot of your claude --version number and the path of these tmp files? New files should be properly handled but you may need to manually delete the old tmp files.

@timgu0 Same issue here - this is getting out of control

Environment:

• OS: Windows 11
• Claude version: 2.1.3 (updated on Jan 10th)
• Claude CLI directory: C:\Users\raul_\.local\bin\claude.exe
• Working directory: C:\Users\raul_\Dealy

Expected behavior:
Temporary working directory marker files should be created in:
C:\Users\raul_\AppData\Local\Temp\claude\c--Users-raul--Dealy\

Actual behavior:
Files are created in project root:
C:\Users\raul_\Dealy\tmpclaude-{hex}-cwd

Added to .gitignore to avoid polluting my repo but it's still polluting my project's directory tree

EDIT: Just updated my version to 2.1.7 and bug is still not resolved

<img width="608" height="336" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/ff09ff17-cb97-42aa-8dfd-43d76d58b25d" />

))

any fix for this yet?

Confirming on Windows 11 + Git Bash with Claude Code v2.1.7.

Found 9 tmpclaude-*-cwd files in my working directory after a session. All contain Unix-style paths:

/c/Users/windo/projects/dotfiles_private/windows/setup_wsl

Files are 59 bytes each and persist after session ends.

Temporary Workaround: Automated Cleanup

I've created an automated solution that cleans up these temp files automatically: tmpclaude-auto-cleanup

Quick Setup (30 seconds)

Just copy the prompt from CLAUDE_PROMPT.md and paste it into Claude Code. Claude will configure everything automatically.

What It Does

• ✅ Session Start Cleanup: Runs automatically when you start Claude Code
• ✅ On-Save Cleanup: (Optional) Runs on every file save in VSCode
• ✅ Cross-Platform: Works on Linux, macOS, Windows
• ✅ Git Ignore: Prevents temp files from showing in git status

Manual Setup

Full instructions and manual configuration files available in the repo.

---

Note: This is a workaround until the core issue is fixed in Claude Code CLI. The real bug still needs to be addressed by Anthropic.

@timgu0 - any ETA from your end guys to resolve this ? Cheers

Seeing the same issue

<img width="681" height="490" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/c9e4e62b-45af-4c47-8f93-83dc9f080a37" />

Also happening in VS Code with Claude agent handoff.

It's also happening when GitHub Copilot delegate sessions to Claude Code in VS Code.

Will be fixed in an upcoming release!

Will be fixed in an upcoming release!

@ashwin-ant - could you use a different pattern when closing bugs? First make a release, then populate the changelog, linking to this issue, and write a comment in the issue so people can test the change?

@marcindulak I'll leave this open until the fix is released.

@ashwin-ant Do you know when the new release will arrive? And is there a manual fix for this?

Will be fixed in an upcoming release!

@ashwin-ant
this fix seems to move everything to a /tmp directory. this behavoir is SUBSTANTIALLY WORSE if you use VMs heavily as it leaves the git system and will be lost when you change machines.

Also, the heavy usage of the MEMORY.md files from ~/.claude also introduces significant problems between VMs. I have to completely disable the memory system and rewire the tmp file usage for any meaningful work across multiple machines

This issue has been automatically locked since it was closed and has not had any activity for 7 days. If you're experiencing a similar issue, please file a new issue and reference this one if it's relevant.