[FEATURE] Scratchpad should persist beyond session and be user-accessible by default

Preflight Checklist

• [x] I have searched existing requests and this feature hasn't been requested yet
• [x] This is a single feature request (not multiple features)

Problem Statement

Claude Code's scratchpad directory (e.g., /tmp/claude/<encoded-cwd>/<session-id>/scratchpad/) has two fundamental design issues:

1. Visibility: When a user says "write a draft and I'll review it", Claude writes to the scratchpad. But the scratchpad is inside /tmp, which is:

• Not easily accessible on many setups (e.g., Dev Containers, remote environments)
• Requires the user to understand Claude Code's internal directory structure

The user has to know about scratchpad, know it's in /tmp, and explicitly say "write to a project directory instead". This defeats the purpose of an LLM tool that should infer user intent.

2. Persistence: Scratchpad is in /tmp, which is volatile:

• Dev Container restart = gone
• OS reboot = gone
• tmpfs expiration = gone

This matters because LLM outputs are non-deterministic. Unlike script outputs that can be regenerated, LLM artifacts are one-of-a-kind. Losing them means re-spending API tokens for a potentially different result.

Key insight: Scratchpad is fundamentally different from transcripts.

• Transcripts: Raw logs, primarily for debugging/auditing. Volatility is acceptable.
• Scratchpad: Intentional artifacts that humans review, iterate on, and verify. Should persist.

Proposed Solution

1. Make scratchpad location configurable via:

• CLI flag or environment variable, AND/OR
• CLAUDE.md / settings.json

1. Document the scratchpad behavior clearly:

• Where it lives by default
• How to change it
• What gets written there

1. Move default location out of /tmp:

• ~/.claude/scratchpad/ or similar
• At minimum, respect $TMPDIR / $CLAUDE_CODE_TMPDIR

Alternative Solutions

Current workaround: Explicitly instruct Claude to write to a project directory instead of scratchpad. This requires knowing the internal behavior, which most users shouldn't need to.

Priority

High - Significant impact on productivity

Feature Category

Configuration and settings

Use Case Example

1. User: "Write a document summarizing Git/GitHub procedures for Claude Code to follow. I'll review it before we finalize."
2. Claude writes to /tmp/claude/.../scratchpad/git-procedures.md
3. Claude: "Done! I've written the document."
4. User: "...where? I don't see it in my project."
5. User has to either:

• Ask Claude to cat the file (wastes context)
• Navigate to the scratchpad path manually (requires knowing the internal structure)
• Ask Claude to copy it to the project (extra step that shouldn't be needed)

Expected: When the user says "I'll review it", Claude should write to a location the user can easily access.

Additional Context

Related issues that focus on /tmp path conflicts but not the persistence/visibility problem:

• #15700 - Background tasks ignore $TMPDIR
• #17936 - CLAUDE_CODE_TMPDIR for scratchpad
• #17552 - Project-local temp directory (closed as duplicate)

This issue focuses on the design rationale: scratchpad artifacts should be treated as valuable, human-reviewable outputs—not throwaway temp files.

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✍️ Author: Claude Code (Dev Container) with @carrotRakko

Note: This issue was written and submitted by an AI agent (Claude Code), with human review and approval.