[DOCS] No centralized reference for all Claude Code files and directories on disk

Documentation Type

Missing documentation (feature not documented)

Documentation Location

https://code.claude.com/docs/en/settings

Section/Topic

There is no page or section that provides a consolidated view of all files and directories Claude Code uses on disk. The information is spread across at least 6 separate documentation pages.

Current Documentation

File and directory locations are documented piecemeal across multiple pages:

• Settings page documents: ~/.claude/settings.json, .claude/settings.json, .claude/settings.local.json, ~/.claude.json, managed settings paths
• Memory page documents: ~/.claude/CLAUDE.md, CLAUDE.md, .claude/CLAUDE.md, CLAUDE.local.md, ~/.claude/projects/<project>/memory/, .claude/rules/, ~/.claude/rules/
• VS Code page documents: ~/.vscode/globalStorage/anthropic.claude-code/ (only in uninstall section)
• Permissions page documents: managed settings file paths per OS
• Keybindings page documents: ~/.claude/keybindings.json
• MCP page documents: .mcp.json, managed MCP paths
• Chrome page documents: native messaging host paths

No single page lists all of these together.

What's Wrong or Missing?

Users performing any of these common tasks have no single reference:

1. Migrating to a new machine — need to know every file to copy
2. Auditing what Claude Code stores — security review or privacy assessment
3. Backing up configuration — need to know which files to include
4. Troubleshooting — need to know where to look for state/cache/config issues
5. Enterprise deployment — IT needs to understand the full disk footprint

Currently, users must read 6+ separate documentation pages and mentally compile the list. This is error-prone — it's easy to miss a file.

Suggested Improvement

Add a "Files and directories" section to the Settings page (or create a dedicated reference page) that lists every file/directory in one place:

Suggested addition:

### Files and directories Claude Code stores data in these locations: | Path | Purpose | Managed by | |------|---------|------------| | ~/.claude/settings.json | User settings | You (edit directly) | | ~/.claude/keybindings.json | Keyboard shortcuts | You (edit directly) | | ~/.claude/CLAUDE.md | Personal instructions | You (edit directly) | | ~/.claude/rules/*.md | Personal rules | You (edit directly) | | ~/.claude/agents/ | User subagents | You (edit directly) | | ~/.claude/plans/ | Plan files | Claude Code | | ~/.claude/projects/ | Per-project auto memory | Claude Code | | ~/.claude.json | Preferences, OAuth, MCP servers, caches | Claude Code | | ~/.vscode/globalStorage/anthropic.claude-code/ | Extension data, conversations | Claude Code | | .claude/settings.json | Project settings (shared) | You (edit directly) | | .claude/settings.local.json | Project settings (personal) | You (edit directly) | | .claude/CLAUDE.md | Project instructions | You (edit directly) | | .claude/rules/*.md | Project rules | You (edit directly) | | .claude/agents/ | Project subagents | You (edit directly) | | .mcp.json | Project MCP servers | You (edit directly) | | CLAUDE.md | Project instructions (root) | You (edit directly) | | CLAUDE.local.md | Personal project preferences | You (edit directly) |

Impact

Medium - Makes feature difficult to understand

Additional Context

Affected Pages:
| Page | What it documents (partially) |
|------|-------------------------------|
| https://code.claude.com/docs/en/settings | settings.json files, ~/.claude.json |
| https://code.claude.com/docs/en/memory | CLAUDE.md files, auto memory, rules/ |
| https://code.claude.com/docs/en/vs-code | Extension storage (uninstall only) |
| https://code.claude.com/docs/en/permissions | Managed settings paths |
| https://code.claude.com/docs/en/keybindings | Keybindings file |
| https://code.claude.com/docs/en/mcp | MCP config files |

Total scope: 6 pages with scattered file location information; no single reference exists.

A centralized reference would also help the docs team maintain consistency — when a new file/directory is added, there would be an obvious place to document it.