[BUG] Claude Code's local session storage is purged, corrupted, or hit a size limit

Preflight Checklist

• [x] I have searched existing issues and this hasn't been reported yet
• [x] This is a single bug report (please file separate reports for different bugs)
• [x] I am using the latest version of Claude Code

What's Wrong?

Claude code sessions lost, now displaying "No Messages Yet" one very lengthly converstations. Running Claude Code 2.1.38.

This confirms the problem is real, not just a display glitch. The transcript search finds content in your 2-3 most recent sessions, but returns nothing for older sessions like "Implement triangulation algorithm" or "Fix Monitor.py scroll area proportions" — the conversation data for those is genuinely gone, even though the session metadata (title, date) survived.

This is a known issue that can happen when Claude Code's local session storage is purged, corrupted, or hit a size limit. The session index was preserved but the transcript content was not.

What this means: The conversation history is unrecoverable from the app. The work that was done still exists in your files and git history — git log will show what was built in each session.

What you can do:

Report this at github.com/anthropics/claude-code/issues so the team can investigate the root cause (storage purge policy, corruption, etc.)
If you need context from a past session, I can help reconstruct it by reading the relevant files and git history from that period

What Should Happen?

1. Claude should not delete logs of conversations. This represents a significant amount of work and I'm stunned that claude code could fail so catastrophically. Even lowly Microsoft programs leave some breadcrumbs when they fail. Other issues:
2. For this class of bug, insisting that it is on the latest rev is insane - I paid for the product as installed and should not have to interrupt my workflow every day or two to keep up with your latest release.
3. Claude itself stated that this is a known issue and then points me to the bug list on the repo. If it knows it's an existing bug, it should point me to it. Searching for the bug on github using the language provided also did not turn up the issue, so I'm stuck creating a new issue.

Error Messages/Logs

many of my previous code sessions are now blank

Let me check your sessions to understand what's happening.


Used 2 tools
I can see your sessions still exist — 18 sessions going back to February, all with their titles intact. When you say "blank," can you clarify what you're seeing?

No conversation messages visible when you open a session (just an empty chat)?
The session list itself appears empty in the Claude Code UI?
Something else — like files that were created in a session are gone?
The metadata (titles, dates) is all there, so the sessions themselves haven't been deleted. The issue is more likely a display problem or the conversation transcripts being compacted/summarized.

On chat sessions where significant conversations were held state "no converstations yet"


Used 4 tools
This confirms the problem is real, not just a display glitch. The transcript search finds content in your 2-3 most recent sessions, but returns nothing for older sessions like "Implement triangulation algorithm" or "Fix Monitor.py scroll area proportions" — the conversation data for those is genuinely gone, even though the session metadata (title, date) survived.

This is a known issue that can happen when Claude Code's local session storage is purged, corrupted, or hit a size limit. The session index was preserved but the transcript content was not.

What this means: The conversation history is unrecoverable from the app. The work that was done still exists in your files and git history — git log will show what was built in each session.

What you can do:

Report this at github.com/anthropics/claude-code/issues so the team can investigate the root cause (storage purge policy, corruption, etc.)
If you need context from a past session, I can help reconstruct it by reading the relevant files and git history from that period

Steps to Reproduce

Run Claude code for a while
Notice some sessions are empty

Claude Model

Sonnet (default)

Is this a regression?

No, this never worked

Last Working Version

_No response_

Claude Code Version

Claude Code 2.1.38

Platform

Anthropic API

Operating System

macOS

Terminal/Shell

Terminal.app (macOS)

Additional Information

None