Memory leak: Missing cleanup for /tmp/claude-*-cwd working directory tracking files

Additional Analysis & Impact Assessment

Quantitative Impact Data

After monitoring for 24 hours, here's the accumulation rate:

• 174 orphaned files created in ~12 hours of usage
• 2,018 Bash invocations tracked in logs
• ~14.5 files/hour accumulation rate during active use
• 22 bytes each = minimal individual impact but compounds over time

Why This Matters

1. Multi-user systems: Shared servers could accumulate thousands of files
2. Long-running sessions: Power users running Claude Code 24/7
3. CI/CD environments: Automated systems without regular reboots
4. Docker containers: May not have systemd-tmpfiles-clean

Reproduction Script

#!/bin/bash
# Monitor temp file accumulation
echo "Starting temp file monitor..."
INITIAL_COUNT=$(ls /tmp/claude-*-cwd 2>/dev/null | wc -l)
echo "Initial count: $INITIAL_COUNT files"

# Trigger some Bash commands through Claude Code
for i in {1..10}; do
  # This would need to be triggered through Claude Code's UI/API
  echo "Trigger Bash command #$i through Claude Code"
  sleep 1
done

FINAL_COUNT=$(ls /tmp/claude-*-cwd 2>/dev/null | wc -l)
echo "Final count: $FINAL_COUNT files"
echo "Accumulated: $((FINAL_COUNT - INITIAL_COUNT)) new files"

Suggested Priority

Given the silent nature of this bug (no errors, just accumulation), I'd suggest Medium Priority with the following reasoning:

• ✅ Has a simple one-line fix
• ✅ Affects all users universally
• ⚠️ No immediate functionality impact
• ⚠️ Mitigated by system cleanup on most Linux distros
• ❌ Could cause issues on constrained systems

Testing the Fix

The fix has been verified locally by modifying /usr/local/lib/node_modules/@anthropic-ai/claude-code/cli.js:

// After line containing readFileSync(K)
try { require('fs').unlinkSync(K) } catch {}

Happy to provide any additional information or testing assistance needed!

Have we resolved this issue?

This issue has been inactive for 30 days. If the issue is still occurring, please comment to let us know. Otherwise, this issue will be automatically closed in 30 days for housekeeping purposes.

The issue still persists and is really annoying. After a few days the amount of claude-*-cwd files reaches thousands which really slows things down.

<img width="245" height="607" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/fb719adb-db38-478c-bbb6-5e8cc10f1516" />

Issue: Temporary working directories not being cleaned up
I'm still experiencing this issue. As shown in the screenshot, multiple tmpclaude-XXXX-cwd directories are accumulating and not being properly cleaned up after sessions end.
Environment:

Multiple temporary directories with pattern tmpclaude-*-cwd persist after use
Directories observed: tmpclaude-02a6-cwd, tmpclaude-6f46-cwd, tmpclaude-7b7a-cwd, tmpclaude-67aa-cwd, tmpclaude-144b-cwd, tmpclaude-191b-cwd, tmpclaude-685d-cwd, tmpclaude-1687-cwd, tmpclaude-2601-cwd, tmpclaude-cb02-cwd, tmpclaude-d549-cwd, tmpclaude-e2ac-cwd, tmpclaude-f0c9-cwd, tmpclaude-f096-cwd, tmpclaude-fb05-cwd, tmpclaude-fe76-cwd, and more...

Expected behavior:
Temporary working directories should be automatically removed when the session ends or the tool exits.
Actual behavior:
Temporary directories persist indefinitely, requiring manual cleanup.
This is still actively occurring. Would appreciate a fix for proper cleanup of these temporary directories.

as the bug is tagged with linux: This is also an issue in windows:

<img width="629" height="543" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/d6747842-9352-4265-8ea6-80f0eb80cdfa" />

<img width="1056" height="535" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/1124fded-24d5-41bb-a98c-e31342298ac8" /> Still persists in windows. Latest claude code 2.1.5

Now I have files like this created right in the working repository at the root...

<img width="640" height="505" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/0580aac0-34da-404b-97d6-deb53c7c98bd" />

Same issue:
<img width="281" height="756" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/1bced9ab-4ef0-44d9-b204-25b56f912c81" />

Same issue

+1 same issue

+1 same issue

+1

+1, this is spewing these files out all over my Unity project...

Anthopic - you have no moat. Just open-source Claude Code already, there is zero reason not to.

Opus 4.5 as "the best model" lasted for a few weeks. Now it really makes little difference if a prompt is ran on Claude Code with Opus 4.5 or on Codex/OpenCode with GPT-5.2.

Even GLM-4.7, albeit slow and less capable is very usable if you just give it a bunch of work (with a proper validation harness) and come back tomorrow.

As for CC pretty much every day I have a situation where one CC instance is eating 100% CPU just sitting there waiting for text input. And I have to run a while :; do chmod -R 777 /tmp/claude*; sleep 2; done simply because if you run two CC instances on different users they will fight over the permissions to the /tmp/claude* directories.

AI companies are like utility - you don't care where your electricity is coming from, only that it's 220V. And I'm certain that MiniMax 3, GLM-5, GPT-6 and Grok 5 will be better than Opus 4.6.

Again - you have no moat. Stop trying to build a "walled garden" and let people use a harness that's NOT broken. Or just open-source it so we can fix it by ourselves.
Moats aren't a thing when switching agents is literally an npm install away. And CC is the only major closed-source agent.

+1

Affects Version / Steps to reproduce

• Not present in v2.1.4 on Windows
• installed using the install.ps script: https://code.claude.com/docs/en/setup#standard-installation
• Uninstalled.
• Re-installed using the same script, now on version 2.1.5 and experiencing this issue.

Workaround

• Add tmpclaude* to .gitignore
• Add the following to claude.md:

``
Clean up any files that match the GLOB pattern tmpclaude after you are done working using rm ./tmpclaude.
``

same issue on Windows and Claude Code 2.1.5

same issue on Windows and Claude Code 2.1.5

I have a workaround using a PowerShell script that runs automatically via Claude Code's Stop hook.
Work with Claude Code 2.1.5 on Windows

1. Create cleanup script at C:\Users\<YourUsername>\.claude\scripts\cleanup-claude-temp.ps1:

$locations = @($env:TEMP, $env:USERPROFILE, "<PATH_TO_PROJECT_ROOT>", (Get-Location).Path)
$patterns = @("tmpclaude-*", "claude--cwd*")
foreach ($loc in $locations) {
    if ($loc -and (Test-Path $loc)) {
        foreach ($pattern in $patterns) {
            Get-ChildItem -Path $loc -Filter $pattern -Recurse -Depth 3 -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue |
            Remove-Item -Force -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
        }
    }
}

Replace <PATH_TO_PROJECT_ROOT> with your project directory (e.g., C:\Users\JohnDoe\ClaudeProjects)

2. Add Stop hook to your settings (C:\Users\<YourUsername>\.claude\settings.json):

{
  "hooks": {
    "Stop": [{
      "type": "command",
      "command": "powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File \"$HOME\\.claude\\scripts\\cleanup-claude-temp.ps1\""
    }]
  }
}

3. Restart all terminals and editors. Problem solve

Same issue on Windows and Claude Code 2.1.5

Same issue on windows 2.1.5

Same issue on Windows and Claude Code 2.1.5

Same issue on windows 2.1.5

I have a workaround using a PowerShell script that runs automatically via Claude Code's Stop hook. Work with Claude Code 2.1.5 on Windows 1. Create cleanup script at C:\Users\<YourUsername>\.claude\scripts\cleanup-claude-temp.ps1: $locations = @($env:TEMP, $env:USERPROFILE, "<PATH_TO_PROJECT_ROOT>", (Get-Location).Path) $patterns = @("tmpclaude-", "claude--cwd") foreach ($loc in $locations) { if ($loc -and (Test-Path $loc)) { foreach ($pattern in $patterns) { Get-ChildItem -Path $loc -Filter $pattern -Recurse -Depth 3 -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue | Remove-Item -Force -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue } } } > Replace <PATH_TO_PROJECT_ROOT> with your project directory (e.g., C:\Users\JohnDoe\ClaudeProjects) 2. Add Stop hook to your settings (C:\Users\<YourUsername>\.claude\settings.json): { "hooks": { "Stop": [{ "type": "command", "command": "powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File \"$HOME\\.claude\\scripts\\cleanup-claude-temp.ps1\"" }] } } 3. Restart all terminals and editors. Problem solve

I get an error with this due to new format - had to switch settings.json to be:

{
  "hooks": {
    "Stop": [{
      "matcher": "",
      "hooks": [{
        "type": "command",
        "command": "powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File \"$HOME\\.claude\\scripts\\cleanup-claude-temp.ps1\""
      }]
    }]
  }

same issue, very annoying

+1 windows, at least update the changelog when you push the version please

+1 windows

• windows

+1

+1 windows

+1 windows - only started for me today

+1

Duplicate of #17777

+1

+1

For the love of Claude. Stop with the +1 and "me too!".

We know. Just subscribe to the issue and wait for actual meaningful updates.

> I have a workaround using a PowerShell script that runs automatically via Claude Code's Stop hook. Work with Claude Code 2.1.5 on Windows > 1. Create cleanup script at C:\Users\<YourUsername>\.claude\scripts\cleanup-claude-temp.ps1: > $locations = @($env:TEMP, $env:USERPROFILE, "<PATH_TO_PROJECT_ROOT>", (Get-Location).Path) > $patterns = @("tmpclaude-_", "claude--cwd_") > foreach ($loc in $locations) { > if ($loc -and (Test-Path $loc)) { > foreach ($pattern in $patterns) { > Get-ChildItem -Path $loc -Filter $pattern -Recurse -Depth 3 -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue | > Remove-Item -Force -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue > } > } > } > > Replace <PATH_TO_PROJECT_ROOT> with your project directory (e.g., C:\Users\JohnDoe\ClaudeProjects) > > > 2. Add Stop hook to your settings (C:\Users\<YourUsername>\.claude\settings.json): > { > "hooks": { > "Stop": [{ > "type": "command", > "command": "powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File "$HOME\.claude\scripts\cleanup-claude-temp.ps1"" > }] > } > } > 3. Restart all terminals and editors. Problem solve I get an error with this due to new format - had to switch settings.json to be: `` { "hooks": { "Stop": [{ "matcher": "", "hooks": [{ "type": "command", "command": "powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File \"$HOME\\.claude\\scripts\\cleanup-claude-temp.ps1\"" }] }] } ``

This seems like a good idea. How to handle the case where multiple claudes are running in the same folder?

same issue

Same issue. This is ridiculous

<img width="565" height="781" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/706ab6c1-db6f-41dd-99fd-43ddb4e378ad" />

+1 as well

<img width="277" height="269" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/7ab4e0cb-382a-49aa-b688-399da40d4ef5" />

<img width="525" height="599" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/94d843cb-4e1d-463a-a0b5-167b2a0dfc0e" />
nice work :-D

this happening since last 2 days after i ddi claude update

Also experiencing this issue. Over SSH in a vscode remote session.

Same here, that is funny

<img width="314" height="365" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/8f09c4f3-f7b1-46ee-889e-e9ed8bbe9760" />

Platform: win64
Shell: PowerShell
Third-party endpoint (blue whale)

Staying up to date

+1 v2.1.5 windows

also this version same issue

2.1.6 (Claude Code)

+1 2.1.6 (Claude Code) Windows

<img width="738" height="480" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/e178683c-3767-4839-b411-9613a0b9e701" />

+1 v2.1.5 windows

Linux users are fine, but on Windows it creates a bunch of temporary files and nul files directly in the current project’s root directory.

Linux 用户还好呢，windows 用户直接在当前项目根目录生成一堆临时文件和nul文件；

<img width="685" height="1163" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/e8d549a7-b663-4111-9b67-58711a94ef4f" />

Version 2.1.6, the issue indeed still persists.

<img width="568" height="541" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/d911992b-d9da-4185-9941-88fc58c873e8" />

v2.1.5

Same here. really annoying

<img width="376" height="914" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/4ef67bcd-e44d-4ff6-b01d-c0118e022df1" />

Please fix this. crazy annoying

Yeah, this is crazy! These files are now not showing in the tmp directory, but IN THE REPOSITORY, and not always in the same directory but scattered around!

Fix this, please, it's unmanageable!

It seems the files get generated when claude executes bash commands on windows

Please fix this... it's crazy annoying

It seems the files get generated when claude executes bash commands on windows

Git Bash right?

> It seems the files get generated when claude executes bash commands on windows Git Bash right?

Yes basically if I tell it to create a hello world file it wont generate any of the tmp files. When I tell it to delete it and it executes Bash tool it generates the tmp file.

> > It seems the files get generated when claude executes bash commands on windows > > > Git Bash right? Yes basically if I tell it to create a hello world file it wont generate any of the tmp files. When I tell it to delete it and it executes Bash tool it generates the tmp file.

Do you have a rule to deny rm commands? Or maybe some git bash issue deleting files with rm command or preventing deleting, I don't know...

> > > It seems the files get generated when claude executes bash commands on windows > > > > > > Git Bash right? > > > Yes basically if I tell it to create a hello world file it wont generate any of the tmp files. When I tell it to delete it and it executes Bash tool it generates the tmp file. Do you have a rule to deny rm commands? Or maybe some git bash issue deleting files with rm command or preventing deleting, I don't know...

No rules like that, I allow deletes. Its just an example. Any bash tool call will generate the tmp files.

!Image

+1

+1

+1

+1

+1

I got this also happening in a tanstack start project and even more so in my dotnet project

+1

+1

It seems the files get generated when claude executes bash commands on windows

started happening for me yesterday/today after latest update. Windows 11 25H2! Running on Windows Terminal

upvote

+1

+1

+1

+1

+1

Claude... you cooked!

+1

<img width="271" height="642" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/8ef81278-a3d4-41bf-8950-2ed6325a4791" />

same issue on 2.1.6 and windows 11 with bash.

+1

Thanks for the detailed write-up! This should be fixed in tomorrow's release

*today's releae, right @timgu0 ?

Just waiting to check if it fixed

+1

+1

<img width="163" height="310" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/55761015-2d97-4d69-9d03-2b0a17a84cd4" />

Same

2.1.7 version has fixed this issue.

2.1.7 does not fix this on windows at least.

2.1.7 does not fix this on windows at least.

Please reopen the issue, it is not fixed

Still an issue on 2.1.7 on Windows, yeah

seems fixed on windows

not yet for now, but it may be just needs to be arrived to me

On windows 11 it doesnt generate tmp anymore for me.

still happening for me on windows 2.1.7

Checking again now. If it's still happening to you, do you mind sharing a screenshot of your claude with the version number and the path of these tmp files?

<img width="1443" height="533" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/a0713f5f-d0ef-4481-a5ac-2e1aa027c8aa" /> yep this is still happening

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.

This is the reason people love opencode than claude code and yet they force claude code

Yes, the problem still persists. I have just cleaned up dozens of CWD files.
os: win10

2.1.7 still happening here
win64 (windows 11)
Dev Drive (not wsl)

The best cleanup is never creating the files in the first place.

Seems that an environment variable is the fix. CLAUDE_CODE_TMPDIR

https://github.com/anthropics/claude-code/issues/18008#issuecomment-3751048803

The best cleanup is never creating the files in the first place. Seems that an environment variable is the fix. CLAUDE_CODE_TMPDIR #18008 (comment)

And yet new issues suggesting that are being closed as duplicates of this one. #31024

Great analysis. Until the upstream fix lands, here's a simple cleanup approach:

Option 1: Stop hook (cleans up when Claude Code exits)

#!/bin/bash
# ~/.claude/hooks/cleanup-tmp.sh (Stop hook)
find /tmp -maxdepth 1 -name 'claude-*-cwd' -user "$(whoami)" -delete 2>/dev/null
exit 0  # exit 0 = don't block the stop

{
  "hooks": {
    "Stop": [
      {
        "hooks": [{ "type": "command", "command": "bash ~/.claude/hooks/cleanup-tmp.sh" }]
      }
    ]
  }
}

Option 2: Cron (catches sessions that crash without triggering Stop)

# Clean up every hour
echo '0 * * * * find /tmp -maxdepth 1 -name "claude-*-cwd" -mmin +60 -user "$(whoami)" -delete 2>/dev/null' | crontab -

The Stop hook handles normal exits; the cron catches edge cases. Both are safe — these files are only read once immediately after each Bash call, so deleting files older than 60 minutes has zero risk of interfering with active sessions.

A Stop hook can clean these up at session end:

find /tmp -maxdepth 1 -name 'claude-*-cwd' -type f -mmin +60 -delete 2>/dev/null
exit 0

Add to ~/.claude/settings.json:

{
  "hooks": {
    "Stop": [{
      "matcher": "",
      "hooks": [{ "type": "command", "command": "~/.claude/hooks/tmp-cleanup.sh" }]
    }]
  }
}

Only deletes files older than 60 minutes so it won't affect active sessions. Or install it with:

npx cc-safe-setup --install-example tmp-cleanup

You can clean these up automatically with a Stop hook that runs when each session ends:

find /tmp -maxdepth 1 -name 'claude-*-cwd' -mmin +5 -delete 2>/dev/null
find /tmp -maxdepth 1 -name 'claude-*' -type f -mmin +60 -delete 2>/dev/null
exit 0

// ~/.claude/settings.json
{
  "hooks": {
    "Stop": [{
      "hooks": [{ "type": "command", "command": "bash ~/.claude/hooks/cleanup-tmp.sh" }]
    }]
  }
}

This runs automatically when Claude Code stops (session end, Ctrl+C, /exit). The -mmin +5 avoids deleting files from a concurrent session.
One-liner to clear the backlog:

find /tmp -maxdepth 1 -name 'claude-*-cwd' -delete

If you want belt-and-suspenders, add a cron job alongside the hook:

echo "0 */6 * * * find /tmp -maxdepth 1 -name 'claude-*-cwd' -mmin +30 -delete" | crontab -

The Stop hook handles normal session ends; cron catches crashed sessions where Stop doesn't fire.

/tmp/gh-comment-8856.md