Claude Code Data Format — Detailed Reference

Projects Directory

~/.claude/projects/ contains one directory per project the user has opened with Claude Code. Directory names encode the absolute path:

/Users/name/Documents/projects/my-app → -Users/name/Documents/projects/my-app

To recover the original path: replace leading - with /, then replace remaining - cautiously (dashes also appear in directory names). The cwd field in session/conversation data gives you the canonical path.

Conversation JSONL Files

Located at ~/.claude/projects/<project-dir>/<session-uuid>.jsonl.

Each line is one event. Relevant event types:

`type`	What it is	Worth reading?
`user`	User message	Yes — this is what the user asked/said
`assistant`	Assistant response	Yes — extract `text` blocks from content
`progress`	Tool execution progress	No — internal plumbing
`file-history-snapshot`	File state at session start	No — just file listings

User message structure

{
  "type": "user",
  "message": { "role": "user", "content": "the user's message as a string" },
  "timestamp": "2026-03-15T10:30:00.000Z",
  "sessionId": "uuid",
  "cwd": "/Users/name/Documents/projects/my-app"
}

Assistant message structure

{
  "type": "assistant",
  "message": {
    "role": "assistant",
    "content": [
      { "type": "thinking", "text": "internal reasoning (skip this)" },
      { "type": "text", "text": "The actual visible response" },
      {
        "type": "tool_use",
        "id": "...",
        "name": "Read",
        "input": { "file_path": "..." }
      }
    ]
  },
  "timestamp": "2026-03-15T10:30:05.000Z"
}

Extraction strategy: Only pull text type blocks from assistant content arrays. The thinking blocks are internal reasoning and tool_use blocks are mechanical actions — neither adds wiki-worthy knowledge.

Memory Files

Located at ~/.claude/projects/<project-dir>/memory/.

Each memory file has YAML frontmatter:

---
name: descriptive-name
description: one-line summary used for relevance matching
type: user|feedback|project|reference
---

The memory content. For feedback/project types, structured as:
rule/fact, then **Why:** and **How to apply:** lines.

Memory types and their wiki value:

Type	Contains	Maps to wiki
`user`	User's role, preferences, expertise	Entity page about the user, or context for other pages
`feedback`	Workflow corrections and confirmations	Skills pages — "how to work effectively"
`project`	Active work, goals, decisions, deadlines	Entity pages for projects
`reference`	Pointers to external resources	Reference pages

MEMORY.md in each memory directory is an index with one-line summaries. Read it first to triage.

Session Metadata

Located at ~/.claude/sessions/<pid>.json. Light metadata:

{
  "pid": 12345,
  "sessionId": "uuid",
  "cwd": "/Users/name/Documents/projects/my-app",
  "startedAt": "2026-03-15T10:30:00.000Z",
  "kind": "interactive",
  "entrypoint": "cli"
}

Useful for building a timeline of when the user worked on what.

Global History

~/.claude/history.jsonl — append-only log of all sessions. Use for timeline reconstruction.

Processing Order

For maximum efficiency:

MEMORY.md indexes — Quick triage of what each project knows
Individual memory files — Pre-distilled knowledge, highest signal-to-noise
Conversation JSONL — Rich but verbose, process selectively
Session metadata — Only if you need timeline context

4.1 KiB Raw Blame History