Establish whether recovery is possible
- The recovery point was created before deletion
- The session category was included
- The earlier point is still retained and passes verification
- The session belongs to native Windows rather than another Claude surface
Recover without disturbing current sessions
- 01
Estimate the deletion time
Use when the session last appeared to narrow the recovery window.
- 02
Choose the closest earlier point
A point after deletion usually records the missing state rather than the session.
- 03
Reconstruct a safe copy
Recover the relevant earlier state to a separate folder.
- 04
Confirm the transcript
Check that the intended project and session JSONL is present before considering any later action.
Retention matters
Anthropic documents a default local transcript cleanup period of 30 days. Calmbu retention is separate, but recovery still depends on an earlier verified point being available. Installing a backup product after deletion cannot restore history that no surviving copy contains.
What Calmbu currently claims
Calmbu can recover a deleted Claude Code session only when an earlier retained and verified recovery point contains it. Standard recovery returns the selected point separately for inspection; it does not promise one-click session resurrection.
See the recovery model How Calmbu verifies its claimsCommon questions
Can Calmbu recover a session deleted before installation?
Not unless another imported or compatible backup already contains it. Calmbu cannot reconstruct state it never captured.
Why might the session still be missing?
The selected point may be from after deletion, may exclude session history, may belong to a different project path, or may no longer be retained.
Should I replace my whole Claude directory?
Not as the first step. Recover to a separate folder and inspect the smallest useful scope before any live change.
Official references used for Claude Code facts
Anthropic documentation establishes Claude Code behaviour. Calmbu-specific statements describe the current product contract and are not presented as Anthropic guidance.