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https://github.com/omriariav/claude-plans-backup

Back up and restore your entire Claude Code config (~/.claude) as one sanitized tarball — migrate between accounts or machines without losing skills, plugins, MCP servers, hooks, or memory.
https://github.com/omriariav/claude-plans-backup

anthropic backup claude claude-code cli developer-tools dotfiles mcp migration restore

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Back up and restore your entire Claude Code config (~/.claude) as one sanitized tarball — migrate between accounts or machines without losing skills, plugins, MCP servers, hooks, or memory.

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  claude-plans-backup

  

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claude-plans-backup



claude-plans-backup


A hardened Claude Code config backup/restore skill. Moves a Claude

Code setup to a new machine (or rebuilds it after a

wipe/reinstall) without losing your skills, plugins, MCP servers, hooks,

agents, CLAUDE.md, and memory.


When it's worth running



Scenario

What survives on its own

What this tool is for



New machine / clean reinstall

nothing — ~/.claude doesn't exist there yet

the core use case: back up here, restore there to

rebuild marketplaces, plugins, MCP, hooks, agents,

CLAUDE.md, and memory



Same machine, account switch only (e.g. personal →

Enterprise via /login)

everything — /login swaps credentials but leaves

~/.claude intact

a rollback snapshot to take before you

switch; you normally won't run restore at all



Notes for the same-machine case:


    

  • Your --resume history is preserved automatically — the

    transcripts never move.
    • 

  • The switch is mostly just /login into the new account,

    then /mcp to re-auth OAuth servers (token-based MCP servers

    keep working — their token lives in ~/.claude.json, which

    stays put).
    • 

  • If the new account pushes managed settings that

    overwrite your settings.json, pull just that file out of

    the backup tarball — don't run the full restore (it would reinstall

    plugins that are already there).
    • 



How it works


    

  • 

    Captures the whole setup, including the easy-to-miss

    pieces.     Settings, skills, commands, agents, hooks, global

    CLAUDE.md, keybindings, and tmux config — with

    agents/, hooks/, and CLAUDE.md

    explicitly included and hook scripts re-chmod'd on

    restore.
    • 

  • 

    Strips credentials two ways. Removes

    secret-named keys and redacts

    secret-shaped values (sk-ant-, JWTs,

    ghp_, AKIA, PEM) from

    settings.json and ~/.claude.json.

    .credentials.json is never included.
    • 

  • 

    Restores without clobbering. Merges only

    mcpServers into the target settings.json

    (backing the original up first), so it leaves an account's managed

    settings intact. ~/.claude.json is touched only if you

    explicitly opt in.
    • 

  • 

    Previews before it acts. Restore prints its full

    plan and changes nothing until you pass --apply.
    • 

  • 

    Safe by construction. Restore runs commands from

    explicit args (no eval), the tarball is written

    0600, and .gitignore keeps it (confidential

    config/memory, and transcripts if you opt in) out of version

    control.
    • 



Install (make it an active

skill)


ln -s "$PWD/skills/claude-config-backup" ~/.claude/skills/claude-config-backup


Then invoke in Claude Code with /claude-config-backup,

or just run the scripts directly.


Back up (old machine /

current account)


bash skills/claude-config-backup/scripts/backup.sh --dry-run   # preview inventory

bash skills/claude-config-backup/scripts/backup.sh             # build tarball in $HOME

# options: --yes (no prompts), --out DIR (write elsewhere)


Produces ~/claude-backup-YYYY-MM-DD-HHMM.tar.gz (mode

0600) containing a sanitized config,

RESTORE.md, MANIFEST.txt, and a bundled

restore-claude.sh.


By default the archive includes your settings, skills, commands,

agents, hooks, CLAUDE.md, and auto-memory

— but not conversation transcripts, which are opt-in

(the prompt defaults to no; --yes skips them).

They are the bulk of the data and rarely needed on the new machine — see

below.


Restore (new machine /

Enterprise account)


# 1. install Claude Code, then: /login   (into the new account)

tar xzf claude-backup-*.tar.gz -C ~/

bash ~/restore-claude.sh                  # PREVIEW by default — prints the plan, changes nothing

bash ~/restore-claude.sh --apply          # execute (add --yes to accept all prompts)

# then: /mcp to reconnect servers (secrets are never backed up — OAuth or token re-auth)


Restore previews by default: it runs the

claude CLI and settings changes only when you pass

--apply, so you can read the full plan before anything

mutates.


How

claude --resume works (and why transcripts are opt-in)


Each Claude Code session is stored locally as a .jsonl

file (the full message + tool-call history) under:


~/.claude/projects/<encoded-cwd>/<session-uuid>.jsonl


The subdirectory name is your working directory with

/ and . replaced by - (e.g.

/home/foo/bar.baz → -home-foo-bar-baz).

claude --resume lists the sessions for your

current directory's encoded folder and replays the chosen one

back into a fresh session. It is purely local and

file-based — no server or account state is involved.


Two consequences for migration:


    

  1. 

    Resume is account-independent. Switching

    plans/accounts (e.g. Max → Enterprise) changes auth/billing, not your

    transcripts. On the same machine, resume works regardless of which

    account you're logged into.
    2. 

  2. 

    Resume is path-dependent. It keys off the encoded

    working directory. On a new machine, restored transcripts only surface

    under --resume if you stand in a directory whose path

    matches the original (same username + same repo paths → works). If paths

    differ, the .jsonl files restore fine but won't be listed —

    the history isn't lost, just not one-click resumable (the files are

    plain JSON).
    3. 



So transcripts are off by default: they're large

(often gigabytes), and resume continuity only pays off when the new

machine keeps the same paths. Include them (answer yes at the

prompt) when you want full --resume history and

the target machine will use the same username and repo locations.


What it never touches


~/.claude/.credentials.json, token/secret values,

plugins/cache/, and runtime state (sessions/,

telemetry/, daemon/,

file-history/, history.jsonl).


Security notes


    

  • The tarball is written 0600 and holds auto-memory (and

    transcripts, if you opt in) = confidential content even

    after sanitization. Keep it on managed storage, not personal cloud.
    • 

  • Hook/skill scripts are archived verbatim, not scanned. Keep secrets

    in env/keychain, never hard-coded in a script.
    • 

  • An Enterprise account may push managed settings;

    restore only merges mcpServers rather than overwriting

    settings.json, so it won't fight org policy.
    •