David F GliddenandClaude Opus 4.7
119285cf43
The ~/.claude/ directory was previously local-only — a machine wipe
would have lost the accumulated memory, custom skills, and settings.
This commit moves the durable parts into dotfiles with the same
symlink-to-home pattern used for CLAUDE.md, PENDING.md, REVIEWED.md,
and L2-BOOTSTRAP.md.
Preserved (symlinked from ~/.claude/* into here):
skills/audit/ — thinking-folder drift scanner
skills/symmetria/ — practice-of-return discipline
skills/vault-update-people/ — Obsidian People-file maintainer
skills/wake-up/ — session restoration
skills/wrap-up/ — session state capture
memory/ — 55+ memory files (MEMORY.md, sessions,
ledgers, project state, feedback, etc.)
settings/settings.json — user preferences (hooks, flags, no secrets)
Deliberately NOT backed up:
settings.local.json — contains operational secrets (HF_TOKEN,
SSH password in expect scripts); by naming
convention, *.local.* is not synced.
Needs separate review and probable rotation.
sessions/, history.jsonl, caches, telemetry — ephemeral
plugins/, marketplace skills and agents — reinstallable
The working copies at ~/.claude/skills/* and
~/.claude/projects/-Users-davidglidden/memory are symlinks into this
directory, so every write flows here automatically. install.sh
recreates the symlinks on a fresh machine.
FOLLOW-ON (flagged, not in this commit):
settings.local.json contains a HuggingFace token and an SSH password
as plaintext strings inside allowed Bash command patterns. These
should be rotated and moved to secure storage (keychain / pass /
env file outside the settings file).
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
106 lines
5.1 KiB
Markdown
106 lines
5.1 KiB
Markdown
# Claude Code configuration — backup & restore
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This directory holds the durable Claude Code configuration that should survive a machine wipe: custom skills, accumulated memory, and user-level settings. The working copies at `~/.claude/*` are symlinks pointing here, so edits flow both directions automatically.
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---
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## What's preserved here
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### `skills/` — custom skills we've authored
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| Skill | Purpose |
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|---|---|
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| `audit/` | Scans thinking folder + vault inbox for organizational drift; report-only |
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| `symmetria/` | Practice-of-return discipline; prime-directive foregrounding under context pressure |
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| `vault-update-people/` | Searches Obsidian vault for new mentions of a person; proposes People-file updates |
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| `wake-up/` | Restores full session context from memory, governance, and git at session start |
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| `wrap-up/` | Captures session state for future restoration; the quality of the next wake depends on this |
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Marketplace-installed skills (from Claude Code plugins) are not backed up here — they are regenerable on any fresh install.
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### `memory/` — auto-memory for the main project scope
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The substrate of continuity. 55+ files including:
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- `MEMORY.md` — the index, loaded at every session start
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- `session-2026-*.md` — session records (full Dasein-frame wrap-ups: pulling thread, pause statement, literal question for next-Claude)
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- `session-ledger-*.md` — Symmetria daily ledgers (returns, recalibrations, authorization moves, bypasses)
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- `project-*.md` — active project state snapshots (ARC rework, Chamber, L2 review, etc.)
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- `feedback-*.md` — steward preferences and corrections learned over time
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- Many others
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Real path: `~/.claude/projects/-Users-davidglidden/memory/` symlinks here.
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### `settings/settings.json` — Claude Code user settings
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Sanitized. Contains hook registrations and feature flags. No secrets.
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---
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## What is deliberately NOT here
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### `settings.local.json`
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Kept **local-only** because its permissions allowlist has historically contained operational secrets (HuggingFace tokens embedded in approved Bash commands; SSH passwords in approved `expect` scripts). The `.local.json` naming convention exists for exactly this reason.
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Before backing any settings.local.json up anywhere, audit it for secrets and redact them.
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### Session transcripts (`sessions/`, `history.jsonl`, `projects/*/sessions/`)
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Too large; ephemeral by design; not needed to restore identity.
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### Caches, telemetry, runtime state
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`cache/`, `file-history/`, `paste-cache/`, `telemetry/`, `statsig/`, `stats-cache.json`, `scheduled_tasks.lock`, `session-env/`, `mcp-needs-auth-cache.json`, `debug/`, `tasks/`, `todos/` — all regenerate naturally.
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### Marketplace-installed skills and agents
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`plugins/`, and the many non-custom entries under `skills/` and `agents/` come from Claude Code's plugin system. Reinstallable on a fresh machine.
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---
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## Restore procedure
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On a fresh machine, after cloning dotfiles:
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```bash
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cd ~/dotfiles/claude
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./install.sh
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```
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The install script:
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1. Verifies `~/dotfiles/claude/` is present
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2. Creates `~/.claude/skills/` and `~/.claude/projects/-Users-davidglidden/` if missing
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3. Symlinks each custom skill from `~/.claude/skills/X → ~/dotfiles/claude/skills/X`
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4. Symlinks the memory tree from `~/.claude/projects/-Users-davidglidden/memory → ~/dotfiles/claude/memory`
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5. Copies `settings.json` into place if no existing file (does not overwrite)
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6. Skips anything already present — idempotent
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After running: the first Claude Code session on the new machine has full memory, all custom skills, and baseline settings.
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---
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## Why this matters
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Without this backup, a machine wipe means:
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- All session memory lost — `/wake-up` would have nothing to restore from
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- All custom skills lost — the practice-of-return discipline, session lifecycle, audit workflows
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- The collaboration history with Claude Code loses its thread
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The memory tree is the single most irreplaceable artifact — it accumulates through dialogue and cannot be reconstructed from any other source. 384 KB of text that represents months of learning about preferences, active projects, decisions, and open horizons.
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---
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## Maintenance
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These files are **live**. Claude Code writes to them during normal operation (ledger updates, memory file creation/edits, settings changes). Because the working copies at `~/.claude/*` are symlinks into this directory, every write lands here automatically. Then `git status` in `~/dotfiles/` shows what's changed and invites a commit.
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Recommended cadence: commit dotfiles/claude/ changes alongside other dotfiles work, roughly weekly or when a significant session has concluded. The `/wrap-up` skill should be treated as a natural commit moment for the memory tree.
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## Fragility to watch
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- **Symlinks break if `~/dotfiles/claude/` is moved.** Keep dotfiles at `~/dotfiles/`.
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- **macOS Time Machine / backup tools may or may not follow symlinks.** Verify your backup solution sees files, not just broken links.
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- **If Claude Code's internal path conventions change** (e.g., the project-scope slug `-Users-davidglidden` changes), the symlink stops pointing where Claude Code looks. Re-create with the new path.
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