Session saving warnings

Claude Code shows these warnings on a persistent line below the input box when it isn't saving your session transcript. The session keeps working either way; the warnings tell you the session may be missing from --resume later.

Transcript writes are failing

Claude Code saves the transcript to disk as you work, and its writes to the transcript file are failing. The message names the cause with the underlying error code, for example a full disk:

Transcript writes are failing (disk full — ENOSPC) · recent messages may not be saved for resume

The warning appears at different points depending on the error:

• On the first failure for conditions that don't clear on their own: a full disk, an exceeded disk quota, a read-only filesystem, a path over the filesystem's length limit, or, on macOS and Linux, a permission error
• After repeated failures spanning at least a minute for everything else, including permission errors on Windows, where an antivirus scan can fail a single write that then succeeds on retry

Before v2.1.217, Claude Code dropped the failing writes without a warning, and a later --resume missing recent messages was the first sign.

What to do:

• Fix the condition the error code names: free disk space for ENOSPC; raise or clear the quota for EDQUOT; restore write access to the transcript location for EACCES, EPERM, or EROFS
• The warning clears on its own at the next successful write; no restart is needed
• Messages sent while the warning was showing may still be missing when you resume the session later

Transcript saving is off because CLAUDE\_CODE\_SKIP\_PROMPT\_HISTORY is set

This session started with CLAUDE_CODE_SKIP_PROMPT_HISTORY set, so Claude Code writes no transcript or prompt history for it:

Transcript saving is off — CLAUDE_CODE_SKIP_PROMPT_HISTORY is set · --resume will not find this session; if unintended, unset it and restart

The variable is an intentional opt-out for ephemeral scripted sessions, but it can also reach a session through a shell profile, a wrapper script, or a parent process that exported it.

What to do:

• If you set the variable on purpose, no action is needed; the notice confirms the session won't appear in --resume, --continue, or up-arrow history
• If you didn't, remove the variable from the shell or script that launches claude, then start a new session. Messages from the current session aren't saved retroactively.

Transcript saving is off because of an inherited CLAUDE\_CODE\_CHILD\_SESSION marker

Claude Code sets CLAUDE_CODE_CHILD_SESSION in the subprocesses it spawns, and treats an interactive session that inherits it as nested: Claude Code saves no transcript for it, so sessions that Claude itself starts don't fill your --resume list. This notice means your current session inherited the marker:

Transcript saving is off — inherited CLAUDE_CODE_CHILD_SESSION marker · restart with CLAUDE_CODE_FORCE_SESSION_PERSISTENCE=1 to keep future transcripts

The notice is expected when you ran claude from inside another Claude Code session; it signals a misclassification when the marker leaked through a long-lived intermediary, for example a terminal, screen session, or launcher that a Claude Code session originally started.

Inside tmux, Claude Code detects a marker that arrived through the tmux server's global environment and keeps saving, so this notice doesn't appear for that case.

What to do:

• If you started this session from inside another Claude Code session on purpose, no action is needed
• If this is a top-level session, exit and restart with CLAUDE_CODE_FORCE_SESSION_PERSISTENCE=1 set. Saving applies from the restart, so messages sent before it aren't saved.
• To fix future launches from the same terminal or launcher, remove CLAUDE_CODE_CHILD_SESSION from its environment