Claude Code Backup

Automatic backup of all your Claude Code settings to GitHub. One command to set up, runs on boot and every few hours.

What gets backed up

Everything Claude Code stores across your machine, not just ~/.claude/:

• Memories (127 files across 8 scopes in my setup)
• Skills (full directories, recursively)
• MCP server configs (every .mcp.json, .claude.json, settings-embedded servers)
• Rules, Agents, Commands (.md files)
• CLAUDE.md files (global + every project)
• Settings (settings.json, settings.local.json)
• Plans (.md files)
• Sessions (.jsonl conversation files)
• Plugins (cached plugin directories)

It uses the same scanner as Claude Code Organizer to discover items across all scopes (global + every project directory you've ever opened Claude Code in).

Quick start

npx @mcpware/claude-code-backup init

This will:

1. Scan your Claude Code settings and show what it found
2. Ask for your GitHub repo URL
3. Ask your preferred backup interval (default: every 4 hours)
4. Install a systemd timer (Linux) or LaunchAgent (macOS)
5. Run the first backup immediately

Manual backup

npx @mcpware/claude-code-backup run

Check status

npx @mcpware/claude-code-backup status

Remove scheduler

npx @mcpware/claude-code-backup uninstall

This only removes the scheduled task. Your backup data stays in ~/.claude-backups/.

How it works

~/.claude-backups/
├── .git/                    ← tracked by git, pushed to your private repo
├── .gitignore
├── latest/
│   ├── global/
│   │   ├── memory/          ← all global memories
│   │   ├── skill/           ← all global skills (full dirs)
│   │   ├── mcp/             ← each MCP server as individual .json
│   │   ├── config/          ← CLAUDE.md, settings.json
│   │   ├── rule/            ← all rules
│   │   ├── plan/
│   │   ├── agent/
│   │   ├── command/
│   │   └── plugin/
│   ├── -home-user-myproject/
│   │   ├── memory/          ← project-specific memories
│   │   ├── skill/           ← project-specific skills
│   │   ├── mcp/
│   │   ├── config/          ← project CLAUDE.md, settings
│   │   └── session/         ← conversation history
│   └── backup-summary.json
├── config.json
└── backup.log

Each backup overwrites latest/ so git only tracks the diff, not full copies. Your git history is your version history.

Restore on a new machine

git clone git@github.com:you/claude-backup.git ~/.claude-backups
# Then manually copy files back to their original locations
# (automated restore coming soon)

Scheduler details

Linux (systemd): User-level timer with Persistent=true. Runs on boot (5 min delay) and at your configured interval. Catches up missed runs if the machine was off.

macOS (launchd): LaunchAgent with RunAtLoad=true. Same behavior.

Requirements

• Node.js 18+
• Git
• A private GitHub repo (create one first)

Built with

Scanner extracted from @mcpware/claude-code-organizer.