[FEATURE] Scratchpad should persist beyond session and be user-accessible by default

[carrotRakko]

Preflight Checklist

• I have searched existing requests and this feature hasn't been requested yet
• This is a single feature request (not multiple features)

Problem Statement

Claude Code's scratchpad directory (e.g., /tmp/claude/<encoded-cwd>/<session-id>/scratchpad/) has two fundamental design issues:

1. Visibility: When a user says "write a draft and I'll review it", Claude writes to the scratchpad. But the scratchpad is inside /tmp, which is:

• Not easily accessible on many setups (e.g., Dev Containers, remote environments)
• Requires the user to understand Claude Code's internal directory structure

The user has to know about scratchpad, know it's in /tmp, and explicitly say "write to a project directory instead". This defeats the purpose of an LLM tool that should infer user intent.

2. Persistence: Scratchpad is in /tmp, which is volatile:

• Dev Container restart = gone
• OS reboot = gone
• tmpfs expiration = gone

This matters because LLM outputs are non-deterministic. Unlike script outputs that can be regenerated, LLM artifacts are one-of-a-kind. Losing them means re-spending API tokens for a potentially different result.

Key insight: Scratchpad is fundamentally different from transcripts.

• Transcripts: Raw logs, primarily for debugging/auditing. Volatility is acceptable.
• Scratchpad: Intentional artifacts that humans review, iterate on, and verify. Should persist.

Proposed Solution

1. Make scratchpad location configurable via:

   • CLI flag or environment variable, AND/OR
   • CLAUDE.md / settings.json

2. Document the scratchpad behavior clearly:

   • Where it lives by default
   • How to change it
   • What gets written there

3. Move default location out of /tmp:

   • ~/.claude/scratchpad/ or similar
   • At minimum, respect $TMPDIR / $CLAUDE_CODE_TMPDIR

Alternative Solutions

Current workaround: Explicitly instruct Claude to write to a project directory instead of scratchpad. This requires knowing the internal behavior, which most users shouldn't need to.

Priority

High - Significant impact on productivity

Feature Category

Configuration and settings

Use Case Example

1. User: "Write a document summarizing Git/GitHub procedures for Claude Code to follow. I'll review it before we finalize."
2. Claude writes to /tmp/claude/.../scratchpad/git-procedures.md
3. Claude: "Done! I've written the document."
4. User: "...where? I don't see it in my project."
5. User has to either:
   • Ask Claude to cat the file (wastes context)
   • Navigate to the scratchpad path manually (requires knowing the internal structure)
   • Ask Claude to copy it to the project (extra step that shouldn't be needed)

Expected: When the user says "I'll review it", Claude should write to a location the user can easily access.

Additional Context

Related issues that focus on /tmp path conflicts but not the persistence/visibility problem:

• [BUG] Background tasks ignore $TMPDIR and hardcode /tmp/claude/ #15700 - Background tasks ignore $TMPDIR
• [FEATURE] Use CLAUDE_CODE_TMPDIR for Session Scratchpad #17936 - CLAUDE_CODE_TMPDIR for scratchpad
• [Feature Request] Allow project-local temporary directory configuration #17552 - Project-local temp directory (closed as duplicate)

This issue focuses on the design rationale: scratchpad artifacts should be treated as valuable, human-reviewable outputs—not throwaway temp files.

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✍️ Author: Claude Code (Dev Container) with @carrotRakko

Note: This issue was written and submitted by an AI agent (Claude Code), with human review and approval.

[github-actions]

Found 3 possible duplicate issues:

1. Feature request: Allow configuring temp file directory location #17996
2. [FEATURE] Support local persistence of .claude/CLAUDE.md when working on remote SSH servers #13056
3. [FEATURE] Use CLAUDE_CODE_TMPDIR for Session Scratchpad #17936

This issue will be automatically closed as a duplicate in 3 days.

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🤖 Generated with Claude Code

[carrotRakko]

This issue is not a duplicate of the suggested issues:

• Feature request: Allow configuring temp file directory location #17996: About tmpclaude-* files cluttering the project directory—different from scratchpad
• [FEATURE] Support local persistence of .claude/CLAUDE.md when working on remote SSH servers #13056: About .claude/CLAUDE.md persistence on SSH servers—different topic entirely
• [FEATURE] Use CLAUDE_CODE_TMPDIR for Session Scratchpad #17936: About CLAUDE_CODE_TMPDIR not being respected—this is a bug report, whereas my issue is about design rationale

My issue specifically argues:

1. Scratchpad is fundamentally different from transcripts—it's intentional output that humans review, not raw logs
2. Default behavior should consider user intent—when a user says "I'll review it", writing to /tmp defeats that purpose
3. Documentation is needed—regardless of where scratchpad lives, users shouldn't need to reverse-engineer the behavior

The suggested issues focus on "let me change the location" but don't address the design question of why scratchpad defaults to a volatile, hard-to-access location in the first place.

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✍️ Author: Claude Code (Dev Container) with @carrotRakko

Note: This comment was written by an AI agent (Claude Code), with human review and approval.

[github-actions]

Closing for now — inactive for too long. Please open a new issue if this is still relevant.

[github-actions]

This issue has been automatically locked since it was closed and has not had any activity for 7 days. If you're experiencing a similar issue, please file a new issue and reference this one if it's relevant.