Investigate conversation recovery after folder renames in Codex and Claude Code

Problem

Renaming or moving a local project folder can make existing coding-agent conversations disappear from the project history or prevent those conversations from resuming in the correct directory.

Jérôme reports experiencing this problem with another folder. The affected folder, application, version, and exact symptoms have not yet been recorded. This is an actual user report, not only a hypothetical concern about this repository.

Desired answer

Establish what happens in the installed versions of Codex and Claude Code, and provide a tested procedure for recovering existing conversations and preserving continuity when a project folder moves or is renamed. Distinguish command-line applications, desktop applications, and editor integrations; success in one interface does not prove success in another.

Documentation and reported failures

Claude Code documents project-directory session storage, moving an individual session with /cd, and finding a session across projects with claude --resume <session-id>:

https://code.claude.com/docs/en/sessions#sessions-in-other-worktrees-and-projects

Codex documents codex resume --all, choosing the current or saved directory when resuming, and an explicit --cd directory override:

https://learn.chatgpt.com/docs/developer-commands?surface=cli

These commands provide individual-session recovery routes. They do not establish that a filesystem rename automatically migrates all project history, memory, permissions, or application configuration.

Reported failures in the upstream repositories are evidence of problems in the reported versions, not proof of current behaviour in Jérôme's installed versions:

• https://github.com/openai/codex/issues/11019
• https://github.com/anthropics/claude-code/issues/33636

Investigation and validation

1. Record the affected interfaces and installed versions, and obtain the missing details of Jérôme's existing affected folder before attempting recovery there.
2. Use a disposable project in each actual interface Jérôme uses. Create a representative conversation with an identifiable fact and a file operation, and record its session identifier and original absolute path.
3. Close the sessions, rename the disposable project folder, and record whether the conversation remains visible and resumable.
4. Test the documented recovery procedure. Verify the conversation retains its earlier context and file operations use the new directory.
5. Restart the application and verify that the recovered conversation remains discoverable and resumes in the new directory.
6. Check separately what happens to other conversations, project memory, permissions, configured paths, and linked Git worktrees where applicable. Do not generalize a single recovered conversation to the entire project.
7. Record raw output or exact visible messages, versions, steps, results, and remaining limits. Distinguish hidden history from deleted transcripts and from failure to resume.

Deliverables and acceptance criteria

• A clear answer for each tested interface: automatic preservation, supported manual recovery, or unresolved failure.
• A reviewable recovery and migration procedure, including backup and rollback steps before changing real session storage.
• A tested answer for the already affected folder once its identity and symptoms are established.
• Explicit evidence boundaries: documentation, upstream reports, local reproduction, and successful local recovery.
• No renaming of the active repository folder or rewriting of real conversation storage as part of preliminary validation.

Related repository rename

This investigation informs the existing repository rename request:

• https://github.com/jeromeetienne/coding_agent_plugin/issues/7