On a Mac, the JSON files that Claude Code uses are stored inside your user’s ~/.claude home directory, not in Application Support or anywhere in /Library.

Quick answer: where the JSON files live

The main locations are:

  • Global settings & credentials:
    • ~/.claude/settings.json – global config
    • ~/.claude/settings.local.json – local overrides (gitignored)
    • ~/.claude/.credentials.json – auth credentials
  • Project & session data:
    • ~/.claude/projects/<encoded-project-path>/<session-id>.jsonl – conversation transcripts (JSONL, line-by-line JSON)
  • MCP / desktop configs (if you use them):
    • ~/.claude.json – user-level MCP config (sometimes used in docs)
    • /Users/<you>/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json – only for the Claude Desktop app , not for claude CLI / “Claude Code”

So if you’re asking about Claude Code (the CLI tool), the JSON files are under ~/.claude on macOS.

Detailed breakdown by file type

1. Settings and configuration JSON

These are the files you typically edit to change behavior:

  • Global settings :
    ~/.claude/settings.json
    Applies to all projects unless overridden.

  • Local (project-specific) settings :
    .claude/settings.json in your project root
    Committed to git; overrides global settings for that project.

  • Local-only overrides :
    .claude/settings.local.json or ~/.claude/settings.local.json
    Not committed, used for personal tweaks.

2. Credentials and auth

  • Credentials :
    ~/.claude/.credentials.json
    Stores your OAuth / API key auth info so you don’t re-login every time.

3. Conversation transcripts (JSONL)

Claude Code logs every session as a JSONL file (one JSON object per line):

  • Location :
    ~/.claude/projects/<encoded-project-path>/<session-id>.jsonl

  • What’s inside :
    Each line is an event: user message, assistant response, tool call, tool result, system event.

You can inspect these with:

bash

ls ~/.claude/projects
head ~/.claude/projects/your-project/some-session-id.jsonl

Or with jq/Python if you want to parse them.

4. MCP and “desktop” configs

There are two different products:

  • Claude Code (CLI) : uses ~/.claude and ~/.claude.json for MCP configuration.
  • Claude Desktop app : uses
    /Users/<you>/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json.

If you’re running claude in your terminal, you care about the ~/.claude paths, not the Application Support one.

How to quickly find them on your Mac

Run these in Terminal:

bash

# Show the main .claude directory
ls -la ~/.claude

# List all JSON/JSONL files under it
find ~/.claude -type f \( -name "*.json" -o -name "*.jsonl" \)

That will show you:

  • ~/.claude/settings.json
  • ~/.claude/.credentials.json
  • All session JSONL files under ~/.claude/projects/

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.