plugin-data-storage

Plugin User-Data Storage — Canonical Reference

This skill is the authoritative rule for where Daniel-authored Claude Code plugins persist user data. Every plugin's onboarding, preferences, and state-storage logic should follow the convention defined here.

TL;DR

Never write plugin data under ~/.claude/. That directory is Claude Code's own config surface; ~/.claude/plugins/<plugin>/ in particular is the plugin install directory and is overwritten on every plugin update.

Resolve the base data directory like this:

${CLAUDE_USER_DATA:-${XDG_DATA_HOME:-$HOME/.local/share}/claude-plugins}/<plugin-name>/

The CLAUDE_USER_DATA convention

CLAUDE_USER_DATA is the single env var that controls where plugin-owned persistent data lives. If the user sets it, everything relocates there (useful for backups, Dropbox sync, external drives). If unset, the resolution falls through to XDG, then to ~/.local/share/claude-plugins/.

Resolution order, in the exact form plugins should use:

1. $CLAUDE_USER_DATA if set → $CLAUDE_USER_DATA/<plugin-name>/
2. Else $XDG_DATA_HOME if set → $XDG_DATA_HOME/claude-plugins/<plugin-name>/
3. Else default → $HOME/.local/share/claude-plugins/<plugin-name>/

On macOS and Windows, the XDG fallback is conventional (most tools honour it on macOS; on Windows, %APPDATA%\claude-plugins\<plugin>\ is acceptable if XDG isn't set).

Shell snippet (for commands that need to resolve the path)

PLUGIN_NAME="<plugin-name>"
PLUGIN_DATA_DIR="${CLAUDE_USER_DATA:-${XDG_DATA_HOME:-$HOME/.local/share}/claude-plugins}/$PLUGIN_NAME"
mkdir -p "$PLUGIN_DATA_DIR"

Prose form (for skills and commands written in markdown)

Resolve the plugin's data directory as $CLAUDE_USER_DATA/<plugin-name>/ if CLAUDE_USER_DATA is set; otherwise $XDG_DATA_HOME/claude-plugins/<plugin-name>/ if XDG_DATA_HOME is set; otherwise ~/.local/share/claude-plugins/<plugin-name>/. Create the directory if it doesn't exist.

Standard subdirectory layout

Inside <plugin-data-dir>/:

Subpath	Purpose
config.json	Small pointers and settings (e.g., path to user-owned data repo)
data/	Plugin-owned user data, if the plugin is the owner
cache/	Regenerable — safe to delete
state/	Runtime state that should persist across sessions

Not every plugin needs all four — use only what applies.

When the user owns the data in their own location

Many plugins (Resume-Typesetter, Budgeting, Purchasing workspaces) operate on data that lives in a user-chosen location — a GitHub repo, ~/Documents/..., or ~/repos/.... The rule:

• Ask the user during onboarding where the data should live.
• Default suggestions should be under ~/Documents/ or ~/repos/ — never under ~/.claude/ and never under the plugin's data dir.
• The plugin's config.json (in the plugin data dir) stores the pointer to the user's chosen path.

Legitimate reads of ~/.claude/ (allowed)

Plugins MAY read (never write) from:

• ~/.claude/CLAUDE.md — user's global context, useful for personalising generated workspaces.
• ~/.claude/settings.json — Claude Code settings, for MCP config inspection.
• ~/.claude/context/ — chunked global context files.

The user-claude-md plugin is the only exception that writes to ~/.claude/CLAUDE.md — that's its entire purpose.

Forbidden patterns

Pattern	Why forbidden
~/.claude/plugins/<plugin>/config.json	Install directory — overwritten on plugin update. Data loss.
~/.claude/plugins/<plugin>/data/...	Same as above.
~/.claude/<plugin>-preferences.md	Clutters Claude Code config surface; inconsistent; hard to back up.
~/.claude/<plugin>/...	Same as above.
~/.claude/data/...	Same as above.

Migration from legacy paths

Plugins previously wrote to forbidden locations. Onboarding flows should include a migration block:

1. Resolve the new path per the convention above.
2. Check each legacy path (~/.claude/plugins/<plugin>/config.json, ~/.claude/<plugin>-preferences.md, etc.).
3. If a legacy file exists AND the new path is empty, move the file to the new location.
4. After successful move, delete the legacy file (do not leave stubs — the legacy path was never a stable home).
5. Log the migration to the user: "Moved from to ."

Backup guidance for users

Because all plugin data lives under one root ($CLAUDE_USER_DATA or ~/.local/share/claude-plugins/), users can back up every plugin's state with a single directory target. Documentation should mention this when relevant.

Upstream context

This convention exists to work around Anthropic bug #51342 — Claude Code itself suggests inconsistent paths under ~/.claude/ for plugin data, creating update-clobber risk. If Anthropic later blesses an official env var or path, this reference is the single place to update.