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Sessions without summary header don't appear in /resume picker #16579
Description
Description
Some sessions are saved without a proper "type": "summary" header as the first line of the .jsonl file. These sessions don't appear in the /resume or claude --resume picker, even though they contain valid conversation data.
Steps to reproduce
- Start a Claude Code session
- Have a conversation
- Exit and run
claude --resume - Some sessions may not appear in the list
Expected behavior
All saved sessions should appear in the resume picker.
Actual behavior
Sessions where the first line is "type": "file-history-snapshot" instead of "type": "summary" are not shown in the picker.
Evidence
Session file 5ebc9d63-851f-4b0c-b97a-37325bdcd01a.jsonl (286KB, valid content) starts with:
{"type": "file-history-snapshot", ...}While working sessions start with:
{"type": "summary", "summary": "...", ...}Environment
- Claude Code version: 2.0.76
- OS: Debian Linux 6.1.0-41-amd64
- Terminal + CLion IDE integration
Reacted by Vladyslav Gudzenko and Ivan Magda
Activity
gudzenkov commentedon Jan 23, 2026
Similar issue on MacOS DevContainer for sessions with
{"type": "file-history-snapshot", ...}2.1.17 (Claude Code)
aarch64 Debian GNU/Linux 12.12 (bookworm)
Those sessions could be resumed with
claude --resume(aparently discovered from most recent.jsonlfile, not from `sessions-index.json)Sessions-index is updated lazily after some time or event (was not able to reproduce exact conditions - not after the session closed, not after the session gets generated summary , not after session being resumed..)
M4hy4rgh commentedon Feb 9, 2026
Confirming this issue on Windows (MINGW64) with v2.1.12 → v2.1.37.
I created this issue as well: #24290
My findings
Same root cause — old sessions start with
{"type":"file-history-snapshot",...}and are silently skipped by the/resumepicker. Sessions created with the current version (starting with{"type":"summary",...}) work fine.Additional observations
sessions-index.jsonis ignored by v2.1.37. It scans.jsonlfiles directly and builds its own list. Deleting or recreating the index file has no effect..jsonlfiles are 20-22 MB despite having only 9-14 messages (per the index metadata). The large file size may also contribute to them being skipped.Environment
Impact
4 sessions from January are inaccessible — the
.jsonlfiles exist and are valid but cannot be loaded or resumed. No migration path or workaround available.ivan-magda commentedon Feb 16, 2026
Hit the same thing. Had a large session where I did a bunch of work. The session doesn't show up in /resume at all, not even when searching. But
claude --resume 30357158-...works fine.Checked the file and sure enough, first line is
"type": "file-history-snapshot"instead of"summary".This is pretty confusing because you think the session is gone until you happen to try the CLI flag directly.
macOS, 2.1.42 (Claude Code)
github-actions commentedon Mar 16, 2026
Closing for now — inactive for too long. Please open a new issue if this is still relevant.
github-actions commentedon Mar 25, 2026
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.