Storage & Data
Boatman Desktop stores all data locally on your machine. No cloud sync is used unless explicitly configured.
Storage Locations
| Path | Contents |
|---|---|
~/.boatman/config.json | User preferences and settings |
~/.boatman/sessions/ | Chat sessions, tasks, and metadata |
~/.boatman/checkpoints/ | Workflow checkpoints (used by CLI pipeline) |
~/.boatman/memory/ | Per-project learning data (used by CLI pipeline) |
~/.claude/claude_mcp_config.json | MCP server configurations |
Session Storage
Each session is saved as a JSON file in ~/.boatman/sessions/.
What's Stored
- Full conversation history (all messages)
- Task list with status and metadata (plan, diff, feedback, log)
- Session state (idle, running, stopped)
- Mode and mode config (standard, firefighter, boatmanmode)
- Tags and favorite status
- Model and reasoning effort settings
Automatic Persistence
Sessions are saved automatically:
- After each Claude command completes
- After BoatmanMode execution finishes
- When the app shuts down
Storage Management
View Usage
Go to Settings > Memory to see storage configuration.
Delete Sessions
- Single session: Right-click in sidebar > Delete
- Bulk cleanup: Configure auto-cleanup in Settings > Memory
Export / Import
- Export: Right-click session > Export as JSON
- Import: Settings > Import Sessions > Select JSON file
Useful for sharing sessions with team members or moving between machines.
Auto-Cleanup
Configure in Settings > Memory:
| Setting | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Max messages per session | 1000 | Older messages are trimmed |
| Archive old messages | Enabled | Trimmed messages are archived, not deleted |
| Auto-cleanup sessions | 30 days | Sessions older than this are removed |
| Max total sessions | 100 | Oldest sessions pruned when exceeded |
Data Privacy
- All session data stays on your local machine
- API keys are stored in
~/.boatman/config.jsonbut never included in session exports - Sessions contain your prompts and Claude's responses
- No telemetry or usage data is sent externally
CLI Storage
The CLI pipeline (used by BoatmanMode) stores additional data. See Harness Storage for details on:
- Checkpoints (
~/.boatman/checkpoints/) — workflow progress for crash recovery - Memory (
~/.boatman/memory/) — learned patterns and preferences per project