[Compat] Claude Code v2.1.234: CLAUDE_CODE_PROJECT_DIR_NAME lets hosts rename the per-project transcript directory

[delexw]

Claude Code Version

v2.1.234 (August 17, 2026)

Change Description

Added the optional CLAUDE_CODE_PROJECT_DIR_NAME environment variable: hosts that give each session its own config directory can choose a short name for the per-project transcript directory

This introduces a way for a host/wrapper to override the name Claude Code gives to the per-project transcript directory under ~/.claude/projects/, instead of the usual sanitized-path/hash-derived name.

Impact on claude-code-trace

claude-code-trace's default JSONL location is ~/.claude/projects/<project-hash>/sessions/ (configurable). Any logic that derives, guesses, or validates a project's directory name from its filesystem path (e.g. project auto-discovery, matching a configured working directory to the right session folder) may not find sessions for a project whose directory was named via CLAUDE_CODE_PROJECT_DIR_NAME instead of the standard scheme — the directory name is no longer guaranteed to be a function of the project path at all.

If claude-code-trace only enumerates existing directories under ~/.claude/projects/ without recomputing names itself, this is not directly broken, but any UI that groups/labels sessions by inferred project path (rather than reading cwd from the JSONL entries themselves) could mislabel or fail to associate a CLAUDE_CODE_PROJECT_DIR_NAME-renamed directory with its real project.

Severity: Critical

Affected Parser Code

• Project/session directory discovery code (wherever the app maps a filesystem path to its ~/.claude/projects/<dir>/ folder)
• src-tauri/src/parser/entry.rs - Entry struct (for confirming cwd is still the authoritative source of the real project path, independent of directory name)

Suggested Fix

• Do not infer the real project path from the transcript directory name; always read cwd from JSONL entries as the source of truth for which project a session belongs to.
• If any directory-name-based matching/validation exists, add a fallback that trusts an arbitrary directory name and resolves the project identity from entry content instead.

Source

Claude Code v2.1.234 release notes, August 17, 2026.