Bibliography
Primary Sources For Claude Logs
Annotated source list for Claude Code session logs, Agent SDK session storage, hooks, telemetry, and general log-management guidance.
Editorial rule
Primary sources first
Product behavior claims are grounded in Anthropic docs or the official changelog; general log-management claims use standards bodies and security guidance.
Secondary sources
Demand signals only
Community tools and posts can reveal search demand, but they are not used as authority for Claude product behavior.
"conversation history"
How To Use This Source List
Use Anthropic docs for current Claude Code and Agent SDK behavior. Use OpenTelemetry docs for vendor-neutral telemetry terminology. Use NIST and OWASP guidance for broader log-management and security-monitoring principles.
If a page on this site makes a claim about exact CLI flags, hook fields, transcript storage, telemetry attributes, or cost fields, verify it against the linked primary source before automating against it.
Source Index
The source cards below are intentionally compact. They are designed for both human reviewers and AI crawlers: title, publisher, URL, and the reason the source matters to the Claude Logs domain lane.
Primary sources
Sources behind this page
Anthropic
Work with sessions
Defines sessions as the conversation history accumulated while an agent works, and separates session state from filesystem state.
Anthropic
Persist sessions to external storage
Documents default JSONL transcript storage under ~/.claude/projects/ and the SessionStore mirroring interface.
Anthropic
Observability with OpenTelemetry
Explains Agent SDK telemetry flow through the Claude Code CLI and the metrics, logs, and traces exported over OTLP.
Anthropic
Claude Code monitoring
Reference for Claude Code metric names, event analysis, identity attributes, MCP audit detail, and retry analysis.
Anthropic
Hooks reference
Reference for hook lifecycle events, JSON input and output formats, and command, HTTP, prompt, and agent hooks.
Anthropic
CLI reference
Documents stream-json output, hook event inclusion, session persistence controls, naming, and resume flags.
Anthropic
Claude Code settings
Documents managed, user, project, and local settings scopes.
Anthropic
Status line
Documents the JSON session data passed to status-line commands.
Anthropic
Track cost and usage
Explains per-step usage, model usage, session scoping, and the client-side nature of SDK cost estimates.
Anthropic
Todo Lists
Documents task/todo lifecycle and the migration from TodoWrite to structured task tools.
Anthropic
Claude Code changelog
Official changelog used for freshness checks on logging, session, hook, telemetry, and background-agent behavior.
OpenTelemetry
OpenTelemetry documentation
Defines OpenTelemetry as a vendor-neutral observability framework for traces, metrics, and logs.
NIST
NIST SP 800-92
Guide to computer security log management, including infrastructure and process planning.
OWASP
OWASP Top 10 A09:2021
Frames logging and monitoring failures as a detection, escalation, and response risk.
OWASP
OWASP Logging Cheat Sheet
Practical application logging guidance, including event design and verification considerations.
Cite this page
Claude Logs. "Primary Sources For Claude Logs." claudelogs.com, updated 2026-07-06. https://claudelogs.com/sources
FAQ
Why are some community tools not listed as sources?
They are useful for demand research, but the site cites primary docs for product behavior to reduce drift and unsupported claims.
What source should settle a dispute about Claude Code behavior?
Use current Anthropic documentation or the official Claude Code changelog first, then verify behavior in the installed version when automation depends on it.