Where Does Wave Terminal Store History and Sessions?
Wave Terminal keeps history, workspaces, and session data locally in a .waveterm folder in your home directory.
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Wave stores everything on your machine. Command history, workspace layouts, blocks, and AI session metadata all sit in .waveterm in your home folder. No login exists and nothing syncs anywhere.
That local-only design makes backup trivial and resets predictable. A WAVETERM_HOME variable overrides the location for people who redirect app data elsewhere. Deleting the folder returns Wave to first-launch state.
Where Wave Terminal stores this, by platform
~/.waveterm
History, workspaces, and session metadata. Override with WAVETERM_HOME. Back up this folder since no cloud copy exists.
~/.waveterm
Same layout. Durable SSH session state lives here too, which is why reconnects survive restarts. Rename to reset cleanly.
C:\Users\<you>\.waveterm
Same dot folder under your profile. AI provider keys stay in OS credential storage rather than in these files. Copy the folder to migrate machines.
Frequently asked questions
How do I back up Wave Terminal?
Quit Wave and copy the folder elsewhere. There is no cloud account to pull from, so that folder is the backup. Restore by putting it back before launch.
Can I move Wave data off my home directory?
Set WAVETERM_HOME to the new path before starting. Wave uses it instead of the default. Move the existing folder first so sessions carry over intact rather than starting fresh.
Does .waveterm replace my shell history file?
It holds local app data only. Shell history files stay where your shell keeps them. Wave references that history rather than replacing it.
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