> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://alike.help/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Files on your machine

> What Alike stores in ~/.alike, and what is safe to delete.

Alike keeps its local files in `~/.alike/`. The folders are private to your user account.

| Path | Contents | Safe to delete? |
| - | - | - |
| `~/.alike/credentials.json` | The machine's credential and the server it belongs to | Yes. The machine is then not paired. Run `--doctor` to pair again |
| `~/.alike/install-manifest.json` | The installer version, the agents that it wired, and your capture choices | Deleting it stops transcript capture until you run the installer again |
| `~/.alike/runtime/` | The code that your agents' hooks run | No. The hooks stop working. Run the installer to restore it |
| `~/.alike/*.mjs` | Code that the hooks load | No. The hooks stop working. Run the installer to restore it |
| `~/.alike/runtime/flags.json` | Your own runtime settings, for example `{"save": false}` | Yes |
| `~/.alike/archive/` | Local copies of the transcripts that the sweep captured, and the record of what it already uploaded | Yes, but the next capture copies and uploads your full history again |
| `~/.alike/logs/sweep.log` | The sweep log. It rotates at 1 MB | Yes |
| `~/.alike/hook-fires.json` | A record of hook runs, for the doctor | Yes. The doctor then shows the hooks as never run until they run again |
| `~/.alike/payloads/` | Raw hook data, only after `--doctor --dump-hook-payload` | Yes. Delete it when you are done |
| Other `.json` files in `~/.alike/` | Local state and caches | Yes |

## Disk space

The sweep keeps a copy of each captured transcript in `~/.alike/archive/`. Alike does not delete old copies. The folder can become as large as your agents' own session history. To free space, delete the folder:

> [!WARNING]
>
> Capture uses this folder to track what it already uploaded. When you delete it, the next capture copies and uploads all of your sessions again.

```bash theme={null}
rm -rf ~/.alike/archive
```

## Backups of your settings files

Before the first change to a settings file, the installer saves a copy as `<file>.bak-alike`. It never replaces that copy. To restore your settings from before Alike, copy the backup over the file. For example:

```bash theme={null}
cp ~/.cursor/mcp.json.bak-alike ~/.cursor/mcp.json
```

> [!WARNING]
>
> A backup contains your settings from before you installed Alike. Changes that you made after that date are not in it.


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