How to delete Roo Code task history, and what you lose

Start with the editor that ran the task; each host can have its own history

Roo Code keeps a directory for each task. Deleting a task in its history view also updates the history index; removing a conversation JSON file alone is not the same operation.

Where the tasks are

For the VS Code extension, look under the host's User/globalStorage/rooveterinaryinc.roo-cline/tasks/ directory:

Code Insiders, VSCodium, Cursor and Windsurf have separate user-data directories. A custom host user-data directory changes the prefix too. Finding no tasks in VS Code's default path does not mean another editor's history is empty.

Each <taskId> directory contains api_conversation_history.json, the conversation, and history_item.json, the metadata used by the history list. The tasks/_index.json file indexes task metadata. Task directories can contain additional UI messages and other state.

Check the host's User/settings.json for roo-cline.customStoragePath. A usable custom value replaces the storage base, so its tasks are under <customStoragePath>/tasks/. Roo falls back to the host's default storage if the configured directory is unusable. The Roo CLI uses the same layout under ~/.vscode-mock/global-storage/tasks/.

Deleting one task

Open Roo Code's History view in the editor that owns the task, find the task and use its delete control. Review the confirmation, including any subtasks, before accepting. Roo's delete path can remove child tasks and associated checkpoint state as well as the task directory. Export or back up anything you need first.

Use that UI path instead of removing only api_conversation_history.json: leaving the task metadata and index behind can leave a history entry without a conversation to reopen.

Deleting all task history

In History, clear the search and choose all workspaces if you want more than the current workspace. Enter selection mode, select all tasks and review the selected count before using the batch-delete control.

For an offline reset, close the editor and stop any Roo CLI process using the store. Back up the resolved tasks/ directory, then remove that directory, including its _index.json. Leave the containing extension storage and settings directories alone. Repeat only for other host stores whose history you also want to remove; deleting one does not clear the others.

What you lose

You lose the local conversation and task metadata needed to reopen that work. Deleting through Roo can also remove associated checkpoints and subtasks. Removing the default tasks/ tree also removes its per-task checkpoints at tasks/<taskId>/checkpoints/. It leaves the legacy shared checkpoint repository at <globalStorage>/checkpoints/<workspaceHash>. With customStoragePath set, checkpoints still use the host's default global storage, so removing only the custom task tree leaves those checkpoints too. Neither operation rolls back edits already made in your working project, nor does it erase exported copies or data retained by a model provider.

Keeping it searchable instead

Install deja to search Roo history alongside your other agents' conversations without deleting it:

deja index
deja "Roo task about the refactor"

The reader follows the supported host stores and custom storage paths. Indexing and search stay local, and deja forget removes sessions from deja's index. A deleted task stays readable under the Deleted tab of the screen bare deja opens, but deja does not write it back into Roo. Treat a separate backup as your recovery copy; a search index is not Roo's complete task state.

Sources

Checked against Roo Code's storage resolution, task deletion, History view and checkpoint locations. The Roo format registry records deja's CLI and editor discovery paths.

Where history lives | Memory for Roo Code

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