HANDOVER - EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO MOVE CLAUDE TO ANOTHER PC
Version 2.2, 26 October 2026.
Created by Hans Tandt - hanstandt.be. Licence: MIT - free to use, copy and adapt.


WHAT IS IN THIS FOLDER

  READ_ME_FIRST.txt                      this file
  1_EXPORT_PROMPT.txt                    paste on the SOURCE PC
  2_IMPORT_PROMPT.txt                    paste on the NEW PC
  Moving_Claude_To_Another_PC_EN.pdf     the manual, English
  Moving_Claude_To_Another_PC_EN.docx        (same, editable)
  Moving_Claude_To_Another_PC_FR.pdf     the manual, French
  Moving_Claude_To_Another_PC_FR.docx        (same, editable)
  source\                                to rebuild the manual after an edit

  The prompts are .txt on purpose. You paste them into a chat box, so there is
  nothing to render and nothing to install to open them.

  The export is a FOLDER, not a zip file. The import prompt reads
  SOURCE_FACTS.md straight off the drive, and the check before you unplug
  opens copied files to prove they arrived whole - both easier on a plain
  folder. Sending it over a network rather than carrying it? Zip the whole
  Handover_Export folder for the journey, and unzip before you import.


THE SHORT VERSION

  ON THE SOURCE PC
  1. Make sure the project has a CLAUDE.md, the session note is up to date,
     and /memory has been tidied. Ten minutes. Chapter 3 of the manual.
  2. Open Claude Code with the PROJECT FOLDER as the working directory.
  3. Paste 1_EXPORT_PROMPT.txt (only between the marker rows) as ONE message.
  4. It asks seven questions, then produces Handover_Export\ on your drive.
     If CLAUDE.md or the session note are missing, it offers to write them
     from this session before anything is copied.

  ON THE NEW PC
  5. Create the folder where the project will live. Leave it empty.
  6. Open Claude Code with THAT folder as the working directory. This matters -
     it creates the memory folder under the correct new name.
  7. Paste 2_IMPORT_PROMPT.txt as ONE message.
  8. It asks four questions, then puts everything back and tells you what
     still needs your decision.
     If something is missing it writes you a prompt to take back to the OLD
     PC, so you can fetch it. Go round that loop until the checklist passes.
  9. Close and reopen Claude Code. Memory is only read at the start of a
     session. Then run the checklist it gives you.


WHAT THE TWO PROMPTS DO DIFFERENTLY

  Both ask their questions FIRST, before touching anything. Nothing is
  discovered halfway through - such as a drive with no space left.

  Neither has a fixed list of your files. They look at what is really on the
  PC and report it, so they work for any project.

  The import prompt never blind-overwrites. settings.json and CLAUDE.md are
  single files: it shows you both versions and proposes a merge. Skills are
  folders, so they merge on their own, but a name clash is shown to you.

  Plugins are listed, not copied. They should be installed from their
  marketplace on the new PC.


THE ONE THING PEOPLE GET WRONG

  The memory folder is named after the project PATH. Move the project to a
  different folder and the name changes. Copying the memory files into the OLD
  name looks right and is never read again.

  The import prompt handles this for you - that is the main reason it exists.



DO NOT DELETE ANYTHING YET

  Keep the source PC and the drive until the checklist on the new PC comes
  back clean. Until then this drive is not a backup, it is your only copy.
  Both prompts now say so in their closing lines.
TO REBUILD THE MANUAL AFTER AN EDIT

  Edit source\content_EN.json or content_FR.json, then:

      py "%USERPROFILE%\.claude\skills\general-report-builder\tools\build_with_toc.py" source\content_EN.json Moving_Claude_To_Another_PC_EN

  It writes the .docx and the .pdf together. If you change a figure, run
  source\figures\make_figures.py first.


NOTE

  The older documents (MOVING_TO_ANOTHER_PC, PROMPT_FOR_HOME_PC,
  INSTALL_BEFORE_START, HOME_PROMPT_PLAIN) were written for one project and
  are superseded by this folder. On the USB drive they are in
  Handover_Files_Old, which also holds the real harvest from the home PC -
  keep that until the first move has worked.
