A folder named cache carries a simple promise: deleting it is safe. A new report in LM Studio's bug tracker says the local AI app breaks that promise, with application settings, MCP server configuration, credentials, complete chat history and user-authored projects all stored under ~/.cache/lm-studio. The stinging part is the age of the complaint. The same storage choice was flagged in December 2024, and the tracker has since collected reports of presets and chats lost to exactly the cleanups the word cache invites. Per the new report, the original issue is still open with no maintainer response, nearly two years on.
LM Studio Watch analysis
What happened
The report, filed in the early hours of 18 September, inventories the directory on the reporter's Windows installation: 1.29 GB, of which only two internal files, a model index cache and a GGUF metadata cache, are genuinely regenerable. The rest reads like a map of someone's working life:
– settings.json and mcp.json Application settings and MCP server configuration, neither rebuildable from elsewhere. – credentials/ API keys and tokens, kept in a folder backup scripts are trained to skip. – conversations/ Complete chat history. – skills, projects, scratchpads and config-presets User-authored work, the kind people assume lives somewhere safer.
The report leans on the tracker's own record. Issue 230, from December 2024, documented persistent data under .cache on macOS and warned explicitly about cleanup; a Windows user replied that they permanently lost presets after cleaning their PC. Issue 996, from September 2025, reports chat history lost after following troubleshooting advice. Issue 1371, from January 2026, notes that the documented location of mcp.json does not match reality. All three remain open, and the two newer ones have no comments at all.
The hazard has also been amplified from the inside. Community troubleshooting advice quoted in the report describes the directory as cache and suggests removing or renaming it, after which another user reported their chats disappearing. The reporter cites the XDG Base Directory Specification, which reserves cache storage for non-essential data, and asks for durable state to move to a proper application-data directory, a safe migration, and a prominent warning in the meantime. The tracker logs the item as an unconfirmed community report, and the LM Studio team has not yet responded.
Why it matters
Names are instructions. A folder called cache tells backup software to skip it, cleanup utilities to empty it and experienced users not to look twice. The report documents people following those instructions and losing chats, presets and projects they had no second copy of. When a storage location contradicts its own label, every honest user habit becomes a gamble.
The credentials folder sharpens it. API keys sitting in a directory whose entire social contract is disposability is an odd arrangement even before anything gets deleted, and it sits strangely beside the protected application-data paths other desktop apps have used for decades.
Our read
The reporter's strongest point needs no deep engineering argument: the fix is applying a distinction desktop systems already define, not inventing one. Until it lands, the practical move is yours. Look inside ~/.cache/lm-studio before your next cleanup, treat it as application data rather than cache, and include it in your backups. If you must clear it, copy conversations, credentials and projects out first. One careful report is a warning rather than a verdict, but nothing stops you checking your own folder in the next thirty seconds.
What to watch
- A response from LM Studio
Any maintainer comment on the new report or its predecessors would be the first sign of movement. - A migration plan
Release notes moving durable state to real data directories, with existing installations carried over safely. - A warning in the meantime
The report's fallback ask, and the cheapest possible fix. - More data-loss reports
Whether the September 2025 chat-history report gains company.
Discussion spark: If an app hides credentials and chat history in a folder the whole ecosystem agrees is disposable, who owns the first data loss: the tool that mislabelled it, or the cleanup advice that told you to clear it?
Sources and evidence
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