recall · diff
git:20260724.5845e21 to git:20260725.e6aa801
49 added, 48 removed. Audit A to A.
---
name: recall
description: Find prior Claude Code and Codex sessions with an indexed local search engine, then continue the work, repeat it with fresh inputs, or distill it into a skill. Runs from Claude Code, Codex, or pi; the current index covers Claude Code and Codex transcripts. Use when the user names Recall, says "find that conversation where…", "what did we do last time about…", "continue what we did yesterday on X", "what did codex do on this branch", "turn what we did about Y into a skill", or "remember when you…". Not for searching code (use grep on the repo) or for facts already in MEMORY.md.
---
- # /recall — session memory engine
+ # /recall: session memory engine
Claude Code and Codex sessions on this machine are indexed into a local
- SQLite engine. You do not grep gigabytes of transcripts; you query the index
- and read only the winning session. All commands go through one CLI:
+ SQLite engine. Query the index and read only the best-supported session instead
+ of searching entire transcripts. All commands go through one CLI:
```bash
python3 scripts/recall.py <command> # relative to this skill directory
```
If `RECALL_URL` is set, `RECALL_MODE` is `remote` or `shadow`, or
`~/.config/recall-brain/client.json` exists, this machine has a central Recall
- Brain configured — read [references/central-brain.md](references/central-brain.md)
+ Brain configured. In that case, read [references/central-brain.md](references/central-brain.md)
before running commands. Otherwise everything below is fully local and nothing
touches a network.
## No index yet? Search anyway
If `search` reports the index does not exist (or `doctor` shows
- `db exists=False`), do not make the user wait for a first index build — answer
- now from the raw transcripts, which are plain JSONL you already know how to
- search:
+ `db exists=False`), search the raw JSONL transcripts immediately while the
+ first index builds:
```bash
rg -l -i "<terms>" ~/.claude/projects ~/.codex/sessions # candidate files
ls -t <hits> # newest first
rg -n -i -C3 "<terms>" <best-hit> # read the window
```
- Use your own judgment on terms and regex — exact identifiers beat prose, and
- `grep -rl` works when `rg` is missing. At the same time, kick off the real
- index in the background:
+ Choose terms and regular expressions based on the request. Exact identifiers
+ are stronger evidence than general prose. If `rg` is unavailable, use
+ `grep -rl`. Start the index in the background at the same time:
```bash
setsid nohup python3 scripts/recall.py index >/dev/null 2>&1 &
```
The first build over a large history can take many minutes; later runs are
- incremental and fast. Tell the user the answer came from a cold scan of the raw
- transcripts. Once `doctor` shows a healthy db, switch to indexed `search` — it
- ranks, explains WHY each hit matched, and matches identifiers exactly.
+ incremental and fast. Tell the user when an answer came from a cold scan of the
+ raw transcripts. Once `doctor` shows a healthy db, switch to indexed `search`,
+ which ranks results, explains the `WHY` for each match, and matches identifiers
+ exactly.
## First: pick the outcome
- 1. **Find / verify** — answer "did we…", "which session…", "how did we…".
+ 1. **Find / verify:** answer "did we…", "which session…", "how did we…".
Search, read the best hit's relevant window, answer with the session path
as the receipt.
- 2. **Continue** — resume in-progress work. Needs the session's tail plus its
+ 2. **Continue:** resume in-progress work. This needs the session's tail plus its
branch and worktree.
- 3. **Repeat** — redo the same kind of task with fresh inputs. Needs the
+ 3. **Repeat:** redo the same kind of task with fresh inputs. This needs the
original driving prompts, verbatim.
- 4. **Skill-ify** — turn the recipe into a reusable skill. Needs the steps that
+ 4. **Skill-ify:** turn the recipe into a reusable skill. This needs the steps that
worked, minus one-off data. Chain into the harness's skill creator when one
is installed; otherwise write the standard `SKILL.md` package directly.
Ask only if the outcome is genuinely ambiguous.
## Search
```bash
python3 scripts/recall.py search "<what the user said>" [filters]
```
- - Pass the user's phrasing plus any identifier you have — identifiers (job
+ - Pass the user's phrasing plus any identifier you have. Identifiers (job
UUIDs, PR numbers, pod names, error strings, filenames) are the strongest
evidence and are matched exactly, including inside tool output.
- - Filters are mechanical — apply them, never approximate them in the query
- text:
+ - Apply filters as flags rather than approximating them in the query text:
| ask | flag |
|---|---|
- | "last 48h", "back in May" | `--since 2026-05-01 --until 2026-06-01` (UTC, both bounds inclusive of the instant — to cover a full local day, use the NEXT day's date as `--until`; convert the user's local day first) |
+ | "last 48h", "back in May" | `--since 2026-05-01 --until 2026-06-01` (UTC; both bounds include the specified instant. To cover a full local day, use the NEXT day's date as `--until`; convert the user's local day first) |
| "in the other worktree/checkout" | `--cwd <any-cwd-substring>` |
| "what did codex do" | `--harness codex` |
| branch-scoped | `--branch <substring>` |
- Output is ranked sessions with date, cwd, slot, branch, a matched snippet,
- and WHY it matched. Empty output means nothing cleared the evidence gate —
- NOT proof the work never happened: retry once with a distinctive identifier
- or a wider window; if still empty, tell the user what you searched and that
- the trail is cold.
+ and `WHY` it matched. Empty output means nothing cleared the evidence gate;
+ it does not prove the work never happened. Retry once with a distinctive
+ identifier or a wider window. If output is still empty, tell the user what
+ you searched and that no supported match was found.
- `--paths` prints bare file paths (for scripting); `--limit N` widens.
## Read the best-supported hit
- Check the WHY line on the top few results first — if the matched terms are all
- generic words, the evidence is weak; open the result whose WHY carries an
- identifier, phrase, or exact-entity match, not blindly rank 1.
+ Check the `WHY` line on the top few results first. Matches on only generic words
+ are weak evidence. Prefer a result whose `WHY` includes an identifier, phrase,
+ or exact-entity match rather than selecting rank 1 automatically.
```bash
python3 scripts/recall.py show <path> --prompts # user prompts only
python3 scripts/recall.py show <path> --around 2026-07-03T14:20 # ±3-turn window; use the date printed in the search result
python3 scripts/recall.py show <path> --tail 30 # the session's final turns (for Continue)
```
- Pass the session file path from the search output. Never cat a transcript —
- sessions reach 80 MB; `show` parses and prints only what you asked for.
+ Pass the session file path from the search output. Use `show` rather than
+ `cat`: sessions can reach 80 MB, and `show` parses and prints only the requested
+ content.
## Related work (no query needed)
```bash
python3 scripts/recall.py related --cwd "$(pwd)" --branch "$(git branch --show-current)"
```
- Sessions sharing this project, branch, or touched files — ranked by overlap
- and recency. Use at session start when the user references prior work without
- naming it.
+ This returns sessions that share the project, branch, or touched files, ranked
+ by overlap and recency. Use it at session start when the user references prior
+ work without naming it.
## Outcome playbooks
- **Find / verify** — search → `show --around` the matched timestamp → answer
- with evidence. Two commands, usually.
+ **Find / verify:** search → `show --around` the matched timestamp → answer
+ with evidence. This usually requires two commands.
- **Continue** — search → `show --tail 30` for the final state (last actions,
+ **Continue:** search → `show --tail 30` for the final state (last actions,
tool results, open errors) → check the session's branch/slot still exists
(`git -C <cwd> branch --show-current`) → summarize: "Found `<session>` in
- `<cwd>` on `<date>`, last action `<x>`, branch `<b>` — resume there or here?"
+ `<cwd>` on `<date>`, last action `<x>`, branch `<b>`; resume there or here?"
- **Repeat** — search → `show --prompts` → present the driving prompts verbatim
+ **Repeat:** search → `show --prompts` → present the driving prompts verbatim
and confirm fresh inputs (dates, scope) before re-running.
- **Skill-ify** — search → `show` the working window → separate the durable
+ **Skill-ify:** search → `show` the working window → separate the durable
recipe (commands, endpoints, auth patterns) from one-off data (specific IDs,
dates) → invoke the available skill creator with the recipe and a proposed
name, or create a standard Agent Skills directory when none is installed.
## Export one exact session for another skill
Use the machine-readable session export when `/recap` or another evidence consumer needs complete,
ordered coverage rather than a human window:
```bash
python3 scripts/recall.py session-export --current --limit 1000
python3 scripts/recall.py session-export --target <exact-path-or-receipt> --limit 1000
python3 scripts/recall.py session-export --cursor <opaque-next-cursor> --limit 1000
```
Each JSON page contains stable evidence IDs, redacted text and digests, sanitized typed entities
(including native tool identity when observed), native session identity, projection/privacy
versions, a boundary receipt, a content-free page receipt, and `complete` plus `next_cursor`.
Consume pages in sequence and accept immutable-snapshot completeness only on the final page; inspect
`source_snapshot_stable` before claiming a live source did not advance. Cursors are stored
owner-private under `~/.recall` and never encode transcript text or a path.
`--current` resolves Codex only through exact `CODEX_THREAD_ID`, and Claude through exact
`CLAUDE_SESSION_ID` when the harness exposes it. Otherwise it fails closed with content-free ranked
candidate receipts; pass the exact path found by Recall rather than guessing. Child and continuation
sessions are separate boundaries by default. A standalone local export stamps an explicit
`local:<harness>` source.
To resolve a local native relationship graph for Recap without reading transcript prose, use:
```bash
python3 scripts/recall.py session-relations --current --include-children
python3 scripts/recall.py session-relations --target <exact-path> --chain
python3 scripts/recall.py session-relations --target <exact-path> --chain --include-children
```
The closed `recall.session-relations.v1` JSON uses Claude `sessionId`/`agentId` sidechain metadata
and Codex `parent_thread_id`/`forked_from_id` metadata. It excludes merely adjacent or similar
sessions and fails when a requested native link is missing or ambiguous. This command is
local-only.
## Index health
```bash
python3 scripts/recall.py index # incremental; run if results look stale
python3 scripts/recall.py doctor # coverage, index age, retention watchdog
```
Never run `index --rebuild` without the user's explicit request; large session
histories can require gigabytes of temporary WAL and substantial CPU time.
`doctor` warning about `cleanupPeriodDays` means transcript retention got
- re-enabled — surface that to the user immediately; history is being deleted.
+ re-enabled. Surface that to the user immediately because history is being
+ deleted.
## Gotchas
- - The engine indexes user text, assistant text, and tool input/output — but
+ - The engine indexes user text, assistant text, and tool input/output, but
reasoning/thinking blocks are never stored, and secret-shaped lines are
redacted at ingest. If the only trace of something was a thinking block, it
is not findable.
- Codex sessions are one file per rollout under a date tree; `show` handles
both schemas transparently.
- Running Recall from pi is supported, but pi's own session format is not yet
indexed. Do not claim that a cold result proves no pi session exists.
- A query about work that never happened can still return lexically-adjacent
- sessions. The ranked WHY line tells you what actually matched — read it
+ sessions. The ranked `WHY` line tells you what actually matched; read it
before asserting the session answers the question.
- Subagent and workflow transcripts are indexed as their own sessions and
- live under the parent session's directory (`<session-uuid>/subagents/…`) —
+ live under the parent session's directory (`<session-uuid>/subagents/…`);
the path itself tells you which main session spawned them.
## Upgrade: central Recall Brain (optional)
- Recall can optionally sync into a private central Brain service: deliberate
+ Recall can sync into a private central Brain service that provides deliberate
memory writes, cross-device search, consented ChatGPT-export import, a Cowork
- collector, pull connectors, and MCP capture. It is off unless explicitly
- configured. Setup, mode routing, and all Brain commands live in
+ collector, pull connectors, and MCP capture. The service is off unless
+ explicitly configured. Setup, mode routing, and all Brain commands are in
[references/central-brain.md](references/central-brain.md); `doctor` prints
the current mode.
## References
- - [references/query-cookbook.md](references/query-cookbook.md) — worked
+ - [references/query-cookbook.md](references/query-cookbook.md): worked
examples per stratum: identifiers, error strings, time windows,
cross-worktree, cross-harness, paraphrase.
- - [references/central-brain.md](references/central-brain.md) — optional
+ - [references/central-brain.md](references/central-brain.md): optional
central Brain upgrade: setup, modes, deliberate writes, connectors,
privacy, export inbox, MCP capture.