---
name: Session Search
slug: session-search-2
category: AI Engineering
description: Session Search searches previous code agent sessions for specific work, decisions, or code patterns. Use it when you need to locate past work or decisions from Claude Code or Codex CLI sessions.
github: "https://github.com/pchalasani/claude-code-tools/tree/main/plugins/aichat/skills/session-search"
language: Python
stars: 1979
forks: 128
install: "npx degit https://github.com/pchalasani/claude-code-tools/tree/main/plugins/aichat/skills/session-search ~/.claude/skills/session-search"
installs_to: ~/.claude/skills/session-search
source_path: plugins/aichat/skills/session-search/SKILL.md
collection_size: 17
category_size: 2451
collection_url: "https://dirskills.com/collections/pchalasani/claude-code-tools"
added: 2026-08-18T06:58:50.277Z
last_synced: 2026-08-18T06:58:50.277Z
canonical_url: "https://dirskills.com/skills/session-search-2"
---

# Session Search

Session Search searches previous code agent sessions for specific work, decisions, or code patterns. Use it when you need to locate past work or decisions from Claude Code or Codex CLI sessions.

**Install:**

```bash
npx degit https://github.com/pchalasani/claude-code-tools/tree/main/plugins/aichat/skills/session-search ~/.claude/skills/session-search
```

## README

> **If you are Claude Code:** Do NOT use this skill directly. Use the
> `session-searcher` subagent via the Task tool instead - it handles this more
> efficiently without polluting your context.

# session-search

Search and find previous code agent sessions (Claude-Code or Codex-CLI) for specific
work, decisions, or code patterns.

## Workflow

1. **Understand the query**: Identify what the user is looking for (code patterns,
   decisions, specific work, design direction)
2. **Search with aichat**: Run `aichat search --json -n 10 "[query]"` (use
   `-g "project"` to filter by project)
3. **Parse results**: Use `jq` to extract fields from JSONL output (session_id,
   project, created, snippet, file_path)
4. **Deep dive if needed**: Read session files at
   `~/.claude/projects/*/[session-id].jsonl` (max 3 files)
5. **Summarize**: Return a focused summary with key findings and references

Run `aichat search --help` to see all options (date filters, branch filters, etc.)
and JSONL field names.

## Output Format

Return a concise summary containing:

1. **Key Findings**: 2-3 bullet points answering the query
2. **Relevant Sessions**: Session IDs and dates for reference
3. **Specific Content**: Code snippets or quotes if directly relevant

Format as clean markdown, not raw JSON.

## Example

Query: "Find sessions where we discussed authentication design"

```bash
aichat search --json -n 10 "authentication design"
```

Summary:
- **Session abc123** (Dec 10): Discussed JWT vs session-based auth, decided on JWT
- **Session def456** (Dec 8): Implemented refresh token rotation pattern

## Constraints

- ALWAYS use `--json` flag with aichat search (otherwise it spawns interactive UI)
- NEVER return raw JSON output to the user - summarize and distill findings
- NEVER read more than 3 session files per query
- If no results found, suggest alternative search terms
- ONLY report information directly observed in files - never infer or extrapolate

## Error Handling

If `aichat search` command fails or is not found, ask user to install:

```bash
uv tool install claude-code-tools   # Python package
cargo install aichat-search         # Rust search TUI
```

Prerequisites:

- Node.js 18+ (for action menus)
- Rust/Cargo (for aichat-search)

If user doesn't have uv or cargo:

```bash
curl -LsSf https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | sh           # uv
curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -sSf https://sh.rustup.rs | sh  # Rust
```