Claude Code Sessions

Claude Code Sessions Skill

Comprehensive session management for Claude Code - search, analyze, and resume conversations from any directory.

When to Use This Skill

Use this skill when:

• Search sessions by content or keywords
• List all available sessions across projects
• Analyze session history and patterns
• Find sessions created in different directories
• Get session metadata and statistics

Quick Start Checklist

When user wants to resume or find sessions:

[ ] 1. Identify request type: resume by ID, search by text, or list recent
[ ] 2. If resume by ID: use 21_universal_session_resume.py with session ID
[ ] 3. If search by text: use --text flag with search keywords
[ ] 4. If list recent: use 22_list_all_sessions.py with --days filter
[ ] 5. Verify correct working directory from session metadata
[ ] 6. Launch Claude Code with proper context

5-Second Decision Tree:

• User mentions session ID? → Resume with 21_universal_session_resume.py
• User describes topic/content? → Search with --text flag
• User asks "what did I work on"? → List with 22_list_all_sessions.py

Practical Workflow

BEFORE attempting to resume/search:

1. Determine intent (resume specific vs search vs browse recent)
2. Choose command based on intent:
   • Known ID → python 21_universal_session_resume.py [ID]
   • Topic search → python 21_universal_session_resume.py --text "keyword"
   • Recent work → python 22_list_all_sessions.py --days 7
3. Execute command and verify session found
4. Resume automatically (script handles directory switching)

Example rapid application:

User: "Resume my dashboard work from yesterday"

Agent thinks:
- Text search needed ("dashboard")
- Recent timeframe (yesterday)
- Use: python 21_universal_session_resume.py --text "dashboard" --all
- Filter results by date, pick most recent

Core Capabilities

1. Universal Session Resume

Resume any session from any directory - automatically handles path resolution and project switching.

CLI Usage:

# Resume by session ID (default mode)
python data_sources/claude_code/21_universal_session_resume.py c080fd31-1fea-44e2

# Resume by ID (full UUID)
python data_sources/claude_code/21_universal_session_resume.py c080fd31-1fea-44e2-8690-c58ad0f4a829

# Search by text content (requires --text flag)
python data_sources/claude_code/21_universal_session_resume.py --text "dashboard implementation"

# Resume latest session
python data_sources/claude_code/21_universal_session_resume.py --last

# Preview command without executing
python data_sources/claude_code/21_universal_session_resume.py --dry-run c080fd31

# Show all matching sessions
python data_sources/claude_code/21_universal_session_resume.py --text "dashboard" --all

Shell Alias (if configured):

# After source ~/.zshrc
rc c080fd31-1fea-44e2                 # By ID (default)
rc --text "dashboard"                  # By text search
rc --last                              # Latest session
rc --dry-run c080fd31                  # Preview only

How It Works:

1. Scans all projects in ~/.claude/projects/
2. Finds session regardless of creation directory
3. Determines correct working directory from session metadata
4. Automatically switches to project folder
5. Launches Claude Code with correct session context

Parameters:

• session_input (positional): Session ID (default) or search text (with --text)
• --text, -t: Treat input as text search instead of session ID
• --last: Find most recent session across all projects
• --dry-run: Show resume command without executing
• --all: Show all matching sessions, not just first

2. List All Sessions

View all Claude Code sessions grouped by project with statistics.

CLI Usage:

# List all sessions
python data_sources/claude_code/22_list_all_sessions.py

# Show detailed information
python data_sources/claude_code/22_list_all_sessions.py --detailed

# Filter by project path
python data_sources/claude_code/22_list_all_sessions.py --project chrome-extension-tcs

# Show only recent sessions (last 7 days)
python data_sources/claude_code/22_list_all_sessions.py --days 7

Output Format:

📊 Summary:
  Total projects: 5
  Total sessions: 127
  Total size: 45.32 MB

📁 Projects and Sessions:

📂 ~/project
   Sessions: 89 | Size: 32.15 MB
   Period: 2024-10-01 to 2025-01-15
   • c080fd31... (2h ago) - dashboard implementation with DataTables...
   • b2435f08... (1d ago) - fix session resume script...
   • a7f3e290... (3d ago) - Notion integration analysis...
   ... and 86 more sessions

Parameters:

• --detailed: Show full information for each session (first 10 per project)
• --project: Filter by project path (substring match)
• --days: Show only sessions modified in last N days

3. Session Search with Grep

Fast content search across all sessions using grep.

CLI Usage:

# Search for keyword in all sessions
grep -i "dashboard" ~/.claude/projects/-Users-*/*.jsonl

# List files containing keyword
grep -l "search_term" ~/.claude/projects/-Users-*/*.jsonl

# Search with context (2 lines before/after)
grep -C 2 "error message" ~/.claude/projects/-Users-*/*.jsonl

# Search in specific project
grep -i "dashboard" ~/.claude/projects/-Users-username-projects-project/*.jsonl

Why Grep:

• 10-100x faster than custom search tools
• Works with any content
• Simple and reliable
• Standard Unix tool

Session Storage Structure

Storage Location

~/.claude/projects/
├── -Users-Kravtsovd-projects/
│   └── b2435f08-65e2-4b88-91c6-79f3a93ced9a.jsonl
├── -Users-username-projects-project/
│   └── c080fd31-1fea-44e2-8690-c58ad0f4a829.jsonl
└── -Users-username-projects-ai-dashboards/
    └── a7f3e290-4b3c-11ef-8901-234567890abc.jsonl

Directory Naming:

• Claude Code creates unique folder for each working directory
• Path format: - separated segments
• Example: ~/projects → -Users-Kravtsovd-projects

Session File Format (JSONL)

Each line is a JSON object representing a message or event:

{"type":"system","cwd":"~/project","timestamp":"2025-01-15T10:30:00Z"}
{"type":"user","message":{"content":"implement dashboard"},"timestamp":"2025-01-15T10:30:15Z"}
{"type":"assistant","message":{"content":"I'll help..."},"timestamp":"2025-01-15T10:30:20Z"}

Message Types:

• system: Session metadata, cwd, environment
• user: User input and prompts
• assistant: Claude responses
• tool_use: Tool invocations and results

Python API

Session Resume

from data_sources.claude_code.session_manager import ClaudeSessionManager

# Initialize manager
manager = ClaudeSessionManager()

# Resume by ID
manager.resume_session(session_id="c080fd31-1fea-44e2-8690-c58ad0f4a829")

# Resume latest
manager.resume_latest()

# Search and resume
sessions = manager.search_sessions(text="dashboard")
if sessions:
    manager.resume_session(session_id=sessions[0]['session_id'])

Session Search

from data_sources.claude_code.session_scanner import SessionScanner

scanner = SessionScanner()

# Search by text
results = scanner.search(
    text="dashboard implementation",
    limit=10
)

# Search by date range
results = scanner.search(
    date_from="2025-01-01",
    date_to="2025-01-15"
)

# Get all sessions
all_sessions = scanner.list_all_sessions()

# Get project sessions
project_sessions = scanner.get_project_sessions(
    project_path="~/project"
)

Practical Examples

Example 1: Resume Recent Dashboard Work

User: "Resume my last session about dashboard implementation"

Agent Action:

# Search for dashboard sessions
python data_sources/claude_code/21_universal_session_resume.py --text "dashboard implementation"

# Output:
✅ Found session!
  Session ID: c080fd31-1fea-44e2-8690-c58ad0f4a829
  Created in: ~/project
  Modified: 2025-01-15 10:30:00
  Size: 2.45 MB
  Content: implement dashboard with DataTables and real-time updates...

🚀 Resuming session...
  📁 Directory: ~/project
  🔄 Launching Claude Code...

Example 2: Find All Sessions About Notion

User: "Show me all conversations about Notion integration"

Agent Action:

# Search with --all flag
python data_sources/claude_code/21_universal_session_resume.py --text "notion" --all

# Or use grep for faster search
grep -l "notion" ~/.claude/projects/-Users-*/*.jsonl

Example 3: List Recent Work

User: "What did I work on this week?"

Agent Action:

python data_sources/claude_code/22_list_all_sessions.py --days 7 --detailed

Example 4: Resume from Different Directory

User: "Resume session c080fd31 but I'm in wrong folder"

Agent Action:

# No problem - script handles it automatically
python data_sources/claude_code/21_universal_session_resume.py c080fd31

# Script will:
# 1. Find session in ~/.claude/projects/
# 2. Detect original working directory
# 3. cd to correct directory
# 4. Launch Claude Code with session

Troubleshooting

Session Not Found

Problem: ❌ No sessions found

Solutions:

1. Check session ID is correct: python data_sources/claude_code/22_list_all_sessions.py
2. Try partial ID (first 8 characters): rc c080fd31
3. Search by content: rc --text "keyword"
4. Use --last for most recent: rc --last

Wrong Directory

Problem: Session opens in wrong project folder

Solution: Script automatically handles this - finds correct directory from session metadata

If still wrong:

# Check session metadata
grep "cwd" ~/.claude/projects/-Users-*/{session_id}.jsonl

# Verify project path
python data_sources/claude_code/22_list_all_sessions.py --detailed

Duplicate Sessions

Problem: Multiple sessions for same project

Cause: Claude Code creates separate folder for each unique working directory

Solution:

# Find duplicates
python data_sources/claude_code/22_list_all_sessions.py --detailed

# Search across all
grep -l "keyword" ~/.claude/projects/-Users-*/*.jsonl

Shell Configuration (Optional)

Add to ~/.zshrc for quick access:

# Claude Code session resume
rc() {
    python ~/project/data_sources/claude_code/21_universal_session_resume.py "$@"
}

# List sessions
rc-list() {
    python ~/project/data_sources/claude_code/22_list_all_sessions.py "$@"
}

# Quick last session
rc-last() {
    rc --last
}

# Search sessions
rc-find() {
    rc --text "$1" --all
}

Usage after source ~/.zshrc:

rc c080fd31                    # Resume by ID
rc --text "dashboard"          # Search by text
rc-list                        # List all
rc-last                        # Resume latest
rc-find "notion"              # Find by keyword

Related Files

Core Scripts:

• data_sources/claude_code/21_universal_session_resume.py - Universal resume
• data_sources/claude_code/22_list_all_sessions.py - Session listing
• data_sources/claude_code/20_find_current_session.py - Session search

Documentation:

• data_sources/claude_code/16_CLAUDE_SESSION_MANAGEMENT.md - Session management guide
• data_sources/claude_code/00_session_id_detection_guide.md - Session ID detection
• data_sources/claude_code/CLAUDE.md - Progress summary

Python Modules:

• data_sources/claude_code/claude_code_client.py - API client
• data_sources/claude_code/session_manager.py - Session manager (if exists)

Best Practices

1. Use grep for speed - Simple keyword search is fastest
2. Partial IDs work - First 8 characters usually unique: rc c080fd31
3. Text search is fuzzy - Searches first 20 messages
4. --dry-run to preview - Check command before executing
5. --all for exploration - See all matches, not just first
6. Use --last daily - Quick access to recent work

Version

v1.0 (2025-01-15)

Author

Daniel Kravtsov (daniel@improvado.io)