How do I install the Session Search skill?

Run npx skillmds@latest add pchalasani/session-search in your terminal (requires Node.js), paste this page's agent-chat prompt into Claude, Cursor, or any MCP-connected agent, or download the SKILL.md file and copy it into your agent's skills directory.

Is Session Search safe to use?

This skill has not completed SkillMD's automated safety review yet. Capability flags: makes network calls, reads secrets. SkillMD never runs a skill's scripts for you; review the SKILL.md before installing.

Which AI agents work with Session Search?

This skill is tagged as working with Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex. SKILL.md is an open format, so most agents that read a skills directory can load it too.

Is Session Search free to use?

Yes. Installing skills from SkillMD is free, and the skill stays under its author's original license.

Who published Session Search?

pchalasani (@pchalasani) published this skill. Their other Agent Skills are listed on their SkillMD profile.

Session Search by pchalasani — Agent Skill

Name: Session Search
Rating: 4.2 (5 reviews)
Author: pchalasani

File contents

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

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

Key Findings: 2-3 bullet points answering the query
Relevant Sessions: Session IDs and dates for reference
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"

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:

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:

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

---name: session-searchdescription: For CLI agents WITHOUT subagent support (e.g., Codex CLI). Search previous code agent sessions for specific work, decisions, or code patterns.---> **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-searchSearch and find previous code agent sessions (Claude-Code or Codex-CLI) for specificwork, decisions, or code patterns.## Workflow1. **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 referencesRun `aichat search --help` to see all options (date filters, branch filters, etc.)and JSONL field names.## Output FormatReturn a concise summary containing:1. **Key Findings**: 2-3 bullet points answering the query2. **Relevant Sessions**: Session IDs and dates for reference3. **Specific Content**: Code snippets or quotes if directly relevantFormat as clean markdown, not raw JSON.## ExampleQuery: "Find sessions where we discussed authentication design"```bashaichat 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 HandlingIf `aichat search` command fails or is not found, ask user to install:```bashuv tool install claude-code-tools # Python packagecargo 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:```bashcurl -LsSf https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | sh # uvcurl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -sSf https://sh.rustup.rs | sh # Rust```

Frequently asked questions

Session Search