session-logs

Session Logs

Search and analyze past Claude Code session and conversation logs using jq and rg (ripgrep). No external CLI beyond jq and rg needed.

Prerequisites

# Install jq (JSON processor)
brew install jq          # macOS
sudo apt install jq      # Ubuntu/Debian

# Install ripgrep
brew install ripgrep     # macOS
sudo apt install ripgrep # Ubuntu/Debian

# Verify
jq --version && rg --version

Common Log Locations

Location	Description
`~/.claude/`	Claude Code settings and memory
`~/.claude/projects/`	Per-project session data
`workspace/`	Saved session outputs
`memory/`	Agent memory files

Commands

List recent session files:

ls -lt ~/.claude/projects/ | head -20

Search session logs by keyword:

rg "keyword" ~/.claude/projects/ --type json -l

Search with context lines:

rg -C 3 "keyword" ~/.claude/projects/ --type json

Search memory files:

rg "topic" memory/ -l
rg -i "topic" memory/learned-today.md

Parse JSONL session file:

# Show all user messages from a session file
cat <session-file.jsonl> | jq -r 'select(.role=="user") | .content'

# Show assistant messages
cat <session-file.jsonl> | jq -r 'select(.role=="assistant") | .content[:200]'

# Extract tool uses
cat <session-file.jsonl> | jq -r 'select(.type=="tool_use") | {name, input}'

Search by date range:

# Find files modified in the last 7 days
find ~/.claude/projects/ -name "*.json" -newer $(date -d "7 days ago" +%Y-%m-%d 2>/dev/null || date -v-7d +%Y-%m-%d) 2>/dev/null

# macOS: files from today
find ~/.claude/projects/ -name "*.json" -newer $(date -v-1d +%Y-%m-%d)

Search workspace saved outputs:

rg -i "keyword" workspace/ -l
rg -i -C 2 "keyword" workspace/

Analyze memory for a topic:

rg -i "keyword" memory/ --type md

Usage Examples

Find past discussion about a feature:

rg -i "authentication" memory/ workspace/ --type md -l

Search all session files for a decision:

rg -i "decided to use" ~/.claude/projects/ --type json -C 2 | head -40

Extract key points from a session file:

# Summarize assistant responses from a specific session
jq -r 'select(.role=="assistant") | .content' <session.jsonl> | head -100

Review today's memory learnings:

cat memory/learned-today.md

Rules

Always check if jq and rg are installed first before running searches
If not installed, show the install commands and stop
Never read or expose raw API keys, tokens, or credentials found in logs
Redact sensitive patterns (tokens, passwords, API keys) before showing output
Default to searching memory/ and workspace/ first (faster); escalate to ~/.claude/projects/ if needed
When results are large, save to workspace/session-search-<query>.md and summarize inline
Limit inline output to 20-30 lines; always offer to save full results to workspace
Confirm searches with: "Found matches for ''"