Recall and Journal

ctx recall¶

Browse and search AI session history from Claude Code and other tools.

ctx recall <subcommand>

ctx recall list¶

List all parsed sessions.

ctx recall list [flags]

Flags:

Sessions are sorted by date (newest first) and display slug, project, start time, duration, turn count, and token usage.

Example:

ctx recall list
ctx recall list --limit 5
ctx recall list --project ctx
ctx recall list --tool claude-code

ctx recall show¶

Show details of a specific session.

ctx recall show [session-id] [flags]

Flags:

The session ID can be a full UUID, partial match, or session slug name.

Example:

ctx recall show abc123
ctx recall show gleaming-wobbling-sutherland
ctx recall show --latest
ctx recall show --latest --full

ctx recall export¶

Export sessions to editable journal files in .context/journal/.

ctx recall export [session-id] [flags]

Flags:

Safe by default: --all only exports new sessions. Existing files are skipped. Use --regenerate to re-export existing files (conversation content is regenerated, YAML frontmatter from enrichment is preserved by default). Use --keep-frontmatter=false to discard enriched frontmatter during regeneration.

Locked entries (via ctx recall lock) are always skipped, regardless of flags.

Single-session export (ctx recall export <id>) always writes without prompting, since you are explicitly targeting one session.

The journal/ directory should be gitignored (like sessions/) since it contains raw conversation data.

Example:

ctx recall export abc123                 # Export one session
ctx recall export --all                  # Export only new sessions
ctx recall export --all --dry-run        # Preview what would be exported
ctx recall export --all --regenerate     # Re-export existing (prompts)
ctx recall export --all --regenerate -y  # Re-export without prompting
ctx recall export --all --regenerate --keep-frontmatter=false -y  # Discard frontmatter

ctx recall lock¶

Protect journal entries from being overwritten by export --regenerate or modified by enrichment skills (/ctx-journal-enrich, /ctx-journal-enrich-all).

ctx recall lock <pattern> [flags]

Flags:

The pattern matches filenames by slug, date, or short ID. Locking a multi-part entry locks all parts. The lock is recorded in .context/journal/.state.json and a locked: true line is added to the file's YAML frontmatter for visibility.

Example:

ctx recall lock abc12345
ctx recall lock 2026-01-21-session-abc12345.md
ctx recall lock --all

ctx recall unlock¶

Remove lock protection from journal entries.

ctx recall unlock <pattern> [flags]

Flags:

Example:

ctx recall unlock abc12345
ctx recall unlock --all

ctx recall sync¶

Sync lock state from journal frontmatter to .state.json.

ctx recall sync

Scans all journal markdowns and updates .state.json to match each file's frontmatter. Files with locked: true in frontmatter are marked locked in state; files without a locked: line have their lock cleared.

This is the inverse of ctx recall lock: instead of state driving frontmatter, frontmatter drives state. Useful after batch enrichment where you add locked: true to frontmatter manually.

Example:

# After enriching entries and adding locked: true to frontmatter
ctx recall sync

ctx journal¶

Analyze and synthesize exported session files.

ctx journal <subcommand>

ctx journal site¶

Generate a static site from journal entries in .context/journal/.

ctx journal site [flags]

Flags:

Creates a zensical-compatible site structure with an index page listing all sessions by date, and individual pages for each journal entry.

Requires zensical to be installed for --build or --serve:

pipx install zensical

Example:

ctx journal site                    # Generate in .context/journal-site/
ctx journal site --output ~/public  # Custom output directory
ctx journal site --build            # Generate and build HTML
ctx journal site --serve            # Generate and serve locally

ctx journal obsidian¶

Generate an Obsidian vault from journal entries in .context/journal/.

ctx journal obsidian [flags]

Flags:

Creates an Obsidian-compatible vault with:

• Wikilinks ([[target|display]]) for all internal navigation
• MOC pages (Map of Content) for topics, key files, and session types
• Related sessions footer linking entries that share topics
• Transformed frontmatter (topics → tags for Obsidian integration)
• Minimal .obsidian/ config enforcing wikilink mode

No external dependencies are required: Open the output directory as an Obsidian vault directly.

Example:

ctx journal obsidian                        # Generate in .context/journal-obsidian/
ctx journal obsidian --output ~/vaults/ctx  # Custom output directory

ctx serve¶

Serve any zensical directory locally. This is a serve-only command: It does not generate or regenerate site content.

ctx serve [directory]

If no directory is specified, defaults to the journal site (.context/journal-site).

Requires zensical to be installed:

pipx install zensical

Example:

ctx serve                        # Serve journal site (no regeneration)
ctx serve .context/journal-site  # Same, explicit path
ctx serve ./site                 # Serve the docs site