cortex-replay

name	cortex-replay
description	Generate interactive HTML replays from Cortex Code sessions. Use when: user wants to create a replay, share a session, export a session as HTML, record a demo, make a screencast, list sessions. Triggers: replay, session replay, share session, export session, HTML replay, cortex-replay, record session, session demo, shareable session.
tools	["Bash","Read","Write"]

cortex-replay

Generate self-contained, interactive HTML replays from Cortex Code session transcripts using the bundled Python script.

Prerequisites

None. This skill is fully self-contained -- it uses only Python 3 stdlib (no external dependencies, no npm, no Node.js).

The replay script is bundled at <SKILL_DIR>/scripts/replay.py. Run it directly using its absolute path -- no installation needed.

Determine the script path by resolving <SKILL_DIR> to the actual skill directory. For local skills this is typically ~/.cortex/skills/cortex-replay/scripts/replay.py or ~/.snowflake/cortex/skills/cortex-replay/scripts/replay.py. For stage-deployed skills, check the cached path.

Quick check:

python3 <SKILL_DIR>/scripts/replay.py --help

Workflow

1. Determine what the user wants

Ask if needed:

• Which session? Options: --last (most recent), a session ID, or a file path
• Output file? Default: replay.html in the current working directory
• Any customizations? Theme, turn range, bookmarks, speed, hide thinking/tools

If the user just says "create a replay" or "replay my session" without specifics, default to --last with the snowflake theme.

2. List sessions (if user needs to pick one)

python3 <SKILL_DIR>/scripts/replay.py --list-sessions

This shows all sessions with IDs, titles, timestamps, and turn counts. Help the user pick the right one. Partial ID matching works (e.g., 6868f059 matches 6868f059-3b8a-423d-8a51-ef0397c7f469).

3. Generate the replay

Build the command from user preferences. Base command:

python3 <SKILL_DIR>/scripts/replay.py <input> -o <output.html>

Input options (mutually exclusive):

• --last -- most recent session
• <session-id> -- partial or full session ID
• <path/to/session.json> -- direct file path

Customization flags:

Flag	What it does	Example
--theme NAME	Visual theme	--theme tokyo-night
--turns N-M	Include only turns N through M	--turns 3-15
--from TIMESTAMP	Start time filter (ISO 8601)	--from "2026-03-01T10:00"
--to TIMESTAMP	End time filter (ISO 8601)	--to "2026-03-01T12:00"
--speed N	Initial playback speed (0.5-5)	--speed 2
--no-thinking	Hide thinking blocks by default
--no-tool-calls	Hide tool call blocks by default
--no-redact	Disable automatic secret redaction
--no-animate	Disable typewriter animation (classic mode)
--title TEXT	Custom page title	--title "Bug Fix Demo"
--mark "N:Label"	Bookmark at turn N (repeatable)	--mark "3:Setup" --mark "8:Fix"
--bookmarks FILE	JSON file with bookmarks	--bookmarks marks.json
--theme-file FILE	Custom theme JSON	--theme-file my-theme.json
--user-label NAME	Label for user messages	--user-label "Developer"
--assistant-label NAME	Label for assistant messages	--assistant-label "Coco"
--no-compress	Embed raw JSON (larger file, debuggable)

Available themes: snowflake (default), tokyo-night, monokai, solarized-dark, github-light, dracula

4. Open the replay

After generating, open it:

open <output.html>   # macOS

5. Report results

Tell the user:

• Output file path and size
• Number of turns included
• Theme used
• How to share it (it's fully self-contained -- email, embed, commit to repo)

Example Commands

# Quick replay of last session
python3 <SKILL_DIR>/scripts/replay.py --last -o replay.html

# Specific session with dark theme
python3 <SKILL_DIR>/scripts/replay.py 6868f059 --theme dracula -o replay.html

# Trimmed replay with bookmarks for a demo
python3 <SKILL_DIR>/scripts/replay.py --last --turns 3-15 --theme tokyo-night --speed 2 \
  --no-thinking --mark "3:Setup" --mark "8:Implementation" \
  --title "Building a Data Pipeline" -o demo.html

# Light theme for docs embedding
python3 <SKILL_DIR>/scripts/replay.py --last --theme github-light --no-tool-calls -o docs-replay.html

# Custom labels
python3 <SKILL_DIR>/scripts/replay.py session.json --user-label "Engineer" --assistant-label "Coco" -o replay.html

Embedding in Docs or Blogs

The output HTML can be embedded via iframe:

<iframe src="replay.html" width="100%" height="600"
  style="border: 1px solid #333; border-radius: 8px;"></iframe>

Player Controls (for the user's reference)

The generated HTML player supports:

• Typewriter animation -- user prompts are typed out character-by-character with a blinking cursor; assistant responses fade in block-by-block (disable with --no-animate)
• Play/Pause -- auto-advances through turns with animated transitions
• Step forward/back -- jump between turns (instantly reveals content when navigating manually)
• Progress bar -- click to jump anywhere (instantly reveals all content up to that point)
• Speed control -- 0.5x to 5x (scales typing speed and block reveal timing)
• Toggle checkboxes -- show/hide thinking and tool calls
• Keyboard: Space/K = play/pause, Right/L = forward, Left/H = back

Custom Themes

Users can create a JSON file with any subset of these keys (missing keys fall back to snowflake defaults):

{
  "bg": "#1a1a2e",
  "bg-surface": "#16213e",
  "bg-hover": "#1a2744",
  "text": "#e0e0e0",
  "text-dim": "#666",
  "text-bright": "#fff",
  "accent": "#e94560",
  "accent-dim": "#b33548",
  "green": "#4ecca3",
  "blue": "#4cc9f0",
  "orange": "#f0a030",
  "red": "#e85454",
  "cyan": "#4cc9f0",
  "border": "#2a2a4a",
  "tool-bg": "#12121f",
  "thinking-bg": "#111122"
}

Use with: --theme-file my-theme.json

Session File Location

Cortex Code sessions are stored at ~/.snowflake/cortex/conversations/. Each .json file is a full session transcript.

Notes

• The output HTML is fully self-contained -- no external dependencies, works offline
• Secrets (API keys, tokens, passwords, Snowflake credentials) are automatically redacted unless --no-redact is used
• System-reminder blocks and internal platform noise are stripped automatically
• The --last flag reads ~/.snowflake/cortex/conversations/.last-session to find the most recent session
• This skill requires only Python 3 (stdlib) -- no npm, no Node.js, no pip packages

Deploying to a Profile

To publish this skill to a Snowflake stage for profile-based distribution:

cortex skill publish ~/.cortex/skills/cortex-replay --to-stage @DB.SCHEMA.STAGE/skills/

This uploads both SKILL.md and scripts/replay.py to the stage. Any user with the profile will get the skill with the bundled script -- no installation required.