| name | pickbrain |
| description | Semantic search over past Claude Code and Codex conversations and memories. Use when the user wants to recall, find, or reference something from a previous coding session — e.g. "what did we discuss about X", "find that conversation where we fixed Y", "search my history for Z". |
Pickbrain — Semantic Search for AI Coding History
Search past Claude Code and Codex conversations, memory files, and authored files using semantic search.
Usage
Run pickbrain with the user's query:
pickbrain "$ARGUMENTS"
Pickbrain automatically ingests new sessions, memories, and project config files (CLAUDE.md, AGENTS.md, and their @ references) before each search.
Interpreting Results
Each result includes:
- Timestamp and project directory
- Session ID and turn number — identifies the exact conversation turn
- Matching text — the relevant chunk from the conversation
Present results as a concise summary. Quote the most relevant excerpts. To dig deeper into a specific session:
pickbrain --dump <session-id> --turns <start>-<end>
Filtering
Search within the current (calling) session:
pickbrain --current "<query>"
Search within a specific session by ID:
pickbrain --session <session-id> "<query>"
Exclude the current (calling) session from results:
pickbrain --exclude-current "<query>"
Exclude specific sessions by ID (comma-separated or repeated):
pickbrain --exclude <uuid1>,<uuid2> "<query>"
pickbrain --exclude <uuid1> --exclude <uuid2> "<query>"
Search only recent history:
pickbrain --since 24h "<query>"
pickbrain --since 7d "<query>"
pickbrain --since 2w "<query>"
Notes
- First run requires a full ingest+embed pass (~7s). Subsequent searches are incremental.
- The database lives at
~/.pickbrain/pickbrain.db.
- Results are ranked by semantic similarity — they may not contain the exact query words.
- The active session's JSONL is skipped during ingest if it was indexed less than 10 minutes ago. If the active session can't be detected, everything is ingested eagerly.
