pickbrain

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.