session-history

name	session-history
description	Search, browse, and read past pi coding sessions. Use when the user asks about previous work, past decisions, what was done before, or wants to find a specific session. Covers both active and archived sessions.

Session History

Search, browse, and introspect on past pi coding sessions — including archived ones.

Available Tools

This skill provides three tools:

session_search

Semantic search across all indexed sessions. Use for finding sessions by topic, technology, or intent.

session_search(query="refactoring the auth module")
session_search(query="Lambda timeout debugging", limit=5)
session_search(query="setting up CI pipeline for Nessie")

session_list

Browse sessions with filters. Good for time-based queries or project-specific browsing.

session_list(project="Rosie")                    # Sessions in the Rosie project
session_list(after="2026-03-01", limit=10)       # Recent sessions
session_list(archived=true, limit=20)            # Archived sessions only
session_list(project="pi-slack-bot", after="2026-03-10")

session_read

Read the full conversation from a specific session. Use the file path or UUID from search/list results.

session_read(session="~/.pi/agent/sessions/--workplace-samfp-Rosie--/2026-03-10T21-36-44.jsonl")
session_read(session="124c2fe2-820c-4d63-8899-eb8d48007d39")
session_read(session="...", offset=50, limit=50)           # Pagination for long sessions
session_read(session="...", include_tools=true)             # Include tool call results

Workflow

1. Find sessions: Use session_search for semantic queries or session_list for browsing
2. Read details: Use session_read with the file path from results to see the full conversation
3. Extract context: Use information from past sessions to inform current work

Setup

If not yet configured, run /session-embeddings-setup to choose an embedding provider (OpenAI, Bedrock, or Ollama).

To force a full re-index, run /session-reindex.

What Gets Indexed

• All active sessions from ~/.pi/agent/sessions/
• All archived sessions from ~/.pi/agent/sessions-archive/
• User messages, assistant responses, tool usage patterns
• Compaction summaries (condensed session context)
• Files read/modified, models used, project directories

Tips

• Session search is best for "when did we...", "how did we handle...", "what approach did we use for..." queries
• Session list is best for "show me recent sessions", "what did we work on in project X" queries
• For very long sessions, use session_read with pagination (offset/limit)
• Set include_tools=true on session_read when you need to see the actual tool outputs (verbose)