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codex-history-ingest

ar9av/obsidian-wiki

Mine your Codex CLI conversation history and distill it into an Obsidian wiki.

What is codex-history-ingest?

Ingest Codex session logs, rollout files, and transcripts into your Obsidian vault, clustering knowledge by topic and creating durable wiki pages. Use this when you want to extract patterns and insights from past coding sessions, or sync new Codex conversations into your knowledge base.

  • Scans ~/.codex/ for session rollouts, session index, and history files
  • Compares against manifest to detect new and modified sessions (append mode) or re-ingest everything (full mode)
  • Parses JSONL event logs, filtering out noise and redacting sensitive data (API keys, credentials, system prompts)
  • Clusters multi-session knowledge by stable topics rather than creating one page per session
  • Generates wiki pages organized by project, concept, skill, entity, or synthesis with confidence and provenance markers
  • Updates manifest, index, and memory log with a single locked command to prevent concurrent writes

How to install codex-history-ingest

npx skills add https://github.com/ar9av/obsidian-wiki --skill codex-history-ingest
Prerequisites
  • Obsidian vault with llm-wiki skill installed
  • Codex CLI with local history enabled (~/.codex/ folder populated with sessions)
  • OBSIDIAN_VAULT_PATH and CODEX_HISTORY_PATH configured (via .env, global config, or @name override)
  • obsidian-wiki CLI tool available for memory sync commands
Claude Code
Cursor
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How to use codex-history-ingest

  1. 1.Run the skill and let it scan ~/.codex/ and compare against .manifest.json to detect new/modified sessions
  2. 2.Review the delta summary showing which files are new, modified, or unchanged
  3. 3.The skill parses session_index.jsonl first to build a canonical inventory, then processes rollout JSONL files
  4. 4.Knowledge is clustered by topic across sessions and routed to appropriate wiki sections (projects/, concepts/, skills/, entities/, synthesis/)
  5. 5.Each new or updated page receives confidence, lifecycle, and provenance markers (^[extracted], ^[inferred], ^[ambiguous])
  6. 6.Run obsidian-wiki memory sync CODEX_HISTORY_INGEST with session counts and takeaways to update manifest, index, log, and hot files atomically

Use cases

Good for
  • Regularly sync new Codex sessions into your wiki to build a searchable knowledge base of past coding decisions
  • Extract recurring debugging patterns or architectural insights from multiple sessions on the same project
  • Recover and organize knowledge from archived Codex conversations after a wiki rebuild
  • Distill shell scripting techniques, CLI tool workflows, or deployment playbooks discovered across sessions
  • Create project-specific pages that synthesize patterns from many Codex conversations without duplicating session logs
Who it's for
  • Developers using Codex CLI who maintain an Obsidian wiki for knowledge management
  • Teams building institutional memory from AI-assisted coding sessions
  • Users wanting to mine their own conversation history for reusable patterns and decisions

codex-history-ingest FAQ

What data sources does it use?

Primarily session_index.jsonl (inventory), sessions/**/rollout-*.jsonl (rich transcripts), and optionally history.jsonl (fallback timeline). SQLite internals are skipped unless explicitly requested.

How does it handle sensitive data?

It redacts API keys, tokens, passwords, credentials, and system/developer prompts before ingesting. Raw transcripts are summarized rather than quoted verbatim.

Can I re-ingest old sessions?

Yes. Append mode (default) only processes new or modified files. Full mode re-ingests everything; use it after wiki-rebuild or if you explicitly request a full re-ingest.

How are sessions organized in the wiki?

Knowledge is clustered by stable topic across many sessions, not one page per session. Pages are routed to projects/, concepts/, skills/, entities/, or synthesis/ based on content type and project scope inferred from metadata.

What happens to the manifest after ingestion?

The manifest is updated with ingested_at, file size, modification time, source type, and project name. A summary block tracks total sessions ingested and last update time per project.

Full instructions (SKILL.md)

Source of truth, from ar9av/obsidian-wiki.


name: codex-history-ingest description: > Ingest Codex CLI conversation history into the Obsidian wiki. Use this skill when the user wants to mine their past Codex sessions for knowledge, import their ~/.codex folder, extract insights from previous coding sessions, or says things like "process my Codex history", "add my Codex conversations to the wiki", or "what have I discussed in Codex before". Also triggers when the user mentions .codex sessions, rollout files, session_index.jsonl, or Codex transcript logs.

Codex History Ingest — Conversation Mining

You are extracting knowledge from the user's past Codex sessions and distilling it into the Obsidian wiki. Session logs are rich but noisy: focus on durable knowledge, not operational telemetry.

This skill can be invoked directly or via the wiki-history-ingest router (/wiki-history-ingest codex).

Before You Start

Writing profile: Before drafting or rewriting natural-language Markdown, read and apply the Writing Profile Resolution section in llm-wiki/SKILL.md. Framework schema, provenance, safety, and operation-specific requirements take precedence. WRITING.md preferences apply only to newly drafted or rewritten natural-language Markdown; preserve source content and structured records.

  1. Resolve config — follow the Config Resolution Protocol in llm-wiki/SKILL.md (inline @name override → walk up CWD for .env → global config → prompt setup). This gives OBSIDIAN_VAULT_PATH and CODEX_HISTORY_PATH (defaults to ~/.codex)
  2. Read .manifest.json at the vault root to check what has already been ingested
  3. Read index.md at the vault root to understand what the wiki already contains

Ingest Modes

Append Mode (default)

Check .manifest.json for each source file. Only process:

  • Files not in the manifest (new session rollouts, new index files)
  • Files whose modification time is newer than ingested_at in the manifest

Use this mode for regular syncs.

Full Mode

Process everything regardless of manifest. Use after wiki-rebuild or if the user explicitly asks for a full re-ingest.

Codex Data Layout

Codex stores local artifacts under ~/.codex/.

~/.codex/
├── sessions/                          # Session rollout logs by date
│   └── YYYY/MM/DD/
│       └── rollout-<timestamp>-<id>.jsonl
├── archived_sessions/                 # Archived rollout logs
├── session_index.jsonl                # Lightweight index of thread id/name/updated_at
├── history.jsonl                      # Local transcript history (if persistence enabled)
├── config.toml                        # User config (contains history settings)
└── state_*.sqlite / logs_*.sqlite     # Runtime DBs (usually skip)

Key data sources ranked by value

  1. session_index.jsonl — best inventory source for IDs, titles, and freshness
  2. sessions/**/rollout-*.jsonl — rich structured transcript events
  3. history.jsonl — useful fallback/timeline aid if enabled

Avoid ingesting SQLite internals unless the user explicitly asks.

Step 1: Survey and Compute Delta

Scan CODEX_HISTORY_PATH and compare against .manifest.json:

  • ~/.codex/session_index.jsonl
  • ~/.codex/sessions/**/rollout-*.jsonl
  • ~/.codex/archived_sessions/** (optional; only if user asks for archived history)
  • ~/.codex/history.jsonl (optional fallback)

Classify each file:

  • New — not in manifest
  • Modified — in manifest but file is newer than ingested_at
  • Unchanged — already ingested and unchanged

Report a concise delta summary before deep parsing.

Step 2: Parse Session Index First

session_index.jsonl typically has entries like:

{"id":"...","thread_name":"...","updated_at":"..."}

Use it to:

  • Build a canonical session inventory
  • Prioritize recent/high-signal sessions
  • Map rollout IDs to human-readable thread names

Step 3: Parse Rollout JSONL Safely

Each rollout-*.jsonl line is an event envelope with:

{
  "timestamp": "...",
  "type": "session_meta|turn_context|event_msg|response_item",
  "payload": { ... }
}

Extraction rules

  • Prioritize user intent and assistant-visible outputs
  • Favor response_item records with user/assistant message content
  • Use event_msg selectively for meaningful milestones; ignore pure telemetry
  • Treat session_meta as metadata (cwd, model, ids), not user knowledge

Skip/noise filters

  • Token accounting events
  • Tool plumbing with no semantic content
  • Raw command output unless it contains reusable decisions/patterns
  • Repeated plan snapshots unless they add novel decisions

Critical privacy filter

Rollout logs can include injected instructions, tool payloads, and sensitive text. Do not ingest verbatim system/developer prompts or secrets.

  • Remove API keys, tokens, passwords, credentials
  • Redact private identifiers unless relevant and approved
  • Summarize instead of quoting raw transcripts

Step 4: Cluster by Topic

Do not create one wiki page per session.

  • Group by stable topics across many sessions
  • Split mixed sessions into separate themes
  • Merge recurring concepts across dates/projects
  • Use cwd from metadata to infer project scope

Step 5: Distill into Wiki Pages

Route extracted knowledge using existing wiki conventions:

  • Project-specific architecture/process -> projects/<name>/...
  • General concepts -> concepts/
  • Recurring techniques/debug playbooks -> skills/
  • Tools/services -> entities/
  • Cross-session patterns -> synthesis/

For each impacted project, create/update projects/<name>/<name>.md (project name as filename, never _project.md).

Writing rules

  • Distill knowledge, not chronology
  • Avoid "on date X we discussed..." unless date context is essential
  • Add summary: frontmatter on each new/updated page (1-2 sentences, <= 200 chars)
  • Add confidence and lifecycle fields to every new page:
    base_confidence: 0.42
    lifecycle: draft
    lifecycle_changed: <ISO date today>
    
    Leave lifecycle unchanged on update.
  • Add provenance markers:
    • ^[extracted] when directly grounded in explicit session content
    • ^[inferred] when synthesizing patterns across events/sessions
    • ^[ambiguous] when sessions conflict
  • Add/update provenance: frontmatter mix for each changed page

Step 6: Update Manifest, Log, and Index

Update .manifest.json

For each processed source file:

  • ingested_at, size_bytes, modified_at
  • source_type: codex_rollout | codex_index | codex_history
  • project: inferred project name (when applicable)
  • pages_created, pages_updated

Add/update a top-level project/session summary block:

{
  "project-name": {
    "source_path": "~/.codex/sessions/...",
    "last_ingested": "TIMESTAMP",
    "sessions_ingested": 12,
    "sessions_total": 40,
    "index_updated_at": "TIMESTAMP"
  }
}

Update special files

Update index.md, log.md, and hot.md with one locked call:

obsidian-wiki memory sync CODEX_HISTORY_INGEST \
  sessions=<sessions> pages_updated=<pages_updated> \
  pages_created=<pages_created> mode=<mode> \
  --takeaways "Ingested 12 Codex sessions; surfaced recurring patterns in CLI tooling and shell scripting."

Never hand-edit index.md, log.md, or hot.md — the command takes the lock that keeps a parallel writer from dropping your update. --takeaways is the one-line conceptual summary that used to go in Recent Activity; omit it to leave the previous takeaways untouched.

See .skills/llm-wiki/references/MEMORY.md for the full procedure.

Privacy and Compliance

  • Distill and synthesize; avoid raw transcript dumps
  • Default to redaction for anything that looks sensitive
  • Ask the user before storing personal/sensitive details
  • Keep references to other people minimal and purpose-bound

Reference

See references/codex-data-format.md for field-level parsing notes and extraction guidance.

QMD Refresh After Vault Writes

QMD is a search index, not the source of truth. If $QMD_WIKI_COLLECTION is empty or unset, skip this step. Run it only after this skill has written or rewritten vault markdown. If QMD refresh fails, do not roll back the vault changes; report the QMD status separately.

Use $QMD_CLI if set; otherwise use qmd.

${QMD_CLI:-qmd} update

If the output says vectors are needed or embeddings may be stale, run:

${QMD_CLI:-qmd} embed

Verify the collection with either:

${QMD_CLI:-qmd} ls "$QMD_WIKI_COLLECTION"

or, when a specific page path is known:

${QMD_CLI:-qmd} get "qmd://$QMD_WIKI_COLLECTION/<page>.md" -l 5

Record one of:

  • QMD refreshed: update + embed + verified
  • QMD refreshed: update only + verified
  • QMD skipped: QMD_WIKI_COLLECTION unset
  • QMD skipped: qmd CLI unavailable
  • QMD failed: <short error summary>