PluginBench
Skill
Pass
Audit score 90

codex-history-ingest

ar9av/obsidian-wiki

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

What is codex-history-ingest?

Ingests Codex session logs, rollout files, and transcripts into an Obsidian vault, clustering conversations by topic and extracting durable knowledge. Use this when you want to review past coding sessions, surface recurring patterns, or add historical context to your wiki.

  • Scans ~/.codex/ for session rollouts, session index, and history files
  • Compares against .manifest.json to ingest only new or modified files (append mode) or everything (full mode)
  • Parses JSONL session events and filters out noise, telemetry, and sensitive data
  • Clusters multi-session knowledge by topic rather than creating one page per session
  • Distills extracted insights into wiki pages with provenance markers (extracted/inferred/ambiguous)
  • Updates .manifest.json, index.md, log.md, and hot.md with ingestion metadata

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 installed
  • Codex CLI with local history enabled (~/.codex folder populated)
  • Config resolution via .env, ~/.obsidian-wiki/config, or manual setup (OBSIDIAN_VAULT_PATH, CODEX_HISTORY_PATH)
  • Optional: QMD search index (qmd CLI) for post-ingest indexing
Claude Code
Cursor
Windsurf
Cline

How to use codex-history-ingest

  1. 1.Resolve config by following the Config Resolution Protocol (check .env, ~/.obsidian-wiki/config, or provide OBSIDIAN_VAULT_PATH and CODEX_HISTORY_PATH)
  2. 2.Read .manifest.json at vault root to see what has already been ingested
  3. 3.Read index.md to understand existing wiki structure
  4. 4.Run the skill in append mode (default) to ingest only new/modified files, or full mode to re-ingest everything
  5. 5.Review the delta summary of new, modified, and unchanged files before deep parsing
  6. 6.Let the skill parse session_index.jsonl, rollout-*.jsonl, and optional history.jsonl files
  7. 7.Skill clusters sessions by topic, filters sensitive data, and writes pages to projects/, concepts/, skills/, entities/, or synthesis/ directories
  8. 8.Skill updates .manifest.json, index.md, log.md, and hot.md with ingestion timestamps and counts

Use cases

Good for
  • Review patterns and decisions from past Codex sessions to inform current work
  • Consolidate recurring debugging techniques or architecture decisions across multiple projects
  • Migrate Codex conversation history into a searchable, organized wiki after enabling persistence
  • Sync new Codex sessions into the wiki on a regular schedule using append mode
  • Rebuild the wiki from full Codex history after major vault restructuring
Who it's for
  • Developers using Codex CLI who want to preserve and organize session knowledge
  • Teams maintaining a shared Obsidian wiki for project context and decision history
  • Engineers seeking to extract patterns and lessons from past coding conversations

codex-history-ingest FAQ

What data sources does this skill use?

Primary: session_index.jsonl (inventory), sessions/**/rollout-*.jsonl (rich transcripts). Optional: history.jsonl (fallback timeline), archived_sessions/ (if user requests). Skips SQLite internals unless explicitly requested.

How does append mode differ from full mode?

Append mode (default) only processes files new to the manifest or modified since last ingestion—ideal for regular syncs. Full mode re-ingests everything regardless of manifest state, useful after wiki-rebuild or explicit user request.

What gets filtered out during parsing?

Token accounting, tool plumbing with no semantic content, raw command output without reusable decisions, repeated plan snapshots, and sensitive data (API keys, tokens, passwords, private identifiers).

How are sessions organized in the wiki?

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

What happens if the skill finds sensitive data?

Sensitive data (credentials, API keys, private identifiers) is redacted by default. The skill asks before storing personal/sensitive details and keeps references to other people minimal and purpose-bound.

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

  1. Resolve config — follow the Config Resolution Protocol in llm-wiki/SKILL.md (walk up CWD for .env~/.obsidian-wiki/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 and log.md:

- [TIMESTAMP] CODEX_HISTORY_INGEST sessions=N pages_updated=X pages_created=Y mode=append|full

hot.md — Read $OBSIDIAN_VAULT_PATH/hot.md (create from the template in wiki-ingest if missing). Update Recent Activity with a one-line summary — e.g. "Ingested 12 Codex sessions; surfaced recurring patterns in CLI tooling and shell scripting." Keep the last 3 operations. Update updated timestamp.

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>