shield_lock
JinDaGe
← Back to skills
extension
Category: Development & EngineeringNo API key required

file-history

Use when looking for past work on specific FILES, understanding why code was written, or when user references "what we did before" on a file/feature. Uses file-history tracking for accurate results. PREFER THIS over episodic-memory for file-specific queries.

personAuthor: jakexiaohubgithub
open_in_newRepositorydownloadDownload package

File History Context

Use this for FILE-SPECIFIC history queries. For general semantic search across all conversations, use episodic-memory instead.

When to Use This Skill

USE file-history when:

  • Looking for sessions that edited a specific file
  • Understanding why code was written a certain way
  • User says "what did we do with [filename]"
  • User asks about past changes to a component/module
  • Refactoring and need to understand original intent
  • Code seems unusual and you want the backstory

DON'T use this when:

  • General conceptual questions across all projects → use episodic-memory
  • No specific file/feature in mind → use episodic-memory
  • Looking for patterns across unrelated conversations → use episodic-memory

How to Use

Dispatch the history-context agent:

Task tool:
  description: "Find history for [file/feature]"
  prompt: "Find context for [specific file or feature]. Focus on [decisions/implementation/rationale]."
  subagent_type: "history-context"

Example prompts:

  • "Find context for src/components/AuthForm.tsx"
  • "What sessions worked on the caching implementation?"
  • "Get history for the payment processing feature"

What You Get Back

The agent will return:

  • Summary of what was done and why
  • Key decisions and rationale
  • Implementation notes
  • Full session IDs (UUIDs) for reference
  • Session file paths for direct access

Why This Works Better Than episodic-memory for Files

| Aspect | file-history | episodic-memory | |--------|--------------|-----------------| | Accuracy | Uses Claude's file-history tracking | Semantic search (fuzzy) | | Speed | Indexed, instant | Searches full conversations | | File mapping | Knows exactly which sessions edited which files | Guesses from content | | Git dependency | None | None | | Project scope | Per-project | Cross-project |

Technical Details

Uses ~/.claude/commands/claude-history.py which:

  1. Scans ~/.claude/file-history/ to build file→session index
  2. Cross-references with ~/.claude/projects/ for session metadata
  3. Reads and synthesizes conversation content
  4. Returns structured context with full session IDs