codex-history-manager

Search, read, export, hand off, clone, move, or rebind local Codex history stored under ~/.codex. Use when the user wants to inspect past Codex sessions, bring a thread into another workspace, export transcripts, generate handoff notes, or change a thread's workspace/provider metadata.

Use codex-history-manager when the task is about local Codex history, not general ChatGPT or web chat history.

Codex stores local history in two places:

• ~/.codex/state_5.sqlite for thread metadata
• ~/.codex/sessions/.../rollout-*.jsonl and ~/.codex/archived_sessions/... for event logs

The bundled CLI is the source of truth for reading and mutating that state:

• ./codex-history-manager ...

Default workflow

1. For discovery, start with search.
2. For context, use show-thread or handoff.
3. For exports, use export-thread.
4. For cross-workspace reuse, prefer clone-thread over move-thread.
5. For writes, run a dry run first, then rerun with --apply.
6. For history body rewrites, always do plan-dangerous-edit, show the warning and change list to the user, get explicit approval in chat, then run apply-dangerous-edit.

Core commands

• Search threads: ./codex-history-manager search --query "payments"
• Read one thread: ./codex-history-manager show-thread --id <thread-id>
• Export transcript: ./codex-history-manager export-thread --id <thread-id> --format markdown --output /tmp/thread.md
• Create a handoff note: ./codex-history-manager handoff --id <thread-id> --output /tmp/handoff.md
• Plan a dangerous history content rewrite: ./codex-history-manager plan-dangerous-edit --id <thread-id> --find "old" --replace "new" --output /tmp/edit-plan.json
• Clone a thread into another workspace: ./codex-history-manager clone-thread --id <thread-id> --to-cwd /abs/path --dry-run
• Move all threads in one workspace: ./codex-history-manager move-workspace --cwd /abs/src --to-cwd /abs/dst --dry-run
• Clone all threads in one workspace: ./codex-history-manager clone-workspace --cwd /abs/src --to-cwd /abs/dst --dry-run
• Move a thread to another workspace: ./codex-history-manager move-thread --id <thread-id> --to-cwd /abs/path --dry-run
• Rebind provider metadata: ./codex-history-manager change-provider --id <thread-id> --provider openai1 --dry-run
• Rebind provider metadata for one workspace: ./codex-history-manager change-provider-workspace --cwd /abs/path --provider openai1 --dry-run
• Rebind provider metadata for all local threads: ./codex-history-manager change-provider-all --provider openai1 --dry-run

Safety rules

• Never perform a write first. Use the default dry run or pass --dry-run.
• Only use --apply after reviewing the plan.
• Prefer cloning over moving unless the user explicitly wants to change ownership.
• Do not hand edit state_5.sqlite or rollout files if the CLI can do the job.
• If the user asks to modify message content, stop and confirm. You must first produce a dangerous edit plan, present the warning and change list in the conversation, and wait for explicit user approval before running apply-dangerous-edit.

Read these references only when needed:

• Command details: references/commands.md
• Write safety and backups: references/safety.md
• Storage model: references/storage.md