Conversation Logging Skill

Conversation Logging Skill

Automatically log all Claude Code interactions to structured markdown files using global hooks. Enables conversation replay, debugging, and context sharing between sessions.

What Gets Logged

• User prompts: Every prompt submitted to Claude
• Tool executions with context: Tool name plus specific details:
  • Read/​Write/​Edit: File paths and content previews
  • Bash: Commands and output (first 10 lines)
  • Glob/​Grep: Search patterns
  • TodoWrite: Task lists with status indicators
  • Task: Subagent type and prompt preview
  • WebSearch/​WebFetch: Queries and URLs
  • AskUserQuestion: Questions asked
• Session metadata: Working directory, timestamps, session IDs
• Claude responses: Excerpts from Claude's actual responses (last 500 chars)

Each Claude instance gets its own log file to prevent conflicts when running multiple sessions simultaneously.

Installation

Step 1: Copy Hook Script

The logging script is provided in this skill's scripts/ directory. Copy it to your hooks directory:

# Create hooks directory if it doesn't exist
mkdir -p ~/​.claude/​hooks

# Copy the script from this skill
cp /​path/​to/​my-skills/​skills/​conversation-logging/​scripts/​log-conversation.sh ~/​.claude/​hooks/

# Make it executable
chmod +x ~/​.claude/​hooks/​log-conversation.sh

Or create it manually at ~/​.claude/​hooks/​log-conversation.sh:

#!/​bin/​bash
# Global hook to log Claude Code conversation events
# Handles multiple concurrent Claude instances by using unique session IDs

LOG_DIR="$HOME/​.claude/​conversation-logs"
TIMESTAMP=$(date '+%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S')
DATE=$(date '+%Y-%m-%d')

mkdir -p "$LOG_DIR"

# Read JSON input from stdin
INPUT=$(cat)

# Extract key fields using jq if available
if command -v jq &> /​dev/​null; then
    EVENT=$(echo "$INPUT" | jq -r '.hook_event_name // "unknown"')
    CWD=$(echo "$INPUT" | jq -r '.cwd // "unknown"')
    TOOL=$(echo "$INPUT" | jq -r '.tool_name // ""')
    PROMPT=$(echo "$INPUT" | jq -r '.prompt // ""')
    SESSION_ID=$(echo "$INPUT" | jq -r '.session_id // ""')
else
    EVENT="unknown"
    CWD=$(pwd)
    SESSION_ID=""
fi

# Create unique log file per session
# Format: YYYY-MM-DD-session-XXXXX.md
if [ -n "$SESSION_ID" ]; then
    # Extract first 8 chars of session ID for readability
    SHORT_SESSION="${SESSION_ID:0:8}"
    LOG_FILE="$LOG_DIR/​${DATE}-session-${SHORT_SESSION}.md"
else
    # Fallback: use PID if session_id not available
    LOG_FILE="$LOG_DIR/​${DATE}-pid-$$.md"
fi

# Initialize log file with header if it doesn't exist
if [ ! -f "$LOG_FILE" ]; then
    cat > "$LOG_FILE" <<EOF
# Claude Code Conversation Log
**Date:** $DATE
**Session ID:** ${SESSION_ID:-unknown}
**Started:** $TIMESTAMP

---

EOF
fi

# Log based on event type
case "$EVENT" in
    UserPromptSubmit)
        cat >> "$LOG_FILE" <<EOF

## [$TIMESTAMP] User Prompt
**Working Directory:** \`$CWD\`

\`\`\`
$PROMPT
\`\`\`

EOF
        ;;

    PostToolUse)
        if [ -n "$TOOL" ]; then
            echo "### [$TIMESTAMP] Tool: \`$TOOL\`" >> "$LOG_FILE"
            echo "" >> "$LOG_FILE"
        fi
        ;;

    Stop)
        echo "### [$TIMESTAMP] Response Complete" >> "$LOG_FILE"
        echo "" >> "$LOG_FILE"
        ;;
esac

exit 0

Then make it executable:

chmod +x ~/​.claude/​hooks/​log-conversation.sh

Step 2: Configure Global Hooks

Add hooks to ~/​.claude/​settings.json:

{
  "hooks": {
    "UserPromptSubmit": [
      {
        "hooks": [
          {
            "type": "command",
            "command": "~/​.claude/​hooks/​log-conversation.sh"
          }
        ]
      }
    ],
    "PostToolUse": [
      {
        "matcher": "*",
        "hooks": [
          {
            "type": "command",
            "command": "~/​.claude/​hooks/​log-conversation.sh"
          }
        ]
      }
    ],
    "Stop": [
      {
        "hooks": [
          {
            "type": "command",
            "command": "~/​.claude/​hooks/​log-conversation.sh"
          }
        ]
      }
    ]
  }
}

If you already have other settings in your settings.json, merge the hooks section carefully.

Step 3: Verify Installation

Run any Claude Code command and check the logs:

# List all conversation logs
ls -lh ~/​.claude/​conversation-logs/

# View the most recent log
cat $(ls -t ~/​.claude/​conversation-logs/​*.md | head -1)

Note: Each Claude session creates a unique log file with format YYYY-MM-DD-session-XXXXX.md to prevent conflicts between concurrent instances.

Usage

Viewing Conversation Logs

Most recent session:

cat $(ls -t ~/​.claude/​conversation-logs/​*.md | head -1)

All sessions from today:

ls -1 ~/​.claude/​conversation-logs/​$(date +%Y-%m-%d)-*.md

View specific session:

# List today's sessions to find the one you want
ls ~/​.claude/​conversation-logs/​$(date +%Y-%m-%d)-*.md

# Then view it
cat ~/​.claude/​conversation-logs/​2026-01-05-session-a1b2c3d4.md

Recent logs (last 5 sessions):

ls -lt ~/​.claude/​conversation-logs/ | head -6

Search across all logs:

grep -r "search term" ~/​.claude/​conversation-logs/

Providing Context to Claude

When you want Claude to understand a previous conversation:

Option 1: Reference most recent session

Read my last conversation log:
@$(ls -t ~/​.claude/​conversation-logs/​*.md | head -1)

What were we working on?

Option 2: Reference specific session

Read my conversation from this morning:
@~/​.claude/​conversation-logs/​2026-01-04-session-a1b2c3d4.md

Continue where we left off.

Option 3: Copy relevant sections

Here's what happened in my last session:

[paste relevant log sections]

Continue from where we left off.

Option 4: Search and reference

# Find the conversation about a topic
grep -l "GitHub Issues" ~/​.claude/​conversation-logs/​*.md

Then reference that file with @ in Claude Code.

Debugging Failed Sessions

When Claude encounters errors or you need to replay a session:

# Find failed tool executions in most recent session
grep -A 5 "Tool: Bash" $(ls -t ~/​.claude/​conversation-logs/​*.md | head -1)

# See what prompts led to errors across all today's sessions
grep -B 10 "error" ~/​.claude/​conversation-logs/​$(date +%Y-%m-%d)-*.md

# Find specific session with errors
grep -l "error" ~/​.claude/​conversation-logs/​*.md

Resuming Work Across Sessions

Use conversation logs to pick up where you left off:

# View most recent session
cat $(ls -t ~/​.claude/​conversation-logs/​*.md | head -1)

# View yesterday's sessions
ls ~/​.claude/​conversation-logs/​$(date -d yesterday +%Y-%m-%d)-*.md

# Share with Claude
claude -p "Read @$(ls -t ~/​.claude/​conversation-logs/​*.md | head -1) and summarize what we were working on"

Pruning Old Logs

Keep your logs directory clean by removing old logs:

Interactive prune (with confirmation):

# Delete logs older than 14 days (default)
~/​.claude/​hooks/​prune-logs.sh

# Delete logs older than 30 days
~/​.claude/​hooks/​prune-logs.sh 30

# Delete logs older than 7 days
~/​.claude/​hooks/​prune-logs.sh 7

Dry run (preview without deleting):

~/​.claude/​hooks/​prune-logs.sh 14 --dry-run

What it does:

• Shows list of logs to be deleted with dates
• Displays total size to be freed
• Asks for confirmation before deleting
• Supports dry-run mode to preview

Setup the prune script:

# Copy from skill
cp /​path/​to/​my-skills/​skills/​conversation-logging/​scripts/​prune-logs.sh ~/​.claude/​hooks/

# Make executable
chmod +x ~/​.claude/​hooks/​prune-logs.sh

# Create an alias (optional)
echo "alias prune-claude-logs='~/​.claude/​hooks/​prune-logs.sh'" >> ~/​.bashrc
source ~/​.bashrc

# Now you can just run:
prune-claude-logs

Automated cleanup with cron:

# Add to crontab to run monthly
crontab -e

# Add this line to delete logs older than 30 days on the 1st of each month
0 0 1 * * $HOME/​.claude/​hooks/​prune-logs.sh 30 <<< "y"

Log Format

Each log file has a unique name per session: YYYY-MM-DD-session-XXXXXXXX.md

Log contents are organized chronologically with rich context:

# Claude Code Conversation Log
**Date:** 2026-01-05
**Session ID:** a1b2c3d4-5678-90ab-cdef-1234567890ab
**Started:** 2026-01-05 14:23:10

---

## [2026-01-05 14:23:15] User Prompt
**Working Directory:** `/​home/​user/​project`

Implement the login feature

### [2026-01-05 14:23:16] Tool: `Read` - `/​home/​user/​project/​src/​auth.js`

### [2026-01-05 14:23:17] Tool: `Bash`
```bash
git status

<details><summary>Output</​summary>

On branch main
Changes not staged for commit:
  modified:   src/​auth.js

</​details>

[2026-01-05 14:23:18] Tool: Write - /​home/​user/​project/​src/​login.js

<details><summary>Preview</​summary>

import { authenticate } from './​auth.js';

export async function login(username, password) {
  ret...

</​details>

[2026-01-05 14:23:20] Tool: TodoWrite - 3 tasks

<details><summary>Tasks</​summary>

• Create login function
• [>] Add error handling
• Write tests </​details>

[2026-01-05 14:23:25] Claude Response

<details><summary>Response excerpt</​summary>

I've implemented the login feature with proper authentication. The new login.js file handles user authentication and includes error handling... </​details>

[2026-01-05 14:25:30] User Prompt

...

**File naming:**
- Session-based: `2026-01-05-session-a1b2c3d4.md` (first 8 chars of session ID)
- Fallback (if no session ID): `2026-01-05-pid-12345.md` (process ID)

## Customization

### Change Log Location

Edit the script's `LOG_DIR` variable:

```bash
LOG_DIR="$HOME/​my-custom-logs"

Add More Details

Extend the script to log additional fields from the hook input:

# Log model info
MODEL=$(echo "$INPUT" | jq -r '.model // "unknown"')

# Log session ID
SESSION=$(echo "$INPUT" | jq -r '.session_id // "unknown"')

Filter Specific Tools

Only log certain tools:

PostToolUse)
    # Only log Read, Write, Edit tools
    if [[ "$TOOL" =~ ^(Read|Write|Edit)$ ]]; then
        echo "### [$TIMESTAMP] Tool: $TOOL" >> "$DATE_FILE"
    fi
    ;;

JSON Logs Instead of Markdown

Replace the logging logic to output JSON:

echo "$INPUT" | jq '.' >> "$LOG_DIR/​$(date +%Y-%m-%d).jsonl"

Troubleshooting

Logs not being created?

• Check hook script is executable: ls -l ~/​.claude/​hooks/​log-conversation.sh
• Verify settings.json syntax: cat ~/​.claude/​settings.json | jq .
• Check for hook errors: Hook failures are silent by default

Logs are empty or incomplete?

• Install jq for better parsing: sudo apt install jq (Linux) or brew install jq (macOS)
• Check script permissions on log directory: ls -ld ~/​.claude/​conversation-logs

Want to disable logging temporarily?

• Comment out hooks in ~/​.claude/​settings.json
• Or rename the hook script: mv ~/​.claude/​hooks/​log-conversation.sh{,.disabled}

Privacy & Security

Important considerations:

• Logs contain all prompts you send to Claude, including potentially sensitive info
• Logs are stored unencrypted in your home directory
• Logs persist indefinitely unless manually cleaned up

Recommendations:

1. Regular cleanup: Use the prune script to delete old logs

   # Interactive deletion of logs older than 14 days
   ~/​.claude/​hooks/​prune-logs.sh
   
   # Or use find directly
   find ~/​.claude/​conversation-logs -name "*.md" -mtime +30 -delete
   

2. Exclude from backups: Add to .gitignore or backup exclusions

   echo "conversation-logs/" >> ~/​.gitignore_global
   

3. Encrypt sensitive logs:

   gpg -c ~/​.claude/​conversation-logs/​2026-01-05.md
   rm ~/​.claude/​conversation-logs/​2026-01-05.md
   

Advanced: Per-Project Logs

To log per-project instead of globally, use project-specific hooks in .claude/​settings.json within each project:

{
  "hooks": {
    "UserPromptSubmit": [
      {
        "hooks": [
          {
            "type": "command",
            "command": "bash -c 'cat >> .claude/​conversation.md'"
          }
        ]
      }
    ]
  }
}

Add .claude/​conversation.md to your .gitignore.

Quick Reference

See Also

• Claude Code Hooks Documentation - Full hooks reference
• MCP Logging - Alternative logging via MCP servers