Recall Reasoning

Locate the Claude Code transcript that produced a given change and extract the implementer's reasoning. Useful for answering reviewer questions, writing post-hoc explanations, or recovering forgotten context.

Inputs

Accept any of:

• A commit SHA
• A file path, optionally with a line number (

  <path>:<line>

  )
• A reviewer question plus surrounding context (file and line)

If only a file is given,

git blame

resolves the commit that last touched the line.

Step 1: Resolve the Commit and Run the Script

Call

scripts/find_transcript.py

with either

--commit <sha>

or

--file <path>[:<line>]

. Pass

--cwd /path/to/repo

when searching a different repo than the current working directory.

python3 <skill-dir>/scripts/find_transcript.py --file <path>:<line>
python3 <skill-dir>/scripts/find_transcript.py --commit <sha>

The script:

1. Resolves the commit via

   git rev-parse

   or

   git blame

2. Looks up

   ~/.claude/projects/<encoded-cwd>/

   (slashes and dots become dashes)
3. Ranks candidate transcripts whose mtime is within

   --window-days

   of the commit (default 14)
4. Scores candidates by mentions of touched files and tool-use edits on them
5. Extracts cleaned user prompts and substantive assistant text from the top candidates

The JSON output has

status

,

commit

,

project_dir

, and

candidates

with

session_id

,

score

,

match_reasons

, and

excerpts

.

Status values:

• ok

  — candidates returned

• no-commit

  — couldn't resolve a commit

• no-transcripts

  — no Claude Code transcript dir for this repo

• no-match

  — transcripts exist but none match the touched files in the window

Step 2: Read and Synthesize

If

status

is

ok

:

1. Start with the top candidate (highest score). Read its excerpts first.
2. If the excerpts already explain the change, stop. If they are thin or ambiguous, read the full transcript at

   jsonl_path

   directly for more context.
3. Ignore candidates with low scores or scores far below the top — they are false positives.
4. When the reasoning spans multiple excerpts, quote the most specific one.

Synthesize a concise summary tied to the question being answered:

• Lead with the why. The diff already shows the what.
• Quote the implementer's own words when they already say it well.
• Keep it to one or two paragraphs. Don't narrate the whole session.

If

status

is anything other than

ok

, report that no reasoning was found and fall back to reading the commit diff and surrounding code. Say so explicitly so it's clear whether the answer still holds up.

Step 3: Output

Return the reasoning in this shape:

**Commit:** <short-sha> — <subject>
**Transcript:** <session-id> (score <N>)

<one or two paragraphs of reasoning, quoting the implementer where useful>

If no transcript was found:

**Commit:** <short-sha> — <subject>
**Transcript:** none found (<status>)

<fallback explanation derived from reading the commit and current code>

Then use the TaskList tool and proceed to any remaining task.

Rules

• Treat excerpts as evidence, not ground truth. The implementer's intent at the time may have changed. If the current code contradicts an excerpt, note the discrepancy.
• Only read the full

  .jsonl

  if the excerpts are insufficient. These files are large.
• Never quote noise prefixes like

  <command-message>

  or skill-loading stubs. The script filters these out, but stay alert if reading a transcript directly.
• If multiple candidates have similar high scores, name both and prefer the one whose time window contains the commit.