Claude Historian

# claude-historian  A [Model Context Protocol (MCP)](https://modelcontextprotocol.io/) server for searching your [Claude Code](https://docs.anthropic.com/en/docs/claude-code) (& [Claude Desktop](https://claude.ai/download)) conversation history. Find past solutions, track file changes, and learn from previous work. [](https://www.typescriptlang.org/) [](https://ww.npmjs.com/package/claude-historian) [](https://opensource.org/licenses/MIT) [](https://nodejs.org/)  [](#) ## install Requirements: - [Claude Code](https://claude.ai/code) ```bash npm install -g claude-historian ``` **From shell:** ```bash claude mcp add claude-historian -- npx claude-historian ``` **From inside Claude** (restart required): ``` Add this to our global mcp config: npx claude-historian Install this mcp: https://github.com/Vvkmnn/claude-historian ``` **From any manually configurable `mcp.json`**: (Cursor, Windsurf, etc.) ```json { "mcpServers": { "claude-historian": { "command": "npx", "args": ["claude-historian"], "env": {} } } } ``` That's it; there is **no `npm install` required** as there are no external dependencies or local databases, only search algorithms. However, in the unlikely event that you pull the wrong package / `npx` registry is out of date, you can force resolution issues in certain environments with: ```bash npm install -g claude-historian ``` ## features [MCP server](https://modelcontextprotocol.io/) that gives Claude access to your conversation history. Fast search with smart prioritization. Runs locally (with cool shades `[⌐■_■]`): ``` [⌐■_■] search_conversations query=<query> > "How did we fix that Redis connection pooling nightmare?" > "Docker container keeps crashing on Kubernetes deployment" > "React infinite re-render loop - useEffect dependency hell" [⌐□_□] find_file_context filepath=<filepath> > "package.json changes that broke everything last month" > "When we accidentally committed .env to main branch" > "Authentication service refactor - before/after comparison" [⌐×_×] get_error_solutions error_pattern=<error> > "MODULE_NOT_FOUND - the classic npm/yarn version mismatch" > "CORS preflight failing - but only on production Fridays?" > "Database deadlock during Black Friday traffic spike" [⌐◆_◆] find_similar_queries query=<query> > "Database queries slower than my morning coffee brewing" > "How to implement error boundaries without losing sanity" > "State management: Redux vs Zustand vs just useState" [⌐○_○] list_recent_sessions > "Tuesday debugging marathon: 9pm-3am flaky test hunt" > "Performance optimization sprint - reduced bundle 40%" > "The great TypeScript migration of 2024" [⌐⎚_⎚] find_tool_patterns tool_name=<tool> > "Read → Edit → Bash combo for rapid prototyping" > "When I use Grep vs Task for different searches" > "Git operations during feature branch management" ``` ## methodology How [claude-historian](https://github.com/Vvkmnn/claude-historian) [works](https://github.com/Vvkmnn/claude-historian/tree/master/src): ``` "docker auth" query | ├─> Parallel Processing (search.ts:949): 15 projects × 10 files concurrently | • Promise.allSettled for 6x speed improvement | • Early termination when sufficient results found | • Enhanced file coverage with comprehensive patterns | ├─> Enhanced Classification (search.ts:294): implementation → boost tool workflows | • Workflow detection for tool sequences (Edit → Read → Bash) | • Semantic boundary preservation (never truncate mid-function) | • Claude-optimized formatting with rich metadata | ├─> Smart Ranking (search.ts:213): | • "Edit workflow (7x successful)" (2h ago) ***** | • "Docker auth with context paths" (yesterday) **** | • "Container debugging patterns" (last week) *** | └─> Return Claude Code optimized results ``` **Core optimizations:** - [parallel processing](https://github.com/Vvkmnn/claude-historian/blob/master/src/search.ts#L949): `Promise.allSettled` for 6x speed improvement across projects and files - [workflow detection](https://github.com/Vvkmnn/claude-historian/blob/master/src/search.ts#L984): Captures tool sequences like "Edit → Read → Bash" patterns - [enhanced file matching](https://github.com/Vvkmnn/claude-historian/blob/master/src/search.ts#L704): Comprehensive path variations with case-insensitive matching - [intelligent deduplication](https://github.com/Vvkmnn/claude-historian/blob/master/src/search-helpers.ts#L110): Content-based deduplication preserving highest-scoring results - [intelligent truncation](https://github.com/Vvkmnn/claude-historian/blob/master/src/formatter.ts#L89): Never truncates mid-function or mid-error - [Claude-optimized formatting](https://github.com/Vvkmnn/claude-historian/blob/master/src/formatter.ts#L35): Rich metadata with technical content prioritization **Search strategies:** - **[JSON streaming parser](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JSON_streaming)** ([parseJsonlFile](https://github.com/Vvkmnn/claude-historian/blob/master/src/parser.ts#L16)): Reads Claude Code conversation files on-demand without full deserialization - **[LRU caching](<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cache_replacement_policies#Least_recently_used_(LRU)>)** ([messageCache](https://github.com/Vvkmnn/claude-historian/blob/master/src/search.ts#L13)): In-memory cache with intelligent eviction for frequently accessed conversations - **[TF-IDF inspired scoring](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tf%E2%80%93idf)** ([calculateRelevanceScore](https://github.com/Vvkmnn/claude-historian/blob/master/src/search.ts#L609)): Term frequency scoring with document frequency weighting for relevance - **[Query classification](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Text_classification)** ([classifyQueryType](https://github.com/Vvkmnn/claude-historian/blob/master/src/search.ts#L554)): Naive Bayes-style classification (error/implementation/analysis/general) with adaptive limits - **[Edit distance](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edit_distance)** ([calculateQuerySimilarity](https://github.com/Vvkmnn/claude-historian/blob/master/src/search-helpers.ts#L157)): Fuzzy matching for technical terms and typo tolerance - **[Exponential time decay](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exponential_decay)** (getTimeRangeFilter): Recent messages weighted higher with configurable half-life - **[Parallel file processing](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Global_Objects/Promise/allSettled)** ([getErrorSolutions](https://github.com/Vvkmnn/claude-historian/blob/master/src/search.ts#L838)): Concurrent project scanning with early termination for 0.8s response times - **[Workflow pattern recognition](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sequential_pattern_mining)** ([getToolPatterns](https://github.com/Vvkmnn/claude-historian/blob/master/src/search.ts#L937)): Detects tool usage sequences and related workflows for learning - **[Enhanced file context](<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Path_(computing)>)** ([findFileContext](https://github.com/Vvkmnn/claude-historian/blob/master/src/search.ts#L666)): Multi-project search with comprehensive path matching - **[Content-aware truncation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Text_segmentation)** ([smartTruncation](https://github.com/Vvkmnn/claude-historian/blob/master/src/formatter.ts#L46)): Intelligent content boundaries over arbitrary character limits - **[Technical content prioritization](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Information_extraction)** ([formatSearchResults](https://github.com/Vvkmnn/claude-historian/blob/master/src/formatter.ts#L248)): Code blocks, errors, and file paths get full preservation - **[Query similarity clustering](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cluster_analysis)** ([findSimilarQueries](https://github.com/Vvkmnn/claude-historian/blob/master/src/search.ts#L783)): Semantic expansion and pattern grouping for related questions **File access:** - Reads from: `~/.claude/conversations/` - Zero persistent storage or indexing - Never leaves your machine ## development ```bash git clone https://github.com/vvkmnn/claude-historian && cd claude-historian npm install && npm run build npm test ``` **Package requirements:** - **Node.js**: >=20.0.0 (ES modules support) - **npm**: >=10.0.0 (package-lock v3) - **Runtime**: Only `@modelcontextprotocol/sdk` dependency - **Zero external dependencies** for production deployment - **Optimized**: 50% token reduction with parallel processing **Development workflow:** ```bash npm run build # TypeScript compilation with executable permissions npm run dev # Watch mode with tsc --watch npm run lint # ESLint code quality checks npm run format # Prettier formatting npm run type-check # TypeScript validation without emit npm run prepublishOnly # Pre-publish validation (build + lint + format) ``` Contributing: - Please fork the repository and create feature branches - Test with large conversation histories before submitting PRs - Follow TypeScript strict mode and [MCP protocol](https://modelcontextprotocol.io/specification) standards Learn from examples: - [Official MCP servers](https://github.com/modelcontextprotocol/servers) for reference implementations - [TypeScript SDK](https://github.com/modelcontextprotocol/typescript-sdk) for best practices - [Creating Node.js modules](https://docs.npmjs.com/creating-node-js-modules) - NPM package development guide ## desktop Claude Desktop support is currently blocked by [LevelDB locks](https://github.com/Level/level#open) and [Electron sandboxing](https://www.electronjs.org/docs/latest/tutorial/sandbox). You will still search Claude Desktop from Claude Code, but **only when the Claude app is closed**. A DXT package and build is available for future compatibility; further investigations are ongoing. Feel free to test with it. ## license [MIT](LICENSE) ---  _Claude Fauchet (1744-1793), French Historian_