Read Pi Sessions

Parse pi session JSONL files into readable output. Sessions live in ~/.pi/agent/sessions/<project>/ as .jsonl files.

Step 1: Find the Session

ls -t ~/.pi/agent/sessions/*<project>*/*.jsonl | head -10

Step 2: Start with Table of Contents

Always start with toc to get a numbered map of the session:

uv run ${CLAUDE_SKILL_ROOT}/scripts/read_session.py <path> --mode toc

This prints a compact numbered list of every user exchange with timestamps and tools used.

Step 3: Read the Conversation

Default mode — shows only user messages and assistant text responses. Tool calls are hidden but hinted at with [used: tool1, tool2].

# Full conversation (default mode)
uv run ${CLAUDE_SKILL_ROOT}/scripts/read_session.py <path>

# Specific range
uv run ${CLAUDE_SKILL_ROOT}/scripts/read_session.py <path> --offset 5 --limit 3

# Search for specific topic
uv run ${CLAUDE_SKILL_ROOT}/scripts/read_session.py <path> --search "error"

Step 4: Drill Into a Turn

See everything about a specific exchange — thinking, tool calls, tool results, costs:

uv run ${CLAUDE_SKILL_ROOT}/scripts/read_session.py <path> --mode turn --turn 7

Mode Reference

Mode	Shows	Use for
conversation	User + assistant text only (default)	Reading what happened
toc	Numbered exchange list	Navigation, finding the right turn
turn	Full detail for one exchange	Drilling into specifics
issues	Errors, failures, retries, user complaints	Finding what broke
overview	Metadata + exchange summaries	Quick session assessment
full	Everything including tool I/O	Deep debugging
tools	Tool calls and results only	Understanding agent actions
costs	Token usage and cost per turn	Cost analysis
subagents	Subagent task/status/cost/paths	Reviewing delegated work

Flags

Flag	Effect
--offset N	Skip first N exchanges
--limit N	Show at most N exchanges
--turn N	Exchange number to drill into (with --mode turn)
--search TERM	Filter exchanges containing TERM (case-insensitive)
--max-content N	Max chars per block (default: 3000, 0=unlimited)

Typical Workflow

1. --mode toc → scan the session, find interesting exchanges
2. Default (conversation) → read the human-readable flow
3. --mode turn --turn N → drill into specific exchanges
4. --mode subagents → review delegated work and follow subagent session paths

Subagent Drill-Down

Subagent session files can be read with the same script:

# From --mode subagents output, grab the JSONL path
uv run ${CLAUDE_SKILL_ROOT}/scripts/read_session.py <subagent-jsonl-path> --mode toc

Session Format Reference

Read ${CLAUDE_SKILL_ROOT}/references/session-format.md only if custom parsing is needed.