chronicle-session-documenter

Chronicle Session Documenter

This skill helps you document development sessions to your Obsidian vault using Chronicle's database. Works with both MCP server (fast, structured) or CLI commands (portable, everywhere).

Auto-Activation

This skill auto-activates! (Milestone #13)

Prompts like "document session 75" or "export to Obsidian" automatically trigger a recommendation to use this skill. No need to manually load it!

Trigger patterns: document session, export to obsidian, save to vault

See: docs/HOOKS.md for full details

When to Use This Skill

Use this skill when:

• A development session has just completed
• User wants to document what was accomplished in a session
• Creating a development log or journal entry
• Building a searchable knowledge base of past work
• Need to link related sessions, commits, or decisions

How It Works

Option 1: With MCP (Preferred)

1. Query Chronicle - mcp__chronicle__get_session_summary(session_id) → Get structured JSON with full summary
2. Create Note - mcp__obsidian__write_note(...) → Write directly to Obsidian vault
3. Link Work - Use session relationships from JSON to create wikilinks

Option 2: With CLI (Portable)

1. Query Chronicle - chronicle session <id> → Get formatted session details and summary
2. Parse Output - Extract summary, files, duration from CLI output
3. Create Note - mcp__obsidian__write_note(...) OR manually create note file
4. Link Work - Use parsed data to create wikilinks

Decision Tree:

Document session to Obsidian
├─ MCP available? → Use mcp__chronicle__get_session_summary() + mcp__obsidian__write_note()
└─ CLI only? → Use `chronicle session <id>`, parse output, write note

Note: Summaries are automatically generated in background when session ends (may still be processing for recent sessions)

Note Structure

Create notes in Chronicle/Sessions/Session-{id}.md with this format:

---
session_id: {id}
date: "{YYYY-MM-DD}"
started: "{HH:MM AM/PM}"
duration_minutes: {minutes}
ai_tool: "{tool}"
repo: "{repo_name}"
tags: ["chronicle-session", "{ai_tool}", "{topics}"]
---

# Session {id} - {Brief Title}

**Duration:** {duration}
**Repository:** [[{repo_name}]]
**Tool:** {AI Tool Name}

## Summary
{AI-generated summary from Chronicle}

## What Was Accomplished
- {Key accomplishment 1}
- {Key accomplishment 2}

## Key Technical Decisions
- {Decision 1 and rationale}

## Files Created or Modified
- `path/to/file.py` - {what changed}

## Issues & Blockers
- {Any problems encountered}

## Related
- Previous: [[Session-{prev_id}]]
- Commits: [[Commit-{sha}]]
- Repository: [[{repo_name}]]

Workflow Examples

Option 1: With MCP (Fast, Structured)

After completing a session:

# Step 1: Get session data from Chronicle MCP
session_data = mcp__chronicle__get_session_summary(session_id=10)

# Step 2: Extract key information
session_id = session_data["id"]
timestamp = session_data["timestamp"]  # "2025-10-24T14:30:00"
tool = session_data["tool"]  # "claude-code"
duration = session_data["duration_minutes"]  # 45
repo_path = session_data["repo_path"]  # "/Users/.../my-project"
summary = session_data["summary"]  # AI-generated summary (multi-paragraph)

# Step 3: Format note content
note_content = f"""# Session {session_id} - {brief_title}

**Duration:** {duration} minutes
**Repository:** [[{repo_name}]]
**Tool:** {tool_emoji} {tool_name}

## Summary
{summary}

## What Was Accomplished
- {extracted_accomplishments}

## Key Technical Decisions
- {extracted_decisions}

## Files Created or Modified
- {extracted_files}

## Issues & Blockers
- {extracted_blockers}

## Related
- Previous: [[Session-{prev_id}]]
"""

# Step 4: Prepare frontmatter
frontmatter = {
    "session_id": session_id,
    "date": "2025-10-24",
    "started": "14:30",
    "duration_minutes": duration,
    "ai_tool": tool,
    "repo": repo_name,
    "tags": ["chronicle-session", tool, "feature-work"]
}

# Step 5: Write to Obsidian vault (if MCP available)
mcp__obsidian__write_note(
    path="Chronicle/Sessions/Session-10.md",
    content=note_content,
    frontmatter=frontmatter,
    mode="overwrite"
)

Option 2: With CLI (Portable, No MCP Required)

After completing a session:

# Step 1: Get session data from Chronicle CLI
chronicle session 10 > /tmp/session_10.txt

# Step 2: Parse the output to extract:
# - Session ID, timestamp, tool, duration
# - Repository path
# - AI-generated summary
# - Files mentioned
# - Keywords/tags

# Step 3: Create note content using parsed data
# (Similar structure to MCP approach above)

# Step 4: If Obsidian MCP available, use it to write note:
# mcp__obsidian__write_note(...)
#
# OR manually create file in Obsidian vault:
# Write to ~/Documents/Obsidian/Chronicle/Sessions/Session-10.md

Note: CLI approach requires parsing Chronicle's formatted output, which is less elegant but fully portable to any system with Chronicle installed.

Example Usage

User: "Can you document session 10 to my Obsidian vault?"

Assistant (with MCP):

1. Calls mcp__chronicle__get_session_summary(session_id=10)
2. Parses structured JSON to extract accomplishments, decisions, files, blockers
3. Creates structured Markdown content with wikilinks
4. Calls mcp__obsidian__write_note(...) to save to vault
5. Confirms: "Documented Session 10 to Chronicle/Sessions/Session-10.md"

Assistant (without MCP):

1. Runs chronicle session 10 to get formatted output
2. Parses CLI output to extract summary and metadata
3. Creates structured Markdown content with wikilinks
4. Either uses mcp__obsidian__write_note(...) if available, or creates file manually
5. Confirms: "Documented Session 10 to Chronicle/Sessions/Session-10.md"

Tools to Use (MCP or CLI)

Chronicle Database Operations

MCP Approach (Preferred):

• mcp__chronicle__get_session_summary(session_id) - Get full session details with AI summary
• mcp__chronicle__get_sessions(limit, days, tool, repo_path) - List recent sessions to find session ID
• mcp__chronicle__search_sessions(query, limit) - Search for sessions by keyword
• mcp__chronicle__get_commits(repo_path, days, limit) - Get related commits for linking
• mcp__chronicle__get_sessions_summaries(session_ids) - Batch get summaries (up to 20 at once)

CLI Alternatives:

• chronicle session <id> - Get session details with summary
• chronicle sessions --limit 10 - List recent sessions
• chronicle search "keyword" --limit 10 - Search sessions
• chronicle show today - Get commits for linking

Obsidian Vault Operations

MCP Approach (Preferred):

• mcp__obsidian__write_note(path, content, frontmatter, mode) - Write note to vault
• mcp__obsidian__read_note(path) - Check if note already exists (optional)
• mcp__obsidian__list_directory(path) - List existing session notes (optional)

Manual Alternative (No MCP):

• Create file directly: ~/Documents/Obsidian/<vault>/Chronicle/Sessions/Session-<id>.md
• Write YAML frontmatter + markdown content manually

Tips

• Summary generation is automatic - Summarization starts in background immediately when session ends (may take a few minutes for large sessions)
• Parse summaries intelligently - AI summaries often have sections like "Accomplishments:", "Technical Decisions:", "Issues/Blockers:"
• Use wikilinks - Link to [[Session-{id}]], [[{repo_name}]], [[Commit-{short_sha}]] for navigation
• Extract repo name - Parse from repo_path: /Users/.../my-app → my-app
• Handle missing data - Some sessions may not have summaries yet (still processing in background), or durations (still running)
• Batch document - Use get_sessions() to find recent sessions, then document each in loop
• Check existing notes - Use read_note() to avoid overwriting manually edited notes (ask user first)
• Tool emojis - Use 🎯 for claude-code, ✨ for gemini-cli