Session Search: Local Full-Text Search for Claude Code and Codex Sessions, Now in Your Menu Bar
Session Search is an open-source macOS menu bar tool that indexes local Claude Code and Codex session transcripts for full-text search. Unlike the built-in session resume search (which only indexes the first prompt, project name, etc.), Session Search indexes the entire transcript — including errors, commands, filenames, and intermediate decisions — so you can quickly jump back to the relevant session.
Key Features
- Deeper indexing: Scans local Claude Code and Codex session files beyond just the first prompt or project name.
- Full-text search via SQLite FTS: Uses SQLite's full-text search engine for fast queries across all transcripts.
- Highlighted snippets: Search results show matching lines with context.
- One-click menu bar access: The tool lives in the macOS menu bar for instant access.
- Local only: No hosted backend; all data stays on your machine.
Usage
Once installed from the GitHub repo, the app runs as a menu bar icon. Click it to open the search field, type a query (e.g., an error message, a command you ran, or a filename), and results appear as selectable snippets. Selecting a result opens the corresponding session transcript in your default editor.
Who It's For
Developers who frequently switch between multiple Claude Code or Codex sessions and need to quickly locate past work without scrolling through individual logs.
📖 Read the full source: r/ClaudeAI
👀 See Also
Be brief beats caveman plugin in Claude Code compression benchmark
A 24-prompt benchmark shows Claude Code's caveman compression plugin produces the same token counts and quality as simply prepending 'be brief.' — but the plugin's consistent output shape and safety escape rules offer structural advantages.
Real Cost of AI Coding Tools: 42 Hours of Overhead per 60 Days — A Solo Dev's Detailed Breakdown
A solo dev tracked every dollar and minute spent on AI coding tools for 60 days. Subscriptions ($200/mo) were the smallest cost; 42 hours of overhead from bad output and tool-switching were the real tax. Net productivity gain was 1.7-2x, not 10x. Surprise: CodeRabbit, a $15/mo review tool, had the highest ROI.
Visual Prompting Framework Replaces Text Prompts with Single Image for Claude AI
The Carrying Capacity Principle v9 is a bidirectional structural framework that uses a single flowchart image instead of text prompts for Claude AI. It provides structural diagnosis or generative construction plans based on system parameters or goals.
Browser Harness: Giving LLMs raw CDP access to self-correct browser tasks
Browser Harness strips away browser frameworks, giving LLMs direct CDP websocket access and letting them write missing tools mid-task. Demonstrated by self-inventing an upload_file() function.