Agent skill

Alive History

Search past sessions -- what happened, when, and why. An agent skill from alivecontext/alive.

MITAuto-check passedProductivity & Automation

Install Alive History

skills CLI

$ npx skills add alivecontext/alive --skill alive-history -a claude-code

Project install by default; add -g for ~/.claude/skills/.

GitHub CLI

$ gh skill install alivecontext/alive alive-history --agent claude-code

Project scope by default; add --scope user for a personal install. Needs GitHub CLI 2.90.0 or later (public preview).

Manual copy

$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/alivecontext/alive.git skills-src && mkdir -p .claude/skills && cp -r skills-src/hermes/hermes-skills/alive-history .claude/skills/alive-history && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.claude/skills/ instead of .claude/skills for a personal install. The folder must contain SKILL.md.

Claude Code skills documentation · loads skills from .claude/skills/

Paste into Claude Code

Install the "alive-history" agent skill from https://github.com/alivecontext/alive/tree/main/hermes/hermes-skills/alive-history into .claude/skills/alive-history/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "alive-history", then confirm the skill loads.

Claude Code copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.

$skill-installer

$skill-installer install https://github.com/alivecontext/alive/tree/main/hermes/hermes-skills/alive-history

Type this inside Codex. $skill-installer <name> installs a curated skill from openai/skills. The installer writes to $CODEX_HOME/skills (default ~/.codex/skills). Restart Codex if the skill does not show up.

skills CLI

$ npx skills add alivecontext/alive --skill alive-history -a codex

Project install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.codex/skills/.

GitHub CLI

$ gh skill install alivecontext/alive alive-history --agent codex

Project scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.

Manual copy

$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/alivecontext/alive.git skills-src && mkdir -p .agents/skills && cp -r skills-src/hermes/hermes-skills/alive-history .agents/skills/alive-history && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.agents/skills/ instead of .agents/skills for a personal install.

Codex skills documentation · loads skills from .agents/skills/

Paste into Codex

Install the "alive-history" agent skill from https://github.com/alivecontext/alive/tree/main/hermes/hermes-skills/alive-history into .agents/skills/alive-history/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "alive-history", then confirm the skill loads.

Codex copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.

skills CLI

$ npx skills add alivecontext/alive --skill alive-history -a cursor

Project install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.cursor/skills/.

GitHub CLI

$ gh skill install alivecontext/alive alive-history --agent cursor

Project scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.

Manual copy

$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/alivecontext/alive.git skills-src && mkdir -p .cursor/skills && cp -r skills-src/hermes/hermes-skills/alive-history .cursor/skills/alive-history && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.cursor/skills/ instead of .cursor/skills for a personal install.

Cursor skills documentation · loads skills from .cursor/skills/, .agents/skills/, .claude/skills/, .codex/skills/

Paste into Cursor

Install the "alive-history" agent skill from https://github.com/alivecontext/alive/tree/main/hermes/hermes-skills/alive-history into .cursor/skills/alive-history/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "alive-history", then confirm the skill loads.

Cursor copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.

gemini skills install

$ gemini skills install https://github.com/alivecontext/alive.git --path hermes/hermes-skills/alive-history

--scope user (default) or --scope workspace; --path is the subfolder of the repo that holds the skill; --consent skips the security confirmation prompt.

skills CLI

$ npx skills add alivecontext/alive --skill alive-history -a gemini-cli

Project install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.gemini/skills/.

GitHub CLI

$ gh skill install alivecontext/alive alive-history --agent gemini-cli

Project scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.

Manual copy

$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/alivecontext/alive.git skills-src && mkdir -p .gemini/skills && cp -r skills-src/hermes/hermes-skills/alive-history .gemini/skills/alive-history && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.gemini/skills/ instead of .gemini/skills for a personal install, then run /skills reload.

Gemini CLI skills documentation · loads skills from .gemini/skills/, .agents/skills/

Paste into Gemini CLI

Install the "alive-history" agent skill from https://github.com/alivecontext/alive/tree/main/hermes/hermes-skills/alive-history into .gemini/skills/alive-history/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "alive-history", then confirm the skill loads.

Gemini CLI copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.

GitHub CLI

$ gh skill install alivecontext/alive alive-history

Installs for Copilot at project scope by default; add --scope user for a personal install. Preview a skill first with gh skill preview. Needs GitHub CLI 2.90.0 or later (public preview).

skills CLI

$ npx skills add alivecontext/alive --skill alive-history -a github-copilot

Project install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.copilot/skills/.

Manual copy

$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/alivecontext/alive.git skills-src && mkdir -p .github/skills && cp -r skills-src/hermes/hermes-skills/alive-history .github/skills/alive-history && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.copilot/skills/ instead of .github/skills for a personal install. Commit .github/skills so cloud agent and code review can use it.

GitHub Copilot skills documentation · loads skills from .github/skills/, .claude/skills/, .agents/skills/

Paste into GitHub Copilot

Install the "alive-history" agent skill from https://github.com/alivecontext/alive/tree/main/hermes/hermes-skills/alive-history into .github/skills/alive-history/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "alive-history", then confirm the skill loads.

GitHub Copilot copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.

skills CLI

$ npx skills add alivecontext/alive --skill alive-history -a opencode

OpenCode documents no install command of its own. Project install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.config/opencode/skills/.

GitHub CLI

$ gh skill install alivecontext/alive alive-history --agent opencode

Project scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.

Manual copy

$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/alivecontext/alive.git skills-src && mkdir -p .opencode/skills && cp -r skills-src/hermes/hermes-skills/alive-history .opencode/skills/alive-history && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.config/opencode/skills/ instead of .opencode/skills for a personal install.

OpenCode skills documentation · loads skills from .opencode/skills/, .claude/skills/, .agents/skills/

Paste into OpenCode

Install the "alive-history" agent skill from https://github.com/alivecontext/alive/tree/main/hermes/hermes-skills/alive-history into .opencode/skills/alive-history/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "alive-history", then confirm the skill loads.

OpenCode copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.

Facts

Skill name: alive-history
GitHub stars: 130
Token cost: ~492 tokens
SKILL.md length: 79 words
Files: 1
Skills in repo: 19
Repo updated: Oct 2, 2026
First seen: Oct 7, 2026
Licence: MIT

At a glance

Search past sessions -- what happened, when, and why. An agent skill from alivecontext/alive.

Works in 3 steps: Squirrel entries --… → Log entries -- _kernel/log.md… → Stash file -- .alive/stash.json…
Productivity & Automation work in your project
SKILL.md covers Sources, Search, Display and Escalation
Instructions only: no scripts, shell commands, URLs or credentials in SKILL.md

What it does

Alive History is an agent skill from alivecontext/alive. Search past sessions -- what happened, when, and why. Filters by walnut, topic, person, or timeframe

Its SKILL.md is about 490 tokens, which your agent loads only when the skill is triggered. It is a single SKILL.md file with no bundled scripts.

It sits in Productivity & Automation. The repository describes itself as: Personal Context Manager for Claude Code. Your life in walnuts. The licence is MIT.

When your agent uses it

Productivity & Automation work in your project

Example prompts

“/alive-history”

Workflow steps

3 steps, taken from the first numbered list in SKILL.md.

Squirrel entries -- .alive/_squirrels/*.yaml (session metadata, stash, recovery state)
Log entries -- _kernel/log.md (decisions, narrative, signed entries)
Stash file -- .alive/stash.json (unrouted items from sessions)

What it can do on your machine

Read from SKILL.md and the folder at commit fc74320. It shows what the files ask for, not the result of running them.

Tool permissions
Pre-approves nothing: there is no allowed-tools line, so your agent's usual permission prompts apply.
From allowed-tools in the SKILL.md frontmatter.
Runs code
No scripts in the folder and no shell commands in SKILL.md (its code samples are bash).
From the folder's file list and the shell code blocks in SKILL.md.
Network
No URLs in SKILL.md.
From URLs in SKILL.md, links to its own repository left out.
Credentials
Names no API keys, tokens, secrets or passwords.
From names ending in _API_KEY, _TOKEN, _SECRET, _KEY or _PASSWORD in SKILL.md.

Context cost

Alive History loads about 492 tokens when it runs. Until then it costs about 29 tokens; SKILL.md has 79 words of instructions outside code blocks.

Always · name and description, kept in context so the agent knows when to use it: ~29
When it runs · the whole SKILL.md, loaded when a task matches: ~492

Estimates: characters ÷ 4, the usual rule of thumb; real counts depend on the model's tokenizer. Scripts and assets cost tokens only if the agent reads them.

Safety

Auto-check passed

The automated check found no risky patterns in SKILL.md.

Automated static check — not a guarantee. Review scripts before installing. It scans the text of SKILL.md for risky patterns (piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files, hidden Unicode, destructive commands); files beside SKILL.md are not scanned.

SKILL.md

The full file from alivecontext/alive at commit fc74320, republished under its MIT licence (© alivecontext). 79 words, ~492 tokens.

Download SKILL.mdSave it as .claude/skills/alive-history/SKILL.md (or your agent's skills folder).

name: alive-history
description: Search past sessions -- what happened, when, and why. Filters by walnut, topic, person, or timeframe
version: 1.0.0
author: ALIVE Context System
license: MIT
toolsets: terminal, file
triggers: what happened, session history, last session, when did we, what did we decide

Session History

Search squirrel entries and logs for past session context.

Sources

Squirrel entries -- .alive/_squirrels/*.yaml (session metadata, stash, recovery state)
Log entries -- _kernel/log.md (decisions, narrative, signed entries)
Stash file -- .alive/stash.json (unrouted items from sessions)

Search

If the user asks about a specific walnut:

bash

# Read that walnut's log
cat "$ALIVE_WORLD_ROOT/[walnut_path]/_kernel/log.md"

# Find squirrel entries for that walnut
grep -l "[walnut_name]" "$ALIVE_WORLD_ROOT/.alive/_squirrels/"*.yaml 2>/dev/null

If the user asks about a topic or person:

bash

# Search all logs
grep -rl "[query]" "$ALIVE_WORLD_ROOT"/*/_kernel/log.md "$ALIVE_WORLD_ROOT"/*/*/_kernel/log.md 2>/dev/null

# Search squirrel entries
grep -rl "[query]" "$ALIVE_WORLD_ROOT/.alive/_squirrels/"*.yaml 2>/dev/null

If the user asks about recent sessions:

bash

# List recent squirrel entries by date
ls -lt "$ALIVE_WORLD_ROOT/.alive/_squirrels/"*.yaml 2>/dev/null | head -10

Display

Recent sessions for [walnut/topic]:

[date] -- squirrel:[id] ([engine])
  Walnut: [name]
  Bundle: [bundle or none]
  Summary: [from log entry or recovery_state]
  Stash: [N] items ([routed/unrouted])

[date] -- squirrel:[id] ([engine])
  ...

Load full log entry?
  1. [session id] -- [date]
  2. [session id] -- [date]
  3. Search for something else

Escalation

If the user needs deeper context extraction from session transcripts, suggest /alive-mine for heavy mining.

Files

Just SKILL.md in hermes/hermes-skills/alive-history of alivecontext/alive.

Open the folder on GitHubat commit fc74320

Compare with similar skills

Alive History next to the 5 skills that share the most tags, products or categories with it. Stars are the repository's; “used in” counts other GitHub owners with a copy.

Alive History compared with similar skills
Skill	Stars	Used in	Tokens	Auto-check	Licence	Repo updated
Alive History this skillalivecontext/alive	130	—	~492	Automated safety check: Pass	MIT	8 days ago
Agent Browserquran/quran.com-frontend-next	1.9k	40 repos	~3.3k	Automated safety check: Pass	None	5 mo ago
Dependency Watchtelegramdesktop/tdesktop	33k	1 repos	~2.2k	Automated safety check: Pass	GPL-3.0	today
Perform Tasktelegramdesktop/tdesktop	33k	2 repos	~3k	Automated safety check: Pass	GPL-3.0	today
Brave Searchbadlogic/pi-skills	2.6k	5 repos	~592	Automated safety check: Pass	MIT	4 mo ago
Garden Inboxpaperclipai/paperclip	99k	—	~1.1k	Automated safety check: Pass	MIT	today

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Questions about Alive History

What does Alive History do?

Search past sessions -- what happened, when, and why. An agent skill from alivecontext/alive. Alive History is an agent skill from alivecontext/alive. Search past sessions -- what happened, when, and why.

When should I use Alive History?

Alive History fits situations like: productivity & Automation work in your project.

How do I install Alive History in Claude Code?

Run `npx skills add alivecontext/alive --skill alive-history -a claude-code`. Or copy the skill folder (hermes/hermes-skills/alive-history in alivecontext/alive) into .claude/skills/alive-history in your project. Claude Code loads it when a task matches its description.

How do I install Alive History in Codex?

Run `npx skills add alivecontext/alive --skill alive-history -a codex`. Or copy the skill folder (hermes/hermes-skills/alive-history in alivecontext/alive) into .agents/skills/alive-history in your project. Codex loads it when a task matches its description.

Can I use Alive History in Cursor, Gemini CLI or GitHub Copilot?

Cursor, Gemini CLI, GitHub Copilot and OpenCode also load SKILL.md folders. With the skills CLI, run `npx skills add alivecontext/alive --skill alive-history -a cursor` (or -a gemini-cli, github-copilot or opencode for the others). To copy it by hand, put the folder in .cursor/skills/alive-history, .gemini/skills/alive-history, .github/skills/alive-history and .opencode/skills/alive-history in your project.

What does Alive History need to run?

SKILL.md names no scripts, command-line tools or credentials: Alive History is instructions for the agent only.

Does Alive History access the network?

SKILL.md contains no URLs. Any network use would come from the scripts or tools the agent runs. This is read from the text; nothing was executed.

Is Alive History safe to install?

Our automated static check of SKILL.md found no risky patterns, such as piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files or hidden Unicode. It is not a guarantee. Review the folder before installing.

What licence does Alive History use?

Alive History is published under the MIT licence (declared in SKILL.md). It allows redistribution, so the full SKILL.md is shown on this page.

How many tokens does Alive History use?

About 492 tokens (SKILL.md is roughly 2k characters). Agents keep only the skill's name and description in context until a task matches; then they load SKILL.md in full.

What are the alternatives to Alive History?

Skills that share tags, products or a category with Alive History: Agent Browser (quran/quran.com-frontend-next, 1.9k stars), Dependency Watch (telegramdesktop/tdesktop, 33k stars), Perform Task (telegramdesktop/tdesktop, 33k stars) and Brave Search (badlogic/pi-skills, 2.6k stars). The comparison table on this page puts their stars, adoption, token cost, safety result and licence side by side.

Who maintains Alive History?

alivecontext (a GitHub organization) maintains it in alivecontext/alive, which has 130 GitHub stars. The repository holds 19 skills in this directory. The repository was last updated on October 2, 2026.

Source: alivecontext/alive on GitHub. Facts on this page come from the repository at the commit we read; the author's words are quoted as theirs.

Alive History

Install Alive History

Facts

At a glance

What it does

When your agent uses it

Example prompts

Workflow steps

What it can do on your machine

Tool permissions

Runs code

Network

Credentials

Context cost

Safety

SKILL.md

Session History

Sources

Search

Display

Escalation

Files

Compare with similar skills

Similar skills

Agent Browser

Dependency Watch

Perform Task

Brave Search

Garden Inbox

Continue

More from alivecontext/alive

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Alive Bundle

Alive Cleanup

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Alive Daily

Alive Load

Questions about Alive History

Install Alive History

Facts

At a glance

What it does

When your agent uses it

Example prompts

Workflow steps

What it can do on your machine

Tool permissions

Runs code

Network

Credentials

Context cost

Safety

SKILL.md

Session History

Sources

Search

Display

Escalation

Files

Compare with similar skills

Similar skills

More from alivecontext/alive

Related

Questions about Alive History