backstory-cli 0.4.0

Every AI-assisted commit has a backstory. Never lose it again.

Backstory

Git shows what changed. Backstory shows why.

Ever opened an AI-generated commit and wondered:

• Why was this approach chosen?
• What did the agent try before this?
• What assumptions are hidden in this code?

What is Backstory?

Backstory is a local-first AI memory layer for Git repositories. It captures session context from AI coding tools, extracts the durable reasoning (decisions, risks, alternatives), stores it as Google's OKF markdown, and links it to Git commits so you can retrieve the why later.

Why not just write good commit messages? Commit messages describe what changed. They rarely capture the rejected alternatives, the risks you accepted, or the reasoning trail across a multi-step AI session. Backstory fills that gap.

Quick Install

pip install backstory-cli

Then initialize in your repo:

backstory init
backstory status

See a full worked example with before/after code and stored session.

Features

• Commit-level reasoning -- backstory why HEAD shows why a commit was made, not just what changed
• Code-aware retrieval -- Query by file (backstory file <path>), line (backstory line <path>:<line>), or range (backstory range <path>:start-end)
• Contradiction detection -- Warns when new changes reverse earlier recorded decisions
• Local-first -- Everything stays in your repo. No cloud, no telemetry.
• Human-readable storage -- Google's OKF markdown that agents, tools, and humans can read
• Privacy by default -- Extracts decisions and risks, not raw chat logs. Built-in redaction for API keys and secrets.

How It Works

1. Capture -- A tool-native hook or exporter hands the AI session to Backstory.
2. Ingest -- Backstory extracts the durable decisions, risks, and changed files. The raw conversation is discarded.
3. Link -- The session is attached to the relevant Git commit via backstory attach HEAD.
4. Retrieve -- Query reasoning by commit, file, line, range, or diff.

Git stays the linkage layer. Backstory stores the reasoning.

Commands

Command	Status	What it does
backstory init	✅ Stable	Set up Backstory in the current repo
backstory dump	✅ Stable	Ingest an AI session into OKF markdown
backstory attach HEAD	✅ Stable	Link a session to a commit
backstory why HEAD	✅ Stable	Explain why a commit happened
backstory status	✅ Stable	Show Backstory state in this repo
backstory search <query>	✅ Stable	Search past sessions and decisions
backstory show <session>	🧪 Experimental	View a stored session
backstory file <path>	🧪 Experimental	Show AI context relevant to a file
backstory line <path>:<line>	🧪 Experimental	Show the decision behind a specific line
backstory range <path>:start-end	🧪 Experimental	Show context for a range of lines
backstory code <path>:start-end	🧪 Experimental	Show why a code block exists
backstory diff	🧪 Experimental	Explain the reasoning behind the current diff
backstory redact	✅ Stable	Re-scan and redact sensitive data
backstory hooks	✅ Stable	Manage Git hook installation

Integration

Works with Claude Code today. Cursor and Codex support planned.

Backstory is designed for tool-native capture. The preferred path is a tool-specific hook, callback, or transcript exporter that hands the session to Backstory automatically.

See the integration guide for step-by-step setup.

Contradiction Detection

Backstory watches for new changes that appear to reverse earlier recorded decisions.

⚠ This change may contradict a decision from commit 8f21c9a:
  "payment.failed should mark subscription as pending, not cancelled"

That turns the tool from an archive into a guardrail.

Storage

.backstory/
  config.json
  knowledge/
    index.md
    sessions/
      index.md
      latest.md
      sha256-<session>.md
  redactions/
    tombstones.log

Session memory is stored as Google's OKF-style markdown -- human-readable, Git-friendly, and agent-friendly.

Privacy

Backstory is local-first by design. No cloud service or telemetry is required. Raw transcripts are never persisted -- only extracted decisions, risks, follow-ups, and Git context are kept. Built-in redaction scans for and removes API keys and secrets during ingestion.

Documentation

• Integration guide -- Set up with Claude Code and other tools
• Engineering walkthrough
• Product spec
• Retrieval model

---

If you find this useful, starring the repo helps others discover it.