From 341955c144c630c4bf8ffce84af9525ab1dcb9dd Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Kent Overstreet <kent.overstreet@linux.dev>
Date: Mon, 15 Jun 2026 11:24:37 -0500
Subject: [PATCH] Add transcript tail debug command

---
 src/cli/admin.rs | 25 +++++++++++++++++++++++++
 src/main.rs      | 14 ++++++++++++++
 2 files changed, 39 insertions(+)

diff --git a/src/cli/admin.rs b/src/cli/admin.rs
index 464e97c..e5f1f0c 100644
--- a/src/cli/admin.rs
+++ b/src/cli/admin.rs
@@ -4,6 +4,31 @@ use anyhow::Result;
 use crate::hippocampus as memory;
 use crate::hippocampus::store;
 
+pub fn cmd_transcript_tail(path: &str, count: usize, newest_first: bool) -> Result<()> {
+    let Some(iter) = crate::conversation::TailMessages::open(path) else {
+        anyhow::bail!("could not open transcript {}", path);
+    };
+
+    let mut messages: Vec<_> = iter.take(count).collect();
+    if !newest_first {
+        messages.reverse();
+    }
+
+    for message in messages {
+        let role = match message.role {
+            crate::conversation::TranscriptRole::User => "user",
+            crate::conversation::TranscriptRole::Assistant => "assistant",
+        };
+        let timestamp = message.timestamp.as_deref().unwrap_or("-");
+
+        println!("--- {role} offset={} timestamp={} ---", message.offset, timestamp);
+        println!("{}", message.text);
+        println!();
+    }
+
+    Ok(())
+}
+
 fn install_default_file(data_dir: &std::path::Path, name: &str, content: &str) -> Result<()> {
     let path = data_dir.join(name);
     if !path.exists() {
diff --git a/src/main.rs b/src/main.rs
index 88b8703..1fdc901 100644
--- a/src/main.rs
+++ b/src/main.rs
@@ -333,6 +333,18 @@ enum AdminCmd {
         #[arg(long)]
         stats: bool,
     },
+    /// Print normalized user/assistant messages from a transcript JSONL file
+    #[command(name = "transcript-tail")]
+    TranscriptTail {
+        /// Transcript JSONL path
+        path: String,
+        /// Maximum number of messages to print
+        #[arg(long, short = 'n', default_value_t = 40)]
+        count: usize,
+        /// Print newest messages first instead of chronological order
+        #[arg(long)]
+        newest_first: bool,
+    },
 }
 
 /// Print help with subcommands expanded to show nested commands.
@@ -458,6 +470,8 @@ impl Run for AdminCmd {
             Self::Dedup { apply } => cli::admin::cmd_dedup(apply).await,
             Self::DailyCheck    => cli::admin::cmd_daily_check().await,
             Self::LoadContext { stats } => cli::node::cmd_load_context(stats).await,
+            Self::TranscriptTail { path, count, newest_first }
+                => cli::admin::cmd_transcript_tail(&path, count, newest_first),
         }
     }
 }