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[FEATURE] Session transcript logging with thinking traces #34394

@bonkydog

Description

@bonkydog

Preflight Checklist

  • I have searched existing requests and this feature hasn't been requested yet
  • This is a single feature request (not multiple features)

Problem Statement

I'd like the ability to log full session transcripts — including extended thinking content — to a file.

Use case

When pair-programming with Claude, the thinking traces (visible via Ctrl+O) are extremely valuable. They read like a colleague talking through their reasoning, which helps me understand Claude's approach, learn from it, and catch misunderstandings early. But this content is ephemeral — it's not persisted after the response completes, and there's no way to export or review it later. It's even deleted from the screen!

Why this matters

  • Post-session review of reasoning helps users build better mental models of how Claude works
  • Thinking traces are useful for debugging when Claude goes down a wrong path
  • Teams could use transcripts for knowledge sharing and onboarding
  • The content is already generated and paid for — it shouldn't be throwaway

Proposed Solution

What I'd like

  • A setting or CLI flag to write session transcripts (including thinking) to a log file
  • Ideally configurable: where the log is written, and whether to include thinking content
  • The log should be stored somewhere that Claude won't read from by default, to avoid wasting context on self-referential content

Alternative Solutions

No response

Priority

Medium - Would be very helpful

Feature Category

Interactive Mode (TUI)

Use Case Example

No response

Additional Context

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