feat: chat export with Ctrl+s save and auto-save

Press Ctrl+s in chat view to save the conversation as chat.md in the
session directory. After the first save, every completed assistant
message auto-saves the full transcript. If the summary hasn't been
saved yet, saving chat also creates the session directory and persists
the summary. Chat messages are lifted to App state so they persist
across chat enter/exit.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>

Author: asanmateu

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -7,6 +7,10 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0
 
 ## [Unreleased]
 
+### Added
+
+- Chat export: press `Ctrl+s` in chat view to save the conversation as `chat.md` in the session directory; auto-saves on every subsequent message
+
 ## [2.1.0] - 2026-02-21
 
 ### Added

README.md

@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@ YouTube, Slack threads, and Notion pages also work — just paste the URL.
 
 In interactive mode, you can drag and drop files from Finder directly into the terminal — paths from iTerm2, Terminal.app, and other emulators are automatically recognized.
 
-After a summary, use the keyboard shortcuts shown at the bottom: save, save with audio, listen, copy, chat, re-summarize, or discard. You'll be notified in the prompt when a new version is available.
+After a summary, use the keyboard shortcuts shown at the bottom: save, save with audio, listen, copy, chat, re-summarize, or discard. In chat mode, press `Ctrl+s` to save the conversation — subsequent messages auto-save. You'll be notified in the prompt when a new version is available.
 
 Type `/` in interactive mode to access commands like `/history`, `/setup`, `/config`, `/theme`, and `/help`.
 

docs/audio.md

@@ -41,6 +41,10 @@ Press **`w`** instead of Enter. Saves both `summary.md` and `audio.mp3`. Press *
 
 After saving, you stay on the result view — you can still copy, chat, re-listen, or re-summarize. The footer shows "Saved" and `[q]` exits with a single tap (no confirmation needed since nothing will be lost).
 
+## Saving chat transcripts
+
+Press **`Ctrl+s`** in chat view to save the conversation as `chat.md` in the session directory. After the first save, every completed assistant message auto-saves the full conversation. If the summary hasn't been saved yet, saving the chat also creates the session directory and saves the summary.
+
 - If you already pressed `a`, the cached audio is reused — no extra API call.
 - Audio failures are non-fatal. The summary always saves.
 

src/App.tsx

@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ import {
 import { addEntry, deduplicateBySource, getRecent, removeEntry } from "./lib/history.js";
 import { isClaudeCodeAvailable } from "./lib/providers/claude-code.js";
 import { isCodexAvailable } from "./lib/providers/codex.js";
-import { getSessionPaths, saveAudioFile, saveSummary } from "./lib/session.js";
+import { getSessionPaths, saveAudioFile, saveChat, saveSummary } from "./lib/session.js";
 import { rewriteForSpeech, summarize } from "./lib/summarizer.js";
 import { resolveTheme } from "./lib/theme.js";
 import {
@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@ import {
 } from "./lib/tts.js";
 import type {
   AppState,
+  ChatMessage,
   Config,
   ConfigOverrides,
   ExtractionResult,
@@ -87,6 +88,8 @@ export function App({ initialInput, showConfig, editProfile, overrides }: AppPro
   const [cachedSpeechText, setCachedSpeechText] = useState<string | undefined>(undefined);
   const [isSavingAudio, setIsSavingAudio] = useState(false);
   const [profiles, setProfiles] = useState<{ name: string; active: boolean }[]>([]);
+  const [chatMessages, setChatMessages] = useState<ChatMessage[]>([]);
+  const [chatSaveEnabled, setChatSaveEnabled] = useState(false);
   const [summaryPinned, setSummaryPinned] = useState(false);
   const [pinnedSummaries, setPinnedSummaries] = useState<
     { id: string; extraction: ExtractionResult; summary: string; sessionDir: string | undefined }[]
@@ -161,6 +164,8 @@ export function App({ initialInput, showConfig, editProfile, overrides }: AppPro
         setPendingResult(undefined);
         setSummaryPinned(false);
         setPinnedSummaries([]);
+        setChatMessages([]);
+        setChatSaveEnabled(false);
 
         const result = await extract(rawInput, signal);
 
@@ -253,6 +258,37 @@ export function App({ initialInput, showConfig, editProfile, overrides }: AppPro
     await saveSettings(settings);
   }, []);
 
+  const handleChatSave = useCallback(
+    async (messages: ChatMessage[]) => {
+      if (!config || !extraction) return;
+      let session = currentSession;
+      // Ensure session dir exists — save summary if not saved yet
+      if (pendingResult && session) {
+        const saved = await saveSummary(session, pendingResult.summary);
+        setCurrentSession(saved);
+        session = saved;
+        await addEntry(pendingResult);
+        const updated = await getRecent(100);
+        setHistory(updated);
+        setPendingResult(undefined);
+      }
+      if (session) {
+        await saveChat(session, messages);
+        setChatSaveEnabled(true);
+      }
+    },
+    [config, extraction, currentSession, pendingResult],
+  );
+
+  const handleChatAutoSave = useCallback(
+    async (messages: ChatMessage[]) => {
+      if (chatSaveEnabled && currentSession) {
+        await saveChat(currentSession, messages);
+      }
+    },
+    [chatSaveEnabled, currentSession],
+  );
+
   const handleConfigSave = useCallback(
     async (newConfig: Config) => {
       await saveConfig(newConfig);
@@ -429,7 +465,7 @@ export function App({ initialInput, showConfig, editProfile, overrides }: AppPro
           })();
           return;
         }
-        if (ch === "s" && audioProcess) {
+        if (ch === "s" && !key.ctrl && audioProcess) {
           stopAudio(audioProcess);
           setAudioProcess(undefined);
           return;
@@ -551,6 +587,8 @@ export function App({ initialInput, showConfig, editProfile, overrides }: AppPro
           }
           setSummaryPinned(false);
           setPinnedSummaries([]);
+          setChatMessages([]);
+          setChatSaveEnabled(false);
           setState("idle");
           setSummary("");
           setExtraction(undefined);
@@ -577,6 +615,8 @@ export function App({ initialInput, showConfig, editProfile, overrides }: AppPro
             }
             setSummaryPinned(false);
             setPinnedSummaries([]);
+            setChatMessages([]);
+            setChatSaveEnabled(false);
             setPendingResult(undefined);
             setState("idle");
             setSummary("");
@@ -693,7 +733,16 @@ export function App({ initialInput, showConfig, editProfile, overrides }: AppPro
           />
         )}
         {state === "chat" && config && (
-          <ChatView config={config} summaryContent={summary} onExit={() => setState("result")} />
+          <ChatView
+            config={config}
+            summaryContent={summary}
+            messages={chatMessages}
+            onMessagesChange={setChatMessages}
+            chatSaveEnabled={chatSaveEnabled}
+            onSave={handleChatSave}
+            onAutoSave={handleChatAutoSave}
+            onExit={() => setState("result")}
+          />
         )}
         {state === "history" && (
           <HistoryView

src/__tests__/app.test.tsx

@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ const mocks = vi.hoisted(() => ({
   deduplicateBySource: vi.fn((e: TldrResult[]) => e),
   saveSummary: vi.fn(),
   saveAudioFile: vi.fn(),
+  saveChat: vi.fn(),
   getSessionPaths: vi.fn(),
   generateAudio: vi.fn(),
   playAudio: vi.fn(),
@@ -68,6 +69,7 @@ vi.mock("../lib/history.js", () => ({
 vi.mock("../lib/session.js", () => ({
   saveSummary: mocks.saveSummary,
   saveAudioFile: mocks.saveAudioFile,
+  saveChat: mocks.saveChat,
   getSessionPaths: mocks.getSessionPaths,
 }));
 vi.mock("../lib/tts.js", () => ({
@@ -156,6 +158,7 @@ const TEST_SESSION: SessionPaths = {
   sessionDir: "/tmp/tldr-test/2026-02-18-test-article",
   summaryPath: "/tmp/tldr-test/2026-02-18-test-article/summary.md",
   audioPath: "/tmp/tldr-test/2026-02-18-test-article/audio.mp3",
+  chatPath: "/tmp/tldr-test/2026-02-18-test-article/chat.md",
 };
 
 // ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -182,6 +185,7 @@ describe("App", () => {
     mocks.checkForUpdate.mockResolvedValue(null);
     mocks.deduplicateBySource.mockImplementation((e: TldrResult[]) => e);
     mocks.addEntry.mockResolvedValue(undefined);
+    mocks.saveChat.mockResolvedValue(undefined);
     mocks.getSessionPaths.mockReturnValue(TEST_SESSION);
     mocks.saveSummary.mockResolvedValue(TEST_SESSION);
     mocks.extract.mockResolvedValue(TEST_EXTRACTION);
@@ -649,6 +653,54 @@ describe("App", () => {
       instance.unmount();
     });
 
+    it("Ctrl+S in chat triggers saveChat", async () => {
+      const instance = render(<App initialInput="https://example.com/article" />);
+
+      await vi.waitFor(
+        () => {
+          expect(instance.lastFrame()).toContain("TL;DR");
+        },
+        { timeout: 2000 },
+      );
+
+      // Enter chat mode
+      instance.stdin.write("t");
+
+      await vi.waitFor(
+        () => {
+          expect(instance.lastFrame()).toContain("Chat");
+          expect(instance.lastFrame()).toContain("Ctrl+s");
+          expect(instance.lastFrame()).toContain("save chat");
+        },
+        { timeout: 2000 },
+      );
+
+      // Let effects flush before sending Ctrl+S
+      await new Promise((resolve) => setTimeout(resolve, 50));
+
+      // Press Ctrl+S (raw mode: \x13)
+      instance.stdin.write("\x13");
+
+      await vi.waitFor(
+        () => {
+          // Since there's a pending result, saveSummary is called first, then saveChat
+          expect(mocks.saveSummary).toHaveBeenCalled();
+          expect(mocks.saveChat).toHaveBeenCalled();
+        },
+        { timeout: 3000 },
+      );
+
+      // Toast should appear
+      await vi.waitFor(
+        () => {
+          expect(instance.lastFrame()).toContain("Chat saved");
+        },
+        { timeout: 2000 },
+      );
+
+      instance.unmount();
+    });
+
     it("shows Chat panel in result view", async () => {
       const instance = render(<App initialInput="https://example.com/article" />);
 

src/__tests__/session.test.ts

@@ -4,13 +4,15 @@ import { join } from "node:path";
 import { afterEach, beforeEach, describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
 import {
   buildSessionName,
+  formatChatAsMarkdown,
   getSessionPaths,
   parseTitleFromSummary,
   saveAudioFile,
+  saveChat,
   saveSummary,
   slugify,
 } from "../lib/session.js";
-import type { ExtractionResult } from "../lib/types.js";
+import type { ChatMessage, ExtractionResult } from "../lib/types.js";
 
 let tempDir: string;
 
@@ -127,6 +129,7 @@ describe("getSessionPaths", () => {
     expect(paths.sessionDir).toMatch(/^\/out\//);
     expect(paths.summaryPath).toContain("summary.md");
     expect(paths.audioPath).toContain("audio.mp3");
+    expect(paths.chatPath).toContain("chat.md");
   });
 });
 
@@ -137,6 +140,7 @@ describe("saveSummary", () => {
       sessionDir,
       summaryPath: join(sessionDir, "summary.md"),
       audioPath: join(sessionDir, "audio.mp3"),
+      chatPath: join(sessionDir, "chat.md"),
     };
 
     const saved = await saveSummary(paths, "# Hello\nWorld");
@@ -155,6 +159,7 @@ describe("saveSummary", () => {
       sessionDir,
       summaryPath: join(sessionDir, "summary.md"),
       audioPath: join(sessionDir, "audio.mp3"),
+      chatPath: join(sessionDir, "chat.md"),
     };
 
     const first = await saveSummary(paths, "first");
@@ -178,6 +183,7 @@ describe("saveAudioFile", () => {
       sessionDir,
       summaryPath: join(sessionDir, "summary.md"),
       audioPath: join(sessionDir, "audio.mp3"),
+      chatPath: join(sessionDir, "chat.md"),
     };
 
     // Create the session directory first (as saveSummary would)
@@ -199,6 +205,7 @@ describe("saveAudioFile", () => {
       sessionDir,
       summaryPath: join(sessionDir, "summary.md"),
       audioPath: join(sessionDir, "audio.mp3"),
+      chatPath: join(sessionDir, "chat.md"),
     };
 
     // Create two sessions to trigger dedup
@@ -221,3 +228,86 @@ describe("saveAudioFile", () => {
     expect(summaryContent).toBe("second");
   });
 });
+
+describe("formatChatAsMarkdown", () => {
+  it("returns header only for empty messages", () => {
+    expect(formatChatAsMarkdown([])).toBe("# Chat\n");
+  });
+
+  it("formats a multi-turn conversation", () => {
+    const messages: ChatMessage[] = [
+      { role: "user", content: "What is this about?" },
+      { role: "assistant", content: "It's about testing." },
+      { role: "user", content: "Thanks!" },
+      { role: "assistant", content: "You're welcome." },
+    ];
+    const result = formatChatAsMarkdown(messages);
+    expect(result).toBe(
+      [
+        "# Chat",
+        "",
+        "**You:** What is this about?",
+        "",
+        "**AI:** It's about testing.",
+        "",
+        "**You:** Thanks!",
+        "",
+        "**AI:** You're welcome.",
+        "",
+      ].join("\n"),
+    );
+  });
+});
+
+describe("saveChat", () => {
+  it("writes chat.md to session directory", async () => {
+    const sessionDir = join(tempDir, "2026-01-01-chat-test");
+    const paths = {
+      sessionDir,
+      summaryPath: join(sessionDir, "summary.md"),
+      audioPath: join(sessionDir, "audio.mp3"),
+      chatPath: join(sessionDir, "chat.md"),
+    };
+
+    // Create session dir first
+    await saveSummary(paths, "# Test");
+
+    const messages: ChatMessage[] = [
+      { role: "user", content: "Hello" },
+      { role: "assistant", content: "Hi there!" },
+    ];
+
+    await saveChat(paths, messages);
+
+    const content = await readFile(paths.chatPath, "utf-8");
+    expect(content).toContain("**You:** Hello");
+    expect(content).toContain("**AI:** Hi there!");
+  });
+
+  it("overwrites on subsequent saves", async () => {
+    const sessionDir = join(tempDir, "2026-01-01-chat-overwrite");
+    const paths = {
+      sessionDir,
+      summaryPath: join(sessionDir, "summary.md"),
+      audioPath: join(sessionDir, "audio.mp3"),
+      chatPath: join(sessionDir, "chat.md"),
+    };
+
+    await saveSummary(paths, "# Test");
+
+    await saveChat(paths, [{ role: "user", content: "First" }]);
+
+    const first = await readFile(paths.chatPath, "utf-8");
+    expect(first).toContain("**You:** First");
+
+    await saveChat(paths, [
+      { role: "user", content: "First" },
+      { role: "assistant", content: "Reply" },
+      { role: "user", content: "Second" },
+    ]);
+
+    const second = await readFile(paths.chatPath, "utf-8");
+    expect(second).toContain("**You:** Second");
+    expect(second).toContain("**AI:** Reply");
+  });
+});