Remove JSON export from bdg stop

- Remove session.json file write on stop
- Remove offline session fallback from network commands
- Delete unused output.ts module
- Update skill to discourage premature stop calls
- Remove 'save output' references from UI messages
- Users should use bdg peek to inspect telemetry data

Author: sfc-gh-mochen

.claude/skills/bdg/SKILL.md

@@ -20,8 +20,8 @@ bdg <url>                  # Start session (1920x1080, headless if no display)
 bdg <url> --headless       # Force headless mode
 bdg <url> --no-headless    # Force visible browser window
 bdg status                 # Check session status
-bdg peek                   # Preview data without stopping
-bdg stop                   # Stop and save output
+bdg peek                   # Preview collected telemetry
+bdg stop                   # End session (use sparingly)
 bdg cleanup --force        # Kill stale session
 bdg cleanup --aggressive   # Kill all Chrome processes
 ```
@@ -36,6 +36,8 @@ bdg peek                       # Preview collected data
 # No need to stop/restart - Chrome stays on the page
 ```
 
+**Don't stop sessions prematurely** - use `bdg peek` to inspect data. Only call `bdg stop` when completely done with browser automation.
+
 ## Screenshots
 
 Always use `bdg dom screenshot` (raw CDP is blocked):

package-lock.json

@@ -4,8 +4,6 @@
  * Contains getCookies and headers commands, plus shared data fetching utilities.
  */
 
-import * as fs from 'fs';
-
 import type { Command } from 'commander';
 
 import { runCommand } from '@/commands/shared/CommandRunner.js';
@@ -16,12 +14,9 @@ import type {
 } from '@/commands/shared/optionTypes.js';
 import { getHARData, callCDP, getNetworkHeaders } from '@/ipc/client.js';
 import { validateIPCResponse } from '@/ipc/index.js';
-import { getSessionFilePath } from '@/session/paths.js';
-import type { BdgOutput, NetworkRequest } from '@/types.js';
-import { isDaemonConnectionError } from '@/ui/errors/utils.js';
+import type { NetworkRequest } from '@/types.js';
 import type { Cookie } from '@/ui/formatters/index.js';
 import { formatCookies, formatNetworkHeaders } from '@/ui/formatters/index.js';
-import { sessionNotActiveError } from '@/ui/messages/errors.js';
 import { EXIT_CODES } from '@/utils/exitCodes.js';
 
 /**
@@ -42,63 +37,13 @@ export async function fetchFromLiveSession(): Promise<NetworkRequest[]> {
 }
 
 /**
- * Fetch network requests from offline session.json file.
+ * Get network requests from live daemon session.
  *
  * @returns Network requests array
- * @throws Error if session file not found or no network data available
- */
-export function fetchFromOfflineSession(): NetworkRequest[] {
-  const sessionPath = getSessionFilePath('OUTPUT');
-
-  if (!fs.existsSync(sessionPath)) {
-    throw new Error(sessionNotActiveError('export network data'), {
-      cause: { code: EXIT_CODES.RESOURCE_NOT_FOUND },
-    });
-  }
-
-  const sessionData = JSON.parse(fs.readFileSync(sessionPath, 'utf-8')) as BdgOutput;
-
-  if (!sessionData.data?.network) {
-    throw new Error('No network data in session file', {
-      cause: { code: EXIT_CODES.RESOURCE_NOT_FOUND },
-    });
-  }
-
-  return sessionData.data.network;
-}
-
-/**
- * Check if error indicates daemon is unavailable.
- *
- * @param error - Error to check
- * @returns True if error indicates no active session or daemon connection failure
- */
-export function isDaemonUnavailable(error: unknown): boolean {
-  if (isDaemonConnectionError(error)) {
-    return true;
-  }
-
-  const errorMessage = error instanceof Error ? error.message : String(error);
-  return errorMessage.includes('No active session');
-}
-
-/**
- * Get network requests from live session or session.json.
- *
- * Tries live daemon first, falls back to offline session file.
- *
- * @returns Network requests array
- * @throws Error if no session available (live or offline)
+ * @throws Error if daemon connection fails or no network data available
  */
 export async function getNetworkRequests(): Promise<NetworkRequest[]> {
-  try {
-    return await fetchFromLiveSession();
-  } catch (error) {
-    if (isDaemonUnavailable(error)) {
-      return fetchFromOfflineSession();
-    }
-    throw error;
-  }
+  return fetchFromLiveSession();
 }
 
 /**

src/commands/network/shared.ts

@@ -7,7 +7,6 @@ import type { StopResult } from '@/commands/types.js';
 import { stopSession } from '@/ipc/client.js';
 import { IPCErrorCode } from '@/ipc/index.js';
 import { performSessionCleanup } from '@/session/cleanup.js';
-import { getSessionFilePath } from '@/session/paths.js';
 import { joinLines } from '@/ui/formatting.js';
 import { createLogger } from '@/ui/logging/index.js';
 import {
@@ -28,7 +27,7 @@ const log = createLogger('cleanup');
  * @param data - Stop result data
  */
 function formatStop(data: StopResult): string {
-  const outputLine = data.stopped.bdg ? sessionStopped(getSessionFilePath('OUTPUT')) : undefined;
+  const outputLine = data.stopped.bdg ? sessionStopped() : undefined;
   const daemonsLine =
     data.stopped.daemons && data.orphanedDaemonsCount
       ? orphanedDaemonsCleanedMessage(data.orphanedDaemonsCount)
@@ -50,13 +49,9 @@ function formatStop(data: StopResult): string {
 export function registerStopCommand(program: Command): void {
   program
     .command('stop')
-    .description('Stop daemon and write collected telemetry to ~/.bdg/session.json')
+    .description('Stop daemon and close browser session')
     .option('--kill-chrome', 'Also kill Chrome browser process', false)
     .addOption(jsonOption())
-    .addHelpText(
-      'after',
-      '\nOutput Location:\n  Default: ~/.bdg/session.json\n  Tip: Copy to custom location with: cp ~/.bdg/session.json /path/to/output.json'
-    )
     .action(async (options: StopCommandOptions) => {
       await runCommand<StopCommandOptions, StopResult>(
         async (opts) => {

src/commands/stop.ts

@@ -1,13 +1,12 @@
 /**
  * Worker Cleanup
  *
- * Handles worker cleanup: DOM collection, CDP closure, Chrome termination, and output writing.
+ * Handles worker cleanup: DOM collection, CDP closure, and Chrome termination.
  */
 
 import type { CDPConnection } from '@/connection/cdp.js';
 import type { TelemetryStore } from '@/daemon/worker/TelemetryStore.js';
 import { writeChromePid } from '@/session/chrome.js';
-import { writeSessionOutput } from '@/session/output.js';
 import { collectDOM } from '@/telemetry/dom.js';
 import type { CleanupFunction, LaunchedChrome } from '@/types';
 import type { Logger } from '@/ui/logging/index.js';
@@ -19,7 +18,6 @@ import {
   workerRunningCleanup,
   workerClosingCDP,
   workerShutdownComplete,
-  workerWritingOutput,
 } from '@/ui/messages/debug.js';
 import { delay } from '@/utils/async.js';
 import { getErrorMessage } from '@/utils/errors.js';
@@ -100,8 +98,6 @@ export async function cleanupWorker(
     }
     // If both chrome and cdp are null, Chrome launch failed - nothing to terminate
 
-    writeOutput(reason, telemetryStore, log);
-
     log.debug(workerShutdownComplete());
   } catch (error) {
     console.error(`[worker] Error during cleanup: ${getErrorMessage(error)}`);
@@ -150,30 +146,3 @@ async function terminateChrome(
     console.error(`[worker] Error killing Chrome: ${getErrorMessage(error)}`);
   }
 }
-
-/**
- * Write session output.
- */
-function writeOutput(
-  reason: 'normal' | 'crash' | 'timeout',
-  telemetryStore: TelemetryStore,
-  log: Logger
-): void {
-  if (reason === 'normal') {
-    try {
-      log.debug(workerWritingOutput());
-      const finalOutput = telemetryStore.buildOutput(false);
-      writeSessionOutput(finalOutput);
-    } catch (error) {
-      console.error(`[worker] Error writing final output: ${getErrorMessage(error)}`);
-    }
-  } else {
-    try {
-      log.debug(`[worker] Writing partial output (reason: ${reason})`);
-      const partialOutput = telemetryStore.buildOutput(true);
-      writeSessionOutput(partialOutput);
-    } catch (error) {
-      console.error(`[worker] Error writing partial output: ${getErrorMessage(error)}`);
-    }
-  }
-}

src/daemon/lifecycle/workerCleanup.ts

@@ -173,7 +173,7 @@ export async function startSession(
 
 /**
  * Request session stop from the daemon.
- * Stops telemetry collection, closes Chrome, and writes output file.
+ * Stops telemetry collection and closes Chrome.
  *
  * @returns Stop session response with termination status
  * @throws Error if connection fails, times out, or no active session

src/ipc/client.ts

@@ -84,7 +84,7 @@ export function buildSessionManagementSection(): string {
   return section('Session Management:', [
     'bdg status        Check session state',
     'bdg status --verbose     Include Chrome diagnostics',
-    'bdg stop          End session & save output',
+    'bdg stop          End session',
     'bdg cleanup       Clean stale sessions',
   ]);
 }

src/session/output.ts

@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ export const PREVIEW_HEADERS = {
  * @returns Single-line tip for basic peek usage
  */
 export function compactTipsMessage(): string {
-  return 'Tip: bdg stop | bdg peek --last 50 | bdg peek --verbose';
+  return 'Tip: bdg peek --last 50 | bdg peek --verbose';
 }
 
 /**

src/ui/formatters/sessionFormatters.ts

@@ -76,11 +76,10 @@ export function landingPage(options: LandingPageOptions): string {
 /**
  * Generate "session stopped" success message.
  *
- * @param outputPath - Path to session output file
  * @returns Formatted success message
  */
-export function sessionStopped(outputPath: string): string {
-  return `Session stopped. Output saved to: ${outputPath}`;
+export function sessionStopped(): string {
+  return 'Session stopped';
 }
 
 /**