Showagent

What showagent MCP server does

The showagent MCP server makes local coding-session history available to MCP-capable agents. It can search supported session stores and provide transcript context for earlier work. Depending on the enabled tool set, it can also prepare or create a native session copy for another coding agent. The original session remains intact during conversion.

Supported adapters cover Codex, Claude Code, Gemini CLI, OpenCode, jcode, and Pi. Search can use workspace, agent, session ID, paths, and text from the first or latest user prompt. This is session-level discovery rather than full-transcript search.

This belongs in the Coding Agents category because it addresses a workflow across local coding CLIs: find an earlier investigation, inspect the transferable conversation, and continue it in a different agent.

How it works

Start the MCP service with showagent mcp. The service communicates over stdio, so an MCP client launches it as a local process. The client can request session searches and transcript data; write-capable operations can create a native session for a selected target agent. showagent mcp --read-only exposes the search and transcript functions without tools that write copies.

The server reads each agent's local session storage through its implemented adapter. OpenCode is different: its sessions are stored in SQLite, and showagent uses the opencode CLI for discovery, export, import, and deletion rather than writing to that database directly. The target CLI must be installed and available on PATH for interactive handoff targets.

Conversion transfers user and assistant messages that can be carried between formats. Tool calls and results, approval state, attachments, and other agent runtime state do not transfer. File-backed copies are written privately and atomically, while OpenCode imports go through OpenCode itself.

Setup and configuration

On Linux or macOS, install a GitHub release with the project’s install script, Homebrew, or Go 1.25.13 or newer. The default script normally places the binary in ~/.local/bin. Windows amd64 archives are available, but Windows support is experimental.

A usable setup requires at least one existing local session and the relevant agent’s normal CLI sign-in and configuration. Launch the MCP process with:

showagent mcp

Use showagent mcp --read-only for an access mode that omits copy-writing tools. --allow-secrets explicitly permits verbatim secret-like transcript values; without that option, transcript output is secret-redacted. The optional updater uses the network, but the session service itself is intended for local history.

Storage locations can be changed with agent-specific variables, including CODEX_HOME, CLAUDE_HOME, GEMINI_CLI_HOME, OPENCODE_DATA_HOME, JCODE_HOME, PI_CODING_AGENT_DIR, and PI_CODING_AGENT_SESSION_DIR.

Tools and capabilities

The showagent MCP server supports these grounded capability areas:

• Search local sessions across supported coding agents.
• Retrieve bounded transcript context for handoff or review.
• Preview what a conversion will preserve and omit.
• Create a native session copy for a supported target when write operations are enabled.
• Keep the source session unchanged during conversion.
• Redact secret-like transcript values unless explicitly overridden.

The command-line interface also supports direct listing, JSON output, resume, conversion, import from a public ChatGPT or Claude share link, transcript-file import, and adding imported text to an exact Codex session. The MCP excerpt specifically documents session search and transcript tools, plus an option to remove tools that write copies.

Limitations and notes

The server only sees supported local stores and available agent CLIs. A provider’s listed adapter does not guarantee that every version or conversion direction has passed a real CLI test. jcode is experimental and hidden when its binary is absent. Pi discovery follows the active leaf of its session tree and may not find arbitrary project-specific session roots.

Transcripts can contain sensitive content. An MCP client may send requested transcript text to its model provider, so local storage does not mean that all transcript processing stays on the machine. Conversion also loses runtime details such as tool results, approvals, and attachments. Windows builds are experimental and resume an agent as a child process rather than replacing showagent.