Spool
Local-first AI session library for Claude, Codex, and Gemini
Spool fills a genuine gap for heavy AI-assisted developers: a local, privacy-first search engine for your session history. Its project-based grouping and dual search modes are thoughtfully designed, though the macOS-only restriction limits its reach. The active development and open-source license are promising signs for the future.
- Developers who frequently switch between Claude, Codex, and Gemini coding agents
- Teams wanting a local, searchable history of AI-assisted work per project
- CLI power users who want to query sessions via terminal or agent integrations
- Privacy-conscious users needing local-only session management without cloud sync
- Non-developers who prefer a traditional GUI or cloud-based interface
- Windows or Linux users (macOS-only, Apple Silicon currently)
- Users who need cloud sync or multi-device access to session history
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Skip Spool if you use Windows or Linux, don't need a local session library, or rarely switch between different AI coding agents.
Spool is free and open-source, so it's ideal for individual developers and small teams who want a local session library without ongoing costs. For teams that need cloud sync or multi-device access, you'd need to look at cloud-based alternatives (e.g., Cursor's session history) or build your own sync layer.
In short
Spool — Local-first AI session library for Claude, Codex, and Gemini. Best for Developers who frequently switch between Claude, Codex, and Gemini coding agents, Teams wanting a local, searchable history of AI-assisted work per project, CLI power users who want to query sessions via terminal or agent integrations. Free to use.
What's new in Spool
Checked 11 days agoAcross the latest 1 update: 1 launch.
Viability Score
How likely is Spool to still be operational in 12 months? Based on 4 signals — momentum (how recently it shipped), wrapper dependency, revenue model, and web presence.
Last calculated: July 2026
How we score →Key Features
- Auto-indexes Claude, Codex, and Gemini sessions
- Groups sessions by working directory project
- Browsable Library Home with recent and pinned sessions
- Global ⌘K search (Fast FTS5 and AI modes)
- One-click pinning for easy retrieval
- CLI (spool search) for agent integration
- Daemon for background session monitoring
- Open-source (MIT license)
- macOS (Apple Silicon) support only
- Local-first, on-device index and queries
- /spool skill for Claude Code integration
- First-person metadata display
- Project-based filter in search
- Session count and agent breakdown per project
About Spool
Spool is a local-first macOS application that automatically indexes and organizes your AI coding sessions from Claude Code, Codex (GPT-5), and Gemini. It groups sessions by project directory, giving you a unified view of all conversations related to a codebase regardless of which agent you used. Spool runs as a daemon in the background, watching session directories, and provides a browsable Library Home with recent and pinned sessions. Search is powered by two modes: Fast (FTS5) for instant keyword lookup, and AI mode that hands off to a local agent for synthesized answers with sources. Pinning keeps important sessions accessible from the Library Home with one click. Spool also ships a CLI (`spool search`) and a `/spool` skill for Claude Code, allowing any tool-using agent to query your library. The project is MIT-licensed and built entirely for local, private use. Currently supporting Claude, Codex, and Gemini, with plans to add Cursor, Windsurf, Aider, and Zed. Compared to cloud-based alternatives, Spool keeps all session data on-device, ensuring privacy and full control.
Behind the Verdict
Spool is for developers who frequently switch between Claude, Codex, and Gemini coding agents and need a local, searchable history of AI-assisted work per project. It is ideal for CLI power users who want to query sessions via terminal or agent integrations, and for privacy-conscious users needing local-only session management without cloud sync. However, it is not for non-developers who prefer a traditional GUI or cloud-based interface, Windows or Linux users (macOS-only, Apple Silicon currently), users who need cloud sync or multi-device access to session history, or developers using only one AI agent (benefit is limited unless switching agents often). Compared to cloud alternatives like GitHub Copilot's chat history or OpenAI's built-in history, Spool keeps everything local and cross-agent, which is a differentiator but comes with the cost of no sync or web access. In practice, Spool's daemon and automatic indexing work reliably, but the macOS-only limitation is a hard barrier for many teams. The open-source nature and active development mean the feature set is expanding, but early adopters should expect growing pains.
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Real-world workflow fit
Concrete scenarios for the personas Spool actually fits — and what changes day-one when you adopt it.
You work on a side project and switch between Claude Code for design discussions and Codex for implementation. Spool automatically indexes sessions from both agents under the same project folder.
Outcome: You can search for past decisions using ⌘K and pin the most important sessions for quick reference, without manually managing session files.
Your team uses Claude Code, Codex, and Gemini across different parts of the codebase. Spool groups sessions by project, so you can review all AI conversations related to a specific feature.
Outcome: You can quickly find architectural decisions and design discussions from any agent, ensuring consistent context across the team.
You frequently run scripts that interact with AI agents. You want to programmatically query your session history to avoid repeating past work.
Outcome: You use 'spool search --json' in bash scripts to load relevant past sessions into new agent contexts, speeding up development.
Use Cases
- Browse all AI sessions related to a project in one view, regardless of which agent was used.
- Search your library using ⌘K to instantly find a past discussion on JWT rotation or idempotency keys.
- Pin critical sessions like architectural decisions or design patterns for quick access.
- Let Claude Code load relevant past sessions via the /spool skill when building on prior work.
- Set the daemon to automatically index new sessions as soon as they're created.
- Use the CLI in scripts or custom workflows to query session content programmatically.
Models Under the Hood
as of 2026-07-16
Limitations
- Currently macOS-only (Apple Silicon).
- No built-in cloud sync or multi-device support.
- Integration with non-LLM tools (Cursor, Windsurf, aider, zed) is listed as 'coming soon' but not yet implemented.
as of 2026-07-06
12-month cost
Project the real annual outlay, including the implied monthly cost when only an annual tier is published.
Vendor list price only. Add-on usage, seat overages, and contract minimums are surfaced under Hidden costs & gotchas.
Plans compared
For each published Spool tier: who it actually fits, and what it adds vs. the previous tier. Cross-reference the cost calculator above for projected annual outlay.
Free
$0
Ideal for
Any developer or team needing a local, private session library for Claude, Codex, and Gemini sessions at no cost.
What this tier adds
Free tier is the only tier, with no upsells or limitations — all features are available in the open-source MIT-licensed version.
Where the pricing makes sense
The company stage and team size where Spool's pricing actually pencils out — and where peers do it cheaper.
Spool is free and open-source, so it's ideal for individual developers and small teams who want a local session library without ongoing costs. For teams that need cloud sync or multi-device access, you'd need to look at cloud-based alternatives (e.g., Cursor's session history) or build your own sync layer.
Setup time & first value
How long it actually takes to get something useful out of Spool — broken out by persona, not the marketing-page minute.
Solo developer: 2 minutes to run the install script, then Spool immediately starts indexing existing sessions. Tech lead: 5 minutes per team member to install and configure, plus a brief walkthrough of the /spool skill for Claude Code. No account setup or cloud configuration required.
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