/reflect-tree — session quest-tree

Produce a single-file interactive HTML quest-tree of a Claude Code session. The vertical spine is the linear sequence of turns; back-edges and off-spine nodes encode wrong turns (corrections, retries, reversals, dead-ends, backtracks) so the user can see the whole journey at a glance — including detours and where the agent had to redo work.

This is a sibling to /reflect. Same input contract, different output: /reflect is a two-pane incidents/recommendations dashboard; /reflect-tree is a graph.

When to use

• User invokes /reflect-tree (no args) → analyze the current session from the in-context conversation. Do not re-read the session JSONL — work from the agent's own memory.
• User invokes /reflect-tree <session-id> or /reflect-tree <path-to-jsonl> → run scripts/analyze_session.py <path> directly (this skill runs in a forked context — context: fork — so the compressed transcript is safe to ingest). The script outputs a compact markdown transcript: system reminders stripped, tool calls/results collapsed to one-liners, compaction blocks expanded with embedded user quotes. Then you classify each turn — the script does NOT classify, it only compresses.

Session JSONLs live under: ~/.claude/projects/<encoded-cwd>/<session-id>.jsonl

Node classifications

Each turn becomes a node. Pick the strongest applicable label:

• normal — routine forward progress (user request or assistant tool call/result with no problem)
• correction — user pushed back on an approach ("no", "don't", "stop", "actually")
• retry — agent ran the same tool/intent 2+ times with variations before it worked
• reversal — agent edited then unwound (Edit → revert, Write → delete)
• dead-end — tool failed because of the environment (missing binary, wrong path, OS mismatch)
• backtrack — agent abandoned a path and resumed from an earlier state
• self-correction — agent caught its own mistake mid-stream

Edge types

• flow (default) — solid thin line between consecutive turns
• back-edge — curved dashed line from a retry/reversal/correction node back to the ancestor turn it relates to (color matches the classification)
• backtrack — curved solid arrow showing where the agent jumped back to
• wasted-segment — thicker grey edge with a T12–T18 · 7 turns label when many turns of fruitless searching collapse into one capsule

Each non-normal node carries a refs array listing the ancestor turn IDs it relates to.

Knowledge mining (per-node insight)

Every node must carry an insight block — the single most important, reusable lesson from that turn, framed so a future agent could drop it into a prompt or rule. This is the value of the tree: each node becomes copyable knowledge.

For each turn, extract:

• highlight (1 line, ≤120 chars) — the single most important fact/decision/lesson. The "if you only read one thing from this turn" sentence.
• insight (2–5 lines) — the why behind the highlight. What the agent learned, what was non-obvious, what a future agent should do differently or keep doing. Phrase it as durable advice, not a play-by-play.
• prompt_snippet (copyable text) — a self-contained chunk a user could paste into CLAUDE.md, a memory file, or a future prompt. Must read independently of the tree (no "see T5" references). Format depends on the classification:
  • correction / dead-end → a rule: - Always X, because Y or a <rule> block
  • retry / waste → a recipe: the canonical command/path/tool that worked
  • reversal / backtrack → a guard: "Don't edit X — edit Y instead" with the reason
  • self-correction → a heuristic: "Before doing X, check Y"
  • normal (only the load-bearing ones — request, key decision, final answer) → a fact: the goal statement, the chosen approach, the outcome

Skip prompt_snippet for filler normal turns (routine Reads/Greps with no insight). Better to have 6 strong insights than 50 weak ones.

The HTML drawer renders these per-node with a Copy insight button that copies prompt_snippet to the clipboard. A header-level Copy all insights button assembles every node's prompt_snippet into one markdown document grouped by classification.

Visual language

Class	Shape	Color (CSS token)	Symbol
normal user	filled circle	--accent	—
normal assistant	open circle	--fg	—
correction	diamond	--err border	!
retry	double ring	--warn	↻
reversal	hollow square	--warn dashed	⇄
dead-end	filled X	--err	✕
backtrack	arrow node	--muted dashed	↶
self-correction	small diamond	--ok border	✓!

X-position: normal = center spine; correction/reversal nudged left; retry/dead-end nudged right. This keeps the spine readable while making detours visually distinct.

A legend is rendered inline in the header.

Collapsed-run capsule

When grouping consecutive normal turns into a capsule, render the entire label inside the rounded rect — turn-range, count, and topic together. Do not place the turn-range outside the box; it looks broken when the rect background only covers part of the label.

Pattern (SVG):

<g class="capsule" transform="translate(300 380)">
  <rect x="-150" y="-13" width="300" height="26"/>
  <text x="0" y="0">
    <tspan class="turn-range">T120–T139</tspan> · 11 turns · refactor + INFRA_GUIDE.md
  </text>
</g>

The rect width must accommodate the full text. Center the <text> (anchor middle, dominant-baseline middle) so it sits inside the rect. Use rx/ry ≥ 8 for the pill shape. Style the turn-range inline with <tspan class="turn-range"> so it stays bold/foreground while the rest of the label is muted.

How to render

Synthesize a fresh single-file HTML each run, using reference/example.html as inspiration (override anything that doesn't fit the actual session). The reference establishes:

• Pure SVG + vanilla JS (no external libs). Sessions are <200 turns; force-directed layouts are overkill.
• CSS tokens (--bg, --panel, --fg, --muted, --accent, --err, --warn, --ok, …) — keep this scheme.
• Type pairing: Newsreader italic for the wordmark, JetBrains Mono for everything technical, system sans for prose.
• Header with goal banner, session metadata, theme toggle, filter chips (one per classification).
• SVG canvas (vertical spine) with pan + zoom (viewBox-based: wheel zoom on cursor; drag to pan; 0 resets; +/- zoom).
• Click node → right-side drawer with full text/excerpt, tool calls, args, results.
• Hover node → tooltip with turn id + 1-line summary; highlight all incident edges.
• Filter chips dim non-matching nodes/edges to ~15% opacity.
• Click a back-edge or a refs chip in the drawer → center+pulse the referenced ancestor.
• Auto-collapse runs of consecutive normal turns into a single capsule labeled T12–T18 · 7 turns (click to expand inline).

Output directory — do not write inside the skill folder. Resolve a temp dir from the environment, in this preference order:

1. $TMPDIR (Unix/macOS)
2. $TMP or $TEMP (Windows / Git Bash)
3. /tmp as fallback

Then create a reflect-tree/ subdir inside it (mkdir -p) and write the report as <that-dir>/reflect-tree/<slug>.html. Slug rules — kebab-case, derived from session goal:

• 2–5 words, lowercase, hyphen-separated, ASCII only
• describe the task, not the session id (e.g. auth-middleware-rewrite)
• if the goal is unclear, fall back to <YYYY-MM-DD>-<topic>.html

Open it in the browser when done: start "" <path> (Git Bash on Windows).

Files in this skill

• reference/example.html — canonical inspiration HTML showing the tree layout, all node classifications, all edge types, theme toggle, filters, drawer, pan/zoom. Read before generating.
• scripts/analyze_session.py — JSONL compressor (independent copy of reflect's; no symlink). Strips system reminders, preserves real user messages, collapses tool calls/results to one-liners, expands compaction blocks. Output is markdown to stdout. Use only for explicit sessions — never on the current in-context session.

Workflow

Default (no args) — reflect on current session:

1. From conversation memory, walk the turns in order. For each, decide the classification (default normal); for non-normal turns, fill in refs (which earlier turn(s) this re-attempts/undoes/contradicts).
2. Group consecutive normal turns into capsules where they would clutter the spine.
3. Read reference/example.html for the current aesthetic / SVG layout patterns.
4. Write the tree to the temp dir (<temp>/reflect-tree/<slug>.html) — fresh HTML, same look-and-feel as the reference, populated with real turns/edges.
5. Open it with start "" <path>.

Explicit session — /reflect-tree <id-or-path>:

1. Resolve to a JSONL path (if just an id, look under ~/.claude/projects/<encoded-cwd>/<id>.jsonl).
2. Run scripts/analyze_session.py <path>. Skill is forked (context: fork), so the compressed transcript is safe in context. No subagent.
3. Walk the transcript and classify each turn yourself — the script does not classify. Focus on user/assistant exchange (what the user wanted vs. what the agent did), not raw tool patterns.
4. Fallback to JSONL when transcript is lossy. Transcript truncates tool args/results and long messages. When detail matters (exact rejected input, full error body, Edit diff), Read the JSONL directly with offset/limit scoped to the event. JSONL is source of truth; transcript is the index.
5. Render and open (default steps 2–5).

Notes

• The tree is a claim about what happened. Be honest — include the agent's own mistakes, not just user corrections.
• A linear, all-normal spine is a valid output. Do not invent detours to make the tree look more interesting.
• Sibling: /reflect complements this view by producing actionable recommendations. The two can be run on the same session.