# backscroll

Records full terminal output into a local SQLite database so you can search logs, inspect errors, and compare runs. Useful when scrollback is lost after a terminal restart.

- MCP server · `type=mcp` · Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Windsurf (Devin Desktop), Cline, Zed · ★ 7
- Author: soren-achebe
- License: MIT · policy=link-only · description only; the file stays with the author
- Source: https://github.com/soren-achebe/backscroll
- Updated: 2026-09-14
- HTML: https://affpapa.org/en/nevibecode/mcp/backscroll

## What it does

Standard shell history saves the commands you ran, leaving out the console response. `backscroll` wraps your terminal shell via a pseudo-terminal PTY, segmenting every stream using OSC 133 prompt markers. Command output and exit codes land in a local SQLite file at `~/.local/share/backscroll/backscroll.db`. The tool runs without background daemons or remote tracking.

Stored outputs are compressed with zstd. Substring lookups rely on SQLite FTS5 trigram indexes, matching text regardless of character case. Full-screen interactive tools like `vim` or `htop` bypass the recorder so the database avoids terminal escape noise. For large outputs, head and tail chunks are retained.

Terminal captures do not happen invisibly: you must start them using `backscroll run` or integrate the hook into `~/.zshrc`, `~/.bashrc`, or fish config. When a terminal tab exits abruptly, the recorder flushes whatever output accumulated before closing.

## Install

### Claude Code (native platform)

**Install**
- The MCP registry has no launch command for it: see the repository README

## When to use it
- search past terminal outputs for lost tokens, errors, or IP addresses
- compare output differences between two runs using `backscroll diff`
- recover output text from closed terminal windows or tmux panes
- export past commands and output into markdown for bug reports

## Example prompts
- Find the permission denied error in past terminal output and show the details
- Diff the outputs of the last two terraform plan executions recorded by backscroll
- Show me the full console output from the command before last

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