Share, Embed, and Curate Agent Sessions on DEV [Beta]

Authors can now upload Agent Session transcripts to their DEV account. Those transcripts can be curated, sliced up, shared publicly, and embedded into posts. This is a beta feature, and we are actively looking for feedback!

_Note: Please be very cognizant of what potentially sensitive data/keys might be in your transcripts. We have a redaction layer built in to the parser, but it is not going to catch every edge case. Do not upload sessions or data that you do not own, or that may open you up to security vulnerabilities. _

Now back to our fun announcement.

Every day, more people are creating software for the first time. Some have long histories as developers, and some have never seen a line of code in their life. In most cases, they're using the same tooling - coding agents. And yet, as these tools become ubiquitous there are surprisingly few ways to share your workflows and results in a standardized way beyond screenshots. Each tool has its own share link generator, each tool outputs logs in a different format. There are a few nascent projects out there to help, but they generally exist as standalone utilities or don't solve the sharing problem explicitly in a way that works on DEV.

We decided to solve that problem by making it possible to upload your transcripts to DEV, automatically parse them into a standardized format, and embed whole or partial sessions into your posts in a way that fits naturally into technical writing.

Supported Platforms

To start with, our parser supports Gemini CLI, Codex, Claude Code, Pi, and GitHub Copilot CLI. If you use a different tool, you're encouraged to open a PR or Issue on Forem to add a new parser yourself or ask us to do so. As an example, you can check out how our Gemini CLI parser works in our GitHub commit:
https://github.com/forem/forem/commit/8f92c64a775ed3a0993e5edc0637112a95d1dae2#diff-d98a98bdd6e0d9154df5559b53644185d4ab13160e85c0fdaae3013ff985e27b

Example Session

Here's a session from an example app I built using Gemini CLI for my pet guinea pig Pearl (obligatory pic in comments).

Wheeky Menu - Piggie Food Picker

You

build me a simple web app to let my guinea pig tell me what food it wants

Agent

Clarifying Application Needs / Defining Food Selection UI / Mapping Out The App's Flow

I'll build a vibrant, touch-friendly web app called "Pui Pui Picker" designed for guinea pigs (and their humans).

The Plan:

1. Scaffold: Create a React + TypeScript project using Vite.
2. Design: A "big button" interface with high-contrast colors and bouncy animations to make it engaging.
3. Features:
   • Food Grid: Large cards for Hay, Carrots, Romaine, and Bell Peppers.
   • Pui Pui Feedback: Visual and text-based "wheeking" feedback when an item is selected.
   • History: A small "Last Requested" log to track what the piggie "chose."
4. Styling: Custom Vanilla CSS for a polished, modern look without external dependencies.

Does this sound like a good start for your guinea pig? Or should I add specific snacks they love?

I will start by scaffolding the project.

Show more

Agent

▸ Shell {"command":"npm create vite@latest . -- --template react-ts \u0026\u0026 npm ...

Input

{
  "command": "npm create vite@latest . -- --template react-ts && npm install",
  "description": "Scaffolding the React TypeScript project using Vite and installing dependencies."
}

You

let's go simpler than vite and react

Agent

Seeking Simplification for App / Constructing the index.html

I'll create a single-file, vibrant, and touch-friendly HTML application called "The Wheeky Menu". It will use large, colorful buttons and bouncy animations—perfect for a guinea pig's "input" (or a human's finger).

The Plan:

1. Single File: Everything (HTML, CSS, JS) in index.html for instant loading.
2. Piggie-Centric UI:
   • Large Interaction Zones: Easy-to-hit cards for Hay, Carrots, Peppers, and Lettuce.
   • Visual Feedback: Cards will "pop" and flash when tapped.
3. Features:
   • "Wheek!" Notification: A large visual alert showing what was picked.
   • Order History: A simple log at the bottom to see what the piggie "requested" most.

I will now create the index.html file.

Show more

Agent

▸ WriteFile {"content":"\u003c!DOCTYPE html\u003e\n\u003chtml lang=\"en\"\u003e\n\u003che...

Input

{"content":"\u003c!DOCTYPE html\u003e\n\u003chtml lang=\"en\"\u003e\n\u003chead\u003e\n    \u003cmeta charset=\"UTF-8\"\u003e\n    \u003cmeta name=\"viewport\" content=\"width=device-width, initial...

Output

Successfully created and wrote to new file: /Users/jonmarkgo/Documents/GitHub/gemini-guinea-pig/index.html. Here is the updated code:
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
    <meta charset="UTF-8">
    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0, maximum-scale=1.0, user-scalable=no">
    <title>Wheeky Menu - Piggie Food Picker</title>
    <style>
        :root {
            --bg-color: #fdf6e3;
            --card-bg: #ffffff;
            --text-color: #5d4037;
            --accent-color: #ff8a65;
            --shadow: 0 8px 16px rgba(0,0,0,0.1);
            
            --color-hay: #fff176;
            --color-carrot: #ffb74d;
            --color-pepper: #ef5350;
            --color-lettuce: #81c784;
        }

        * {
            box-sizing: border-box;
            -webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent;
        }

        body {
            font-family: 'Segoe UI', Tahoma, Geneva, Verdana, sans-serif;
            background-color: var(--bg-color);
            color: var(--text-color);
            margin: 0;
            display: flex;
            flex-direction: column;
            align-items: center;
            min-height: 100vh;
            padding: 20px;
            overflow-x: hidden;
        }

        header {
            text-align: center;
            margin-bottom: 30px;
        }

        h1 {
            font-size: 2.5rem;
            margin: 0;
            color: var(--accent-color);
            text-shadow: 2px 2px 0px #fff;
        }

        p.subtitle {
            font-style: italic;
            margin-top: 5px;
            opacity: 0.8;
        }

        .grid {
            display: grid;
            grid-template-columns: repeat(2, 1fr);
            gap: 20px;
            width: 100%;
            max-width: 600px;
        }

        .food-card {
            background: var(--card-bg);
            border-radius: 24px;
            padding: 30px 10px;
            text-align: center;
            box-shadow: var(-
... (truncated)

Agent

Constructing The Interface / Refining The UX Design

The "Wheeky Menu" is ready! It's a single-file web app with large, high-contrast buttons designed for easy "selection" (by snout or finger).

How to use:

1. Open the file: You can open index.html directly in any web browser.
2. Piggie Input: Place your tablet or phone on the floor or near the cage. When your guinea pig taps or "boops" a card:
   • A large "WHEEK!" announcement pops up.
   • The request is added to the Request History at the bottom (so you can see what they picked if you step away).
   • On mobile devices, it will provide a small vibration (haptic feedback) when touched.

I've used high-contrast colors and bouncy animations to make it visually stimulating. Enjoy the wheeking!

Show more

You

Find the current Gemini CLI session log file. Look in ~/.gemini/sessions/ for the most recently modified .json or .jsonl file.

Then run the devto command to upload it:

Error: No file specified. Use --auto or provide a file path.\nRun 'devto --help' for usage.
[Shell command 'devto --yes --tool gemini_cli --title "" "$(ls -t ~/.gemini/sessions//*.json ~/.gemini/sessions//*.jsonl 2>/dev/null | head -1)"' exited with code 1]

If devto is not installed, use curl directly:

jq: Bad JSON in --rawfile body : Could not open : No such file or directory
[Shell command 'TMPJSON=$(mktemp) && jq -n --arg title "" --rawfile body "$(ls -t ~/.gemini/sessions//*.json ~/.gemini/sessions//*.jsonl 2>/dev/null | head -1)" '{title: $title, tool_name: "gemini_cli", body: $body}' > "$TMPJSON" && curl -s -X POST "${DEVTO_HOST:-https://dev.to}/api/agent_sessions" -H "Content-Type: application/json" -H "Accept: application/vnd.forem.api-v1+json" -H "api-key: $DEVTO_API_KEY" -d @"$TMPJSON" && rm -f "$TMPJSON"' exited with code 2]

After uploading, display the URL of the created session to the user.

Show more

Agent

Examining Upload Strategies / Implementing Dev Upload Skill

I will activate the dev-upload skill to securely and efficiently upload your session log to DEV.to.

Agent

▸ Activate Skill {"name":"dev-upload"}

Input

{
  "name": "dev-upload"
}

Output

<activated_skill name="dev-upload">
  <instructions>
    # Upload Session to DEV

Upload the current session transcript to [DEV](https://dev.to) as an Agent Session.

## Steps

### 1. Find the transcript

Find the current session's transcript file — the most recently modified `.jsonl` file:
- Claude Code: `~/.claude/projects/` (recursive)
- Codex: `~/.codex/sessions/`
- Gemini CLI: `~/.gemini/sessions/`
- GitHub Copilot: `~/.copilot/`
- Pi: `~/.pi/sessions/`

Use the agent's own session context if available to identify the exact path.

### 2. Load config and check for API key

Load all config in a single bash call:

```bash
if [ -f ~/.config/devto/config ]; then source ~/.config/devto/config; fi
API_KEY="${DEVTO_API_KEY:-${API_KEY:-}}"
HOST="${DEVTO_HOST:-https://dev.to}"
echo "API_KEY=${API_KEY:+SET}"
echo "HOST=$HOST"
```

If no key is found:
1. Tell the user they need a DEV API key and link them to https://dev.to/settings/extensions to generate one.
2. Ask the user to paste their key here in the chat.
3. Once they provide it, save it (along with the host) so they never have to do this again:

```bash
mkdir -p ~/.config/devto
cat > ~/.config/devto/config <<'CONF'
DEVTO_API_KEY="THE_KEY_THEY_GAVE_YOU"
DEVTO_HOST="https://dev.to"
CONF
```

4. Then continue with the upload. Do NOT stop or ask the user to run commands themselves.

### 3. Upload

Do the entire upload in a single bash call. Replace TRANSCRIPT, TITLE, HOST, and API_KEY with actual values:

```bash
set -e
TRANSCRIPT="/path/to/session.jsonl"
TITLE="the session title"
HOST="https://dev.to"
API_KEY="the-key"

TMPJSON=$(mktemp)
trap "rm -f '$TMPJSON'" EXIT

jq -n \
  --arg title "$TITLE" \
  --arg tool_name "auto" \
  --rawfile body "$TRANSCRIPT" \
  '{title: $title, tool_name: $tool_name, body: $body}' > "$TMPJSON"

RESPONSE=$(curl -s -w "\n%{http_code}" \
  -X POST "$HOST/api/agent_sessions" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Accept: application/vnd.forem.api-v1+json" \
  -H "api-key: $API_KEY"
... (truncated)

Agent

Defining the Upload Process / Analyzing the Configuration Steps

I'll locate your most recent session log and check for a DEV.to API key to begin the upload.

Agent

▸ Shell {"description":"Locating the most recent session log and checking for a DEV.t...

Input

{"description":"Locating the most recent session log and checking for a DEV.to API key.","command":"# Find the most recent session log\nTRANSCRIPT=$(ls -t ~/.gemini/sessions/*.jsonl 2\u003e/dev/nul...

Output

Output: TRANSCRIPT=
API_KEY=SET
HOST=https://dev.to
Process Group PGID: 73065

Agent

Searching the File System / Refining the Search Strategy

I'll look for the session log again, including both .json and .jsonl files across all session subdirectories.

Agent

▸ Shell {"command":"# Find the most recent session log\nTRANSCRIPT=$(ls -t ~/.gemini/...

Input

{"command":"# Find the most recent session log\nTRANSCRIPT=$(ls -t ~/.gemini/sessions/**/*.json ~/.gemini/sessions/**/*.jsonl 2\u003e/dev/null | head -1)\necho \"TRANSCRIPT=$TRANSCRIPT\"","descript...

Output

Output: TRANSCRIPT=
Process Group PGID: 73508

Agent

Exploring the Directory

I'll list the contents of ~/.gemini/sessions/ to find the exact session log files.

Agent

▸ Shell {"command":"ls -R ~/.gemini/sessions/ | head -n 20","description":"Listing th...

Input

{
  "command": "ls -R ~/.gemini/sessions/ | head -n 20",
  "description": "Listing the contents of the Gemini CLI sessions directory."
}

Output

Output: ls: /Users/jonmarkgo/.gemini/sessions/: No such file or directory
Process Group PGID: 73515

Agent

Examining Session Locations / Inspecting Gemini Directory Contents

I'll list the contents of the ~/.gemini/ directory to locate the session logs.

Agent

▸ Shell {"command":"ls -F ~/.gemini/","description":"Listing the contents of the ~/.g...

Input

{
  "command": "ls -F ~/.gemini/",
  "description": "Listing the contents of the ~/.gemini directory."
}

Output

Output: antigravity/                    google_accounts.json            mcp-oauth-tokens-v2.json        settings.json                   tmp/
commands/                       history/                        oauth_creds.json                settings.json.orig              trustedFolders.json
GEMINI.md                       installation_id                 projects.json                   state.json                      user_id
Process Group PGID: 73530

Agent

Checking the History

I'll list the contents of ~/.gemini/history/ to find the session log.

Agent

▸ Shell {"command":"ls -F ~/.gemini/history/ | head -n 20","description":"Listing the...

Input

{
  "command": "ls -F ~/.gemini/history/ | head -n 20",
  "description": "Listing the contents of the ~/.gemini/history directory."
}

Output

Output: cookieparser/
gemini-dog-app/
gemini-guinea-pig/
mlh-core/
Process Group PGID: 73565

Agent

Examining Project Location

I'll list the contents of ~/.gemini/history/gemini-guinea-pig/ to find the current session's log.

Agent

▸ Shell {"command":"ls -t ~/.gemini/history/gemini-guinea-pig/*.jsonl 2\u003e/dev/nul...

Input

{
  "command": "ls -t ~/.gemini/history/gemini-guinea-pig/*.jsonl 2>/dev/null | head -1",
  "description": "Searching for the most recent session log in the history directory."
}

Output

Output: (empty)
Process Group PGID: 74637

Agent

Beginning File Enumeration

I'll list all files in ~/.gemini/history/gemini-guinea-pig/ to find the session log.

Agent

▸ Shell {"command":"ls -R ~/.gemini/history/gemini-guinea-pig/ | head -n 100","descri...

Input

{
  "command": "ls -R ~/.gemini/history/gemini-guinea-pig/ | head -n 100",
  "description": "Listing all files in the history folder to locate the log file."
}

Output

Output: (empty)
Process Group PGID: 75100

Agent

Pinpointing the Missing Path / Re-evaluating the Scope

I'll list the contents of ~/.gemini/tmp/gemini-guinea-pig/ to find the session log.

Agent

▸ Shell {"command":"ls -F ~/.gemini/tmp/gemini-guinea-pig/ | head -n 20","description...

Input

{
  "command": "ls -F ~/.gemini/tmp/gemini-guinea-pig/ | head -n 20",
  "description": "Listing the contents of the ~/.gemini/tmp/gemini-guinea-pig directory."
}

Output

Output: chats/
logs.json
Process Group PGID: 75368

Agent

Investigating Log Location

I'll read the first 10 lines of logs.json to see if it's the session log.

Agent

▸ Shell {"command":"head -n 10 ~/.gemini/tmp/gemini-guinea-pig/logs.json","descriptio...

Input

{
  "command": "head -n 10 ~/.gemini/tmp/gemini-guinea-pig/logs.json",
  "description": "Reading the beginning of logs.json to confirm its format."
}

Output

Output: [
  {
    "sessionId": "295d2fe2-6276-49c4-9229-db8a61d33f2a",
    "messageId": 0,
    "type": "user",
    "message": "build me a simple web app to let my guinea pig tell me what food it wants",
    "timestamp": "2026-03-04T01:15:24.210Z"
  },
  {
    "sessionId": "295d2fe2-6276-49c4-9229-db8a61d33f2a",
Process Group PGID: 75447

Agent

Investigating the Discrepancy / Unraveling File Paths

I'll look for any other directories starting with 's' in ~/.gemini/ to find the sessions folder.

Agent

▸ Shell {"command":"ls -d ~/.gemini/s*","description":"Listing directories in ~/.gemi...

Input

{
  "command": "ls -d ~/.gemini/s*",
  "description": "Listing directories in ~/.gemini that start with 's'."
}

Output

Output: /Users/jonmarkgo/.gemini/settings.json          /Users/jonmarkgo/.gemini/settings.json.orig     /Users/jonmarkgo/.gemini/state.json
Process Group PGID: 75492

Agent

Examining Possible Locations

I'll list all directories starting with .gemini in my home directory to find the session logs.

Agent

▸ Shell {"command":"ls -d ~/.gemini*","description":"Listing all directories and file...

Input

{
  "command": "ls -d ~/.gemini*",
  "description": "Listing all directories and files that start with .gemini in the home folder."
}

Output

Output: /Users/jonmarkgo/.gemini
Process Group PGID: 75500

Agent

Searching for Session Logs / Identifying Alternative Locations

I'll search for all .json and .jsonl files in ~/.gemini/ to find the correct session log.

Agent

▸ Shell {"description":"Searching recursively for .json and .jsonl files in the ~/.ge...

Input

{
  "description": "Searching recursively for .json and .jsonl files in the ~/.gemini directory.",
  "command": "find ~/.gemini/ -name \"*.json\" -o -name \"*.jsonl\" | head -n 20"
}

Output

Output: /Users/jonmarkgo/.gemini/google_accounts.json
/Users/jonmarkgo/.gemini/state.json
/Users/jonmarkgo/.gemini/oauth_creds.json
/Users/jonmarkgo/.gemini/settings.json
/Users/jonmarkgo/.gemini/projects.json
/Users/jonmarkgo/.gemini/trustedFolders.json
/Users/jonmarkgo/.gemini/antigravity/mcp_config.json
/Users/jonmarkgo/.gemini/mcp-oauth-tokens-v2.json
/Users/jonmarkgo/.gemini/tmp/08d27515e40a8c790d53798895cf6650d5843987a3978f7ef5be01987a09b3e1/logs.json
/Users/jonmarkgo/.gemini/tmp/a9c39dae5288a24cdef1cf1d8c6bc99a5cf8b751707de794545fc5f5986be7b2/logs.json
/Users/jonmarkgo/.gemini/tmp/dd9dc36095d552fc5d0c79d94e889e2c50c1b76a76ea3f41ac6b22dd6076ce19/logs.json
/Users/jonmarkgo/.gemini/tmp/dd9dc36095d552fc5d0c79d94e889e2c50c1b76a76ea3f41ac6b22dd6076ce19/chats/session-2025-12-04T21-23-e153598e.json
/Users/jonmarkgo/.gemini/tmp/gemini-guinea-pig/logs.json
/Users/jonmarkgo/.gemini/tmp/gemini-guinea-pig/chats/session-2026-03-04T01-15-295d2fe2.json
/Users/jonmarkgo/.gemini/tmp/gemini-guinea-pig/chats/session-2026-03-04T12-42-295d2fe2.json
/Users/jonmarkgo/.gemini/tmp/79261791c475d806f2ff6cdf73b50843055032e35b2854d7e91e3a92762f2e96/logs.json
/Users/jonmarkgo/.gemini/tmp/79261791c475d806f2ff6cdf73b50843055032e35b2854d7e91e3a92762f2e96/chats/session-2025-12-06T18-02-b9fe7181.json
/Users/jonmarkgo/.gemini/tmp/79261791c475d806f2ff6cdf73b50843055032e35b2854d7e91e3a92762f2e96/chats/session-2025-11-18T16-06-1f38a3eb.json
/Users/jonmarkgo/.gemini/tmp/79261791c475d806f2ff6cdf73b50843055032e35b2854d7e91e3a92762f2e96/chats/session-2025-11-18T18-32-22205976.json
/Users/jonmarkgo/.gemini/tmp/79261791c475d806f2ff6cdf73b50843055032e35b2854d7e91e3a92762f2e96/chats/session-2025-11-18T16-52-0863224c.json
Process Group PGID: 76229

Agent

Analyzing File Locations / Pinpointing Key Files

I'll select the latest session log from ~/.gemini/tmp/gemini-guinea-pig/chats/ and upload it to DEV.to using the discovered session file and your API key.

35 of 35 messages

Let's check out how the upload, curation, and embedding workflow works.

Upload a Session

First, you need to upload a session. You can drag and drop your session transcripts via your browser on the Agent Sessions page. We will soon be launching a CLI and Agent skill to give you a slash command for uploads as well.

Curate a Session

Once you upload the session, you can curate it. You can select which pieces of a session transcript are included in your whole-session embed. You can mass enable/disable different pieces of your transcript, as shown here.

Slice Up a Session

If you don't want to embed your whole session (even in curated form) you can instead use the Slice tool to create a sub-transcript that can include any and all parts of a session. You can have multiple Slices per session, if you want to break up your prompt and embed it in different places in your post.

Share a Session

Lastly, to make this utility more generally useful beyond DEV, you can also share curated Agent Sessions publicly by using the Make Public button. See my session here.

We look forward to seeing what you build and share with this new feature. Happy hacking!

Comments

[Daniel Nwaneri]

The slice-before-upload gap @pascal_cescato_692b7a8a20 identified is the right one. for embedding in technical writing, the useful unit is usually a specific exchange. The moment the agent made the wrong decision or the prompt that finally produced the right output. uploading a full session to get access to two minutes of it adds friction that'll stop most writers from using the feature at all.

Building something adjacent — a browser extension for capturing Claude conversations with semantic search and MCP access. The portable conversation artifact problem is the same one you're solving here, different layer.
will test with a Claude Code session.

[Pascal CESCATO]

It's an awesome feature! I've discover it this afternoon, and tested… I'm found of!

[Jon Gottfried The DEV Team]

Awesome - have you used it in a post yet? Would love to check it out if so

[Pascal CESCATO]

Unfortunately not yet. This feature arrived a bit too late for the article where I could have used it… and my sessions (GitHub Copilot CLI) exceed the 10MB limit. That said, it's definitely on my radar for a future article!

[Jon Gottfried The DEV Team]

Do you think that limit will generally be too low?

[Pascal CESCATO]

The limit itself may not be the core issue — if I had known about it from the start, I would have managed my sessions differently: intermediate saves, one session per feature. The real pain was discovering it after the fact, with a session already too large to use.

Also, for an article, you wouldn't embed a full 10MB session anyway — you'd want a meaningful excerpt. So the real need might be less about raising the limit and more about having a way to extract or slice a specific part of a session. Which, coincidentally, might be my next little experimentation… 😄

[Jon Gottfried The DEV Team]

Good point. We have a slice feature but it's post upload. Maybe there's a way to move it earlier in the process

[Pascal CESCATO]

Exactly — the slices feature is great, but it's a post-upload tool. If the session exceeds 10MB, you never get past the upload step, so slicing never becomes an option. Moving that capability earlier in the process would be the key!

[Jon Gottfried The DEV Team]

This is my guinea pig Pearl. She's not very good at coding yet.