Include older chats and search by meaning

Add older history

Mash starts with the last 90 days. To include older conversations:

mash index --all-history

To refresh just one agent’s history:

mash index --provider codex

Your original history files are never changed. Keep the local search service running and check the command’s final result for errors.

For continuous updates, see keep history up to date. To change the age limit permanently, see configuration.

Enable semantic search

Word and phrase searches work without models. Semantic search lets you ask a question even when you do not remember the original wording.

First, download the optional local models:

mash models install

In the configuration created by mash init, update these settings:

[views.build]
representations = "lexical-and-dense"

[views.query]
intent = "related-discussion"

Edit the existing tables rather than adding duplicates, and keep your other settings. Then refresh and try a question:

mash index
mash search 'why did we choose a separate database' --intent related-discussion

The first pass takes longer because it prepares your existing history for semantic search. Subsequent passes reuse unchanged work. Semantic queries currently need English.

You can still search for exact words:

mash search 'auth_token' --intent exact-mention

If something fails, see troubleshooting.