create-adapter

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Create conversation adapters for importing AI chat history from different tools (Claude Code, Cursor, Warp, Codex, etc.). Covers the adapter.Adapter interface, caching strategies, incremental parsing, watch/FD management, and performance standards. Use when creating a new adapter, modifying adapter behavior, or debugging adapter performance issues. See references/ for Cursor DB and Warp SQLite schema details.

marcus By marcus schedule Updated 2/16/2026
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name: create-adapter description: > Create conversation adapters for importing AI chat history from different tools (Claude Code, Cursor, Warp, Codex, etc.). Covers the adapter.Adapter interface, caching strategies, incremental parsing, watch/FD management, and performance standards. Use when creating a new adapter, modifying adapter behavior, or debugging adapter performance issues. See references/ for Cursor DB and Warp SQLite schema details.

Create Adapter

Why Performance Matters

Adapters are the largest performance risk in Sidecar. Conversations refresh on watch events in a hot path that runs continuously during active sessions:

watch event -> coalescer -> session refresh -> adapter.Sessions() -> metadata parsing

If an adapter does full directory scans and full-file reparses on every change, CPU and FD usage spike quickly.

Reference Adapters

Study these before writing a new adapter:

  • internal/adapter/claudecode - Incremental JSONL parsing, targeted refresh
  • internal/adapter/codex - Directory cache, two-pass metadata parsing, global watch scope
  • internal/adapter/cursor - SQLite/WAL-aware cache invalidation, FD-safe DB access
  • internal/adapter/pi - Global scope, JSONL, CWD-based filtering, session classification, message prefix stripping

Required Interface

All adapters implement adapter.Adapter:

type Adapter interface {
    ID() string
    Name() string
    Icon() string
    Detect(projectRoot string) (bool, error)
    Capabilities() CapabilitySet
    Sessions(projectRoot string) ([]Session, error)
    Messages(sessionID string) ([]Message, error)
    Usage(sessionID string) (*UsageStats, error)
    Watch(projectRoot string) (<-chan Event, io.Closer, error)
}

Required Session Fields

Every session from Sessions() must set:

  • ID, Name
  • AdapterID, AdapterName, AdapterIcon
  • CreatedAt, UpdatedAt
  • MessageCount, FileSize

FileSize is used for dynamic debounce and huge-session auto-reload protection.

Path and Watch Strategy

Set Session.Path only when Sidecar should use tiered file watching for that adapter:

  • File-based append-only (JSONL/log): set Path to absolute file path — this opts into TieredWatcher with HOT/COLD/FROZEN tiers
  • DB/WAL adapters (Cursor, Warp, Kiro): prefer adapter-specific Watch() with WAL-aware invalidation; do not set Path unless tiered watching covers your write surface

FROZEN tier: File-based sessions with Path set automatically benefit from the FROZEN tier. Sessions unchanged for 24 hours (FrozenThreshold) are excluded from cold polling entirely — zero syscalls. They unfreeze when promoted to HOT (e.g., user selects the session). This is critical for adapters with thousands of session files; without it, pollColdSessions() does one os.Stat() per file every 30 seconds.

Performance Standards

1) Cache metadata and messages aggressively

Minimum cache keys:

  • Metadata: path + size + modTime
  • Messages: path + size + modTime
  • SQLite/WAL: include WAL size+mtime in the key

Use bounded LRU behavior. Prune stale paths.

2) Incremental parsing for append-only formats

For JSONL/event-log adapters:

  • Cache last parsed byte offset
  • Parse only appended bytes
  • Fall back to full parse on shrink/rotation/corruption
  • Preserve immutable head metadata from prior parse

3) Two-pass metadata for large files

When incremental metadata parse is impractical:

  • Head pass: ID, CWD, first user message, first timestamp
  • Tail pass: latest timestamp, token totals
  • Skip middle of large files

4) Avoid repeated expensive path work

Resolve project path once per Sessions() call (Abs/EvalSymlinks), reuse for all matches.

5) Return defensive copies from caches

Never return cache-owned slices/maps directly. Copy message/session structures to avoid mutation bugs.

6) Keep DB access FD-safe

For SQLite adapters:

  • Open read-only (mode=ro)
  • SetMaxOpenConns(1), SetMaxIdleConns(0)
  • Close rows and DB handles promptly
  • Avoid multiple DB connections per Messages() call

Watching and FD Management

1) Prefer directory-level watches

Do not watch per-session files when directory-level watch gives equivalent signals.

2) Implement watch scope

If adapter watches a global path (same location regardless of worktree):

func (a *Adapter) WatchScope() adapter.WatchScope {
    return adapter.WatchScopeGlobal
}

This prevents duplicate watchers across worktrees.

3) Always emit SessionID when known

Watch events should include session ID for targeted refresh (avoids full reloads).

4) Debounce and non-blocking sends

  • Debounce bursty write events
  • Use buffered channels
  • Non-blocking sends: select { case ch <- evt: default: }

5) Leverage FROZEN tier for file-based adapters

File-based adapters that set Session.Path get TieredWatcher's three-tier system (HOT → COLD → FROZEN). Sessions unchanged for 24h are frozen and cost zero polling overhead. This is the primary defense against CPU spikes with thousands of session files. If your adapter has file-based sessions, always set Path — the FROZEN tier scales automatically.

6) Ensure cleanup

All watcher paths must close cleanly on plugin stop. No goroutine or FD leaks.

Message and Content Rendering

Adapters must provide rich structured content for Conversation Flow UI.

Required message mapping

Map source records to:

  • Message.Role, Message.Content, Message.ContentBlocks
  • Message.ToolUses (legacy compatibility)
  • Message.ThinkingBlocks (if available)
  • Message.Model when available

Tool linking rule

Use consistent ToolUseID for tool_use and tool_result blocks. If incremental parsing is used, preserve pending tool-link state across cache updates.

Optional Interfaces

TargetedRefresher

type TargetedRefresher interface {
    SessionByID(sessionID string) (*Session, error)
}

Reduces refresh from O(N sessions) to O(1). Implement when adapter can resolve a session directly.

ProjectDiscoverer

Implement when source format allows discovery of sessions beyond current git worktrees.

Error Handling

  • Detect(): return (false, nil) for missing data directories
  • Sessions(): skip corrupt/unreadable entries and continue; hard-fail only on systemic errors
  • Messages(): return nil, nil for missing session files; fail on parse errors
  • Watch(): return (nil, nil, err) when watch setup fails

Benchmark Targets

New adapters should meet these performance targets:

  • Messages() full parse (~1MB): under 50ms
  • Messages() incremental append: under 10ms
  • Messages() cache hit: under 1ms
  • Sessions() on 50 session files: under 50ms

Testing Requirements

Required tests for every new adapter:

  • Relative vs absolute project path behavior in Detect()/Sessions()
  • Sessions() sorted by UpdatedAt desc
  • Required session fields populated (Adapter*, FileSize, Path when applicable)
  • Cache hit behavior (no reparsing on unchanged files)
  • File growth behavior (incremental parse path)
  • File shrink/rotation behavior (fallback full parse)
  • Tool use/result linking (including incremental append cases)
  • Watcher event emission includes SessionID
  • Watcher cleanup (no leaked closers)

Run tests:

go test ./internal/adapter/<adapter> -run .
go test ./internal/adapter/<adapter> -bench . -benchmem

PR Compliance Checklist

A) Correctness

  • Full adapter.Adapter contract implemented
  • Sessions() sets required identity and timestamp fields
  • FileSize populated for every session
  • Path strategy explicit and correct for adapter type
  • Message role/content mapping correct
  • ContentBlocks include text/tool/thinking data
  • Tool result linking correct (ToolUseID parity)

B) Performance

  • Metadata cache implemented and bounded
  • Message cache implemented and bounded
  • Incremental parse or two-pass strategy implemented
  • No repeated Abs/EvalSymlinks in per-session loops
  • No duplicate parsing for single-pass data
  • Benchmarks added with realistic fixtures

C) FD / Watching

  • Directory-level watches preferred
  • Global adapters implement WatchScopeProvider
  • Watch events include SessionID
  • Debounce + buffered + non-blocking send pattern
  • DB adapters account for WAL in invalidation/watch
  • Watchers and goroutines close cleanly

D) Integration

  • Adapter registered via register.go and main import
  • Search uses adapter Messages() path
  • Large-session behavior validated (FileSize-driven)

Session Classification

Adapters can classify sessions by setting SessionCategory on adapter.Session. The conversations plugin supports category filtering (f menu: i/r/s keys) and a quick toggle (C key).

Category Constants

Defined in internal/adapter/adapter.go:

  • adapter.SessionCategoryInteractive — user-initiated interactive sessions
  • adapter.SessionCategoryCron — automated/scheduled sessions
  • adapter.SessionCategorySystem — system/gateway sessions

Implementation Guidelines

  • Classify during metadata parsing (zero extra I/O) — extract category from the first user message or session header
  • Only set SessionCategory if the adapter has meaningful categories. Don't set it if all sessions are the same type
  • If the category filter is active and SessionCategory is empty, sessions pass through (non-breaking for adapters that don't classify)
  • Gateway/system messages may need special classification — e.g., "System: WhatsApp gateway connected" is actually interactive, not system. Check for known preamble patterns before defaulting to system category

Example (from Pi adapter)

func extractSessionMetadata(firstUserMessage string) (category, cronJobName, sourceChannel string) {
    if strings.HasPrefix(firstUserMessage, "[cron:") {
        return adapter.SessionCategoryCron, extractCronJobName(firstUserMessage), ""
    }
    if strings.HasPrefix(firstUserMessage, "System:") {
        if strings.Contains(firstUserMessage, "WhatsApp gateway") {
            return adapter.SessionCategoryInteractive, "", "whatsapp"
        }
        return adapter.SessionCategorySystem, "", ""
    }
    return adapter.SessionCategoryInteractive, "", detectSourceChannel(firstUserMessage)
}

Rich Metadata Fields

Optional fields on adapter.Session for richer display and filtering:

  • CronJobName string — for cron/scheduled sessions; used as session name when set
  • SourceChannel string — for multi-channel adapters (e.g., "telegram", "whatsapp", "direct")

Optional field on adapter.Message:

  • SourceLabel string — per-message source attribution badge (e.g., "[TG] Marcus", "[WA]", "[cron] job-name")

Set these during parsing when the source format contains channel/origin metadata. The conversations plugin and conversation flow UI use these for display.

Message Content Cleaning

For adapters whose source format embeds structured prefixes in user messages (e.g., channel tags, cron headers), strip them during parsing to keep the conversation view clean.

Pattern

  1. Extract metadata (source label, channel, category) from the raw message prefix
  2. Strip the prefix from Message.Content and text ContentBlocks
  3. Store the extracted label in Message.SourceLabel for badge display
// In processMessageLine for user messages:
content, _, _, contentBlocks := parseContent(raw.Message.Content)
sourceLabel := extractSourceLabel(content)    // "[TG] Marcus"
content = stripMessagePrefix(content)          // clean body only
for i := range contentBlocks {
    if contentBlocks[i].Type == "text" {
        contentBlocks[i].Text = stripMessagePrefix(contentBlocks[i].Text)
    }
}
msg := adapter.Message{
    Content:       content,
    ContentBlocks: contentBlocks,
    SourceLabel:   sourceLabel,
}

This keeps Content human-readable while preserving origin metadata in SourceLabel.

Global Adapter Gotchas

Lessons learned from building global-scope adapters (Pi, Codex):

CWD-based Project Filtering

Global adapters (WatchScopeGlobal) store sessions in a single directory regardless of project. They must filter by CWD matching projectRoot in Sessions():

  • Resolve projectRoot once per Sessions() call (Abs + EvalSymlinks)
  • Use a fast CWD cache that reads only the first JSONL line (session header) to avoid full-file parses for non-matching sessions
  • Match with filepath.Rel — a session matches if its CWD is equal to or a subdirectory of the project root

Category Filter Interaction

  • The conversations plugin category filter only filters sessions that HAVE a SessionCategory set — empty passes through
  • Don't enable category filter by default in the plugin — it breaks non-classifying adapters
  • When adding classification to a new adapter, test that existing adapters without categories still display correctly

Project Switching

Global adapters need to handle project switching gracefully:

  • The watcher persists across project switches, but Sessions() gets called with a new projectRoot
  • Directory listing caches with short TTLs (e.g., 500ms) naturally handle this
  • CWD caches keyed by file path are project-agnostic and don't need clearing
  • Session index maps (sessionID -> path) should be rebuilt on each Sessions() call to reflect the new project filter

Watcher Persistence

  • Global adapter watchers are created once and shared across project switches (the plugin deduplicates by adapter ID + WatchScope)
  • Watch events don't include project context — the coalescer triggers a full Sessions() refresh which applies the current project filter
  • Ensure watch goroutines don't hold stale project references

Schema References

See references/cursor-db-format.md for Cursor's per-session SQLite database structure (Merkle tree blobs, hex-encoded metadata, WAL considerations).

See references/warp-sqlite-schema.md for Warp's single SQLite database structure (ai_queries, agent_conversations, blocks tables, protobuf tasks).

Install via CLI
npx skills add https://github.com/marcus/sidecar --skill create-adapter
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