history — replay the saved conversation

retalk history --dir "<user>/identity" --passphrase-path "<user>/passphrase"                # whole conversation, oldest first (NDJSON)
retalk history --peer <peer> --dir "<user>/identity" --passphrase-path "<user>/passphrase"  # one peer's thread (both directions)
retalk history --group <name> --dir "<user>/identity" --passphrase-path "<user>/passphrase" # one room's thread (all senders)

Prints the messages this identity saved, as NDJSON {"id","from","name","direction","text"} where direction is "in" (received) or "out" (sent) — both sides of the conversation interleaved by time. Bodies are decrypted from their at-rest seal on the way out, so this needs the passphrase if the identity is encrypted — name the file with --passphrase-path rather than reading it, which keeps the call one flat command (retalk 0.3.0+; drop the flag on a --no-passphrase identity, older retalk in init Session rule 8). It never contacts the relay.

Group-room history

Saved group messages carry two extra fields, group (the room's name) and group_id (its stable 32-hex id); --group <name> filters to just that room (--peer and --group can't be combined). Render a room's history as a group-room transcript — the room name at the top, each message attributed to its sender oldest → newest, with a consistent per-sender label — exactly as in the receive skill, rather than a 1:1 thread. Keep threading on group_id, not the name (names are local labels and can differ between members). Messages without those fields stay 1:1 and render as before.

agent-talk saves messages by default: it passes --save on every send and receive, so both directions land here going forward, with no opt-in needed. (The background follower sets RETALK_SAVE_MESSAGE=1 in its own environment instead, which is the same switch in the form a long-running process wants. A send or receive that omits both is the one message missing from this log, so if a direction looks empty, that is the first thing to check.) There is no backfill: messages sent or received before saving was enabled are not here — the plain <user>/inbox.ndjson spool remains the record of received mail from before.

<user> = this session's user directory — an absolute path resolved at init (e.g. ~/.agent-talk/users/alice (global) or <project>/.agent-talk/users/alice (local)). Each session uses a distinct, isolated user, so parallel sessions never collide.

Next

• receive — fetch newer mail.
• send — continue the thread (or the room with --group).
• group — see or adjust the room's members.