The context command helps you recover your work context after time away, context switching, or returning to a project. It visualizes your recent activity from saved journal snapshots.
Quick Start Recover your work context from the last 7 days:
Get an AI-powered “where did I leave off?” summary:
How It Works
Retrieve Snapshots
Pulls saved journal snapshots from the specified date range.
Analyze Activity
Shows current branch, active branches with uncommitted work, and recent activity timeline.
Display Context
Renders PRs, tickets, work areas, and progression across days.
AI Summary (Optional)
Generates a concise briefing of what you were working on and suggested next steps.
Context recovery requires journal snapshots. If you haven’t taken snapshots yet, the command will create one for you automatically.
Command Options Time Range Option Description Default -d, --days <number>Number of days to look back 7--date <date>Show context for specific date (YYYY-MM-DD) - --from <date>Start date for range (YYYY-MM-DD) - --to <date>End date for range (YYYY-MM-DD) -
Last 7 Days
Last 14 Days
Specific Date
Date Range
# Default: last week devdaily context
# Look back 2 weeks devdaily context --days 14
# What was I doing on Jan 15? devdaily context --date 2024-01-15
# Custom range devdaily context --from 2024-01-10 --to 2024-01-20
Project Filtering Option Description -p, --project <id>Filter by project identifier --all-projectsShow context across all tracked projects
# Single project devdaily context --project my-api # All projects devdaily context --all-projects
Display Options Option Description --aiGenerate AI-powered “where did I leave off?” summary --branchesShow detailed active branch status --rawOutput raw context data (no formatting) --no-copyDon’t copy AI summary to clipboard --debugShow debug output
# AI summary of recent work devdaily context --ai # Detailed branch information devdaily context --branches # Raw data for automation devdaily context --raw
Output Components ━━━ 📂 my-api ━━━ /Users/dev/projects/my-api 3 active days · 18 commits
Shows project name, path, active days, and total commits.
Current Branch Current branch: feature/oauth2-integration
Displays your current working branch.
Active Branches Shows branches with work-in-progress:
Active branches (3): ▸ feature/oauth2-integration ← you are here ↑5 ahead Last: Implement OAuth2 token refresh flow Modified: src/auth.ts, src/api/oauth.ts +3 more feature/dashboard-redesign ↑12 ahead ● uncommitted changes Last: Update dashboard layout Modified: src/components/Dashboard.tsx fix/login-redirect Last: Fix redirect after successful login
▸ - Current branch marker← you are here - You’re currently on this branch↑N ahead - Branch is N commits ahead of base● uncommitted changes - Branch has uncommitted work Activity Timeline Chronological view of recent work:
Activity timeline: │ 2024-01-18 (today) 🌿 feature/oauth2 📝 5 · 2 PRs · +234/-89 │ a3f2c91 Implement token refresh endpoint │ b7e1d42 Add OAuth2 configuration │ ... +3 more commits │ │ 2024-01-17 🌿 feature/oauth2 📝 8 · +456/-123 │ c9d4e21 Set up OAuth2 providers │ d2f8a33 Update auth middleware │ e5b3c44 Add OAuth2 database schema │ ... +5 more commits │ 📌 Started OAuth2 integration work ╵
Pull Requests Pull Requests: ○ #45 Add OAuth2 authentication support (open) ● #43 Refactor error handling (merged) ✕ #41 Update API documentation (closed)
○ - Open PR (green)● - Merged PR (accent color)✕ - Closed PR (gray) Tickets Tickets: PROJ-123: Implement OAuth2 authentication [in progress] PROJ-124: Fix login redirect bug [done]
Work Areas Bar chart showing time distribution:
Work areas: backend ████████████████░░░░ 78% tests ████░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ 18% docs ░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ 4%
AI-Powered Summary Add --ai to get a concise briefing:
Example AI Output ╭─────────────────────────────────────────────────╮ │ 🧠 Where You Left Off │ ├─────────────────────────────────────────────────┤ │ │ │ **What I was working on** │ │ OAuth2 authentication integration for the API. │ │ Started 3 days ago, made steady progress on │ │ token management and provider configuration. │ │ │ │ **Current state** │ │ - ✅ OAuth2 providers configured │ │ - ✅ Token refresh endpoint implemented │ │ - ⏳ PR #45 in review │ │ - ⏳ Tests need to be written │ │ │ │ **Open threads** │ │ - Branch: feature/oauth2-integration (5 ahead) │ │ - Uncommitted changes in src/auth.ts │ │ - PR feedback pending │ │ │ │ **Suggested next steps** │ │ 1. Address PR review feedback │ │ 2. Write unit tests for token refresh │ │ 3. Commit uncommitted auth changes │ ╰─────────────────────────────────────────────────╯
The AI analyzes:
Main work themes over the period
What’s completed vs. in progress
Open branches and uncommitted work
Logical next steps based on patterns
The AI summary is automatically copied to clipboard (disable with --no-copy).
Multi-Project Context View context across all your projects:
devdaily context --all-projects --days 7
Shows separate sections for each project you’ve worked on.
First-Time Usage If you haven’t taken snapshots yet:
No journal entries found. Taking a live snapshot... ✓ Snapshot saved for my-api. Future runs will have history.
DevDaily automatically creates your first snapshot and then displays context.
Building Your Journal To build up context history:
# Take snapshots regularly devdaily snapshot # Or enable auto-snapshots in other commands devdaily standup # Auto-creates snapshot devdaily pr # Auto-creates snapshot
Use Cases After a Weekend # Monday morning - what was I doing Friday? devdaily context --days 3 --ai
After Context Switching # Just finished working on project A, now back to B devdaily context --project project-b --ai
After a Vacation # Back from 2 weeks off devdaily context --days 14 --branches --ai
Reviewing Old Work # What was I working on in mid-January? devdaily context --from 2024-01-10 --to 2024-01-20
Daily Standup Prep # Quick context before standup meeting devdaily context --days 1 --ai
Detailed Branch View Use --branches to see all active branches, not just those with uncommitted work:
devdaily context --branches
Shows:
All branches with recent commits
Last commit message per branch
Files modified in each branch
Commits ahead of base
Raw Context Mode For automation and integrations:
Outputs the raw journal entries in a structured format:
=== 2024-01-18 === Project: my-api Branch: feature/oauth2-integration Commits: - a3f2c91: Implement token refresh endpoint - b7e1d42: Add OAuth2 configuration ...
Example Workflows Quick Morning Check # See what I worked on yesterday devdaily context --days 1
Deep Dive Recovery # Full context with AI guidance devdaily context --days 14 --branches --ai
Project-Specific Recovery # What was happening in the API project? devdaily context --project my-api --ai
Export for Documentation # Get raw data for notes devdaily context --raw > context.txt
Configuration Customize in .devdaily.json:
{ "output" : { "copyToClipboard" : true } }
Troubleshooting
If you see “No work context found for the specified period”:
Take snapshots to build your journal:
Look back further:
devdaily context --days 30
View all snapshots:
Journal snapshots are only as complete as the data saved:
Take snapshots regularly (daily or after major work)
Enable auto-snapshots (enabled by default in standup, pr, week)
Use --debug to see what data is available
Ensure GitHub Copilot CLI is installed: gh extension install github/gh-copilot