Add history export (and re-import) option, machine-readable

[shoffmeister]

It could be a useful addition to atuin to offer history export, reimport/merge in a machine-readable, open, stable format.

I did find the SQLite database in ~/.local/share/atuin, but that's "locked away" in a sense, IMHO, requiring SQLite tooling.

Using JSON as data exchange format, it would be possible to

• backup transparently the history - e.g. atuin history list --json, sitting next to the --format option
• replace existing history, e.g. atuin history replace --json < my-history.json
• merge / append existing history, e.g. atuin history append --json < my-history.json
• run filtering, e.g. atuin history list --json | jq ' <fancy-filtering-here> ' | atuin history append --json

This would be particularly useful in scenarios where there is no Atuin server around, only sneakernet.

Disclaimer: I only just installed atuin, with one major attraction being the global shell history across bash sessions (something that fzf does not / cannot offer).

[conradludgate]

• backup transparently the history - e.g. atuin history list --json, sitting next to the --format option
• merge / append existing history, e.g. atuin history append --json < my-history.json

You might know we already have a sync service. This uses JSON already, but the payloads are encrypted.

In theory we could have a cli version too. But it needs a proper design. We have some ideas on the roadmap. I'll see if we can fit this in with our new ideas too.

Thanks for the suggestion

[tennox]

"Workaround" script (nushell, but you get the point):

atuin search -c $session_dir --format '"command": "{command}", "directory": "{directory}", "duration": "{duration}", "user": "{user}", "host": "{host}", "time": "{time}", "exit": "{exit}", "relativetime": "{relativetime}"' 
        | str trim | each {|s| '{' + $s + '}'} # = surround with curly braces
        | save "export.jsonl" # save to jsonl file

(note: can't put { in format string, not even \{ 😅 )

[tombh]

Here's a little script I'm using to keep my Atuin history synced with my Nushell history. I run it to both import and to sync when I delete items from history.

The only reason I sync Atuin and Nushell is just because I like those ZSH-style autocompletions as you type, which as far as I know Atuin only currently natively supports for ZSH itself.

# Remember to change the DB paths to your own.
echo "\
  ATTACH DATABASE '/home/tombh/.local/share/atuin/history.db' AS atuin;\
  DELETE FROM history;\
  INSERT INTO history(command_line, start_timestamp, hostname, cwd, duration_ms, exit_status) \
               SELECT command,      timestamp,       hostname, cwd, duration,    exit         FROM atuin.history;\
" | sqlite3 ~/.config/nushell/history.sqlite3