zam(1) - shell history manager

zam

SYNOPSIS

zam <command> [options]

DESCRIPTION

zam is an opinionated shell history manager that replaces Ctrl+R with a local-directory-aware, session-tracked, redaction-first TUI. It knows where you are, what you ran, and which parts were secrets -- so you can recall commands without leaking credentials or scrolling through noise.

INSTALL

cargo install --path .

Or from crates.io:

cargo install zam

COMMANDS

log <command>       Log a command to history
search <term>       Search command history
recent              Show recent commands
frequent            Show most-used commands
import <shell>      Import history from zsh, bash, or fish
export              Export history (json, csv, tsv, plain)
stats               Display usage statistics
status              Show backend and configuration
clear               Clear history (with confirmation)
config              Manage configuration
validate            Test redaction patterns
shell <type>        Generate shell integration script
fzf                 Output commands for fzf integration
tui                 Interactive entity browser (TUI)
merge <db-file>     Merge another database
tokens              Manage stored redacted tokens
hosts               List tracked hosts
sessions            List shell sessions
alias               Manage shell aliases

OPTIONS

-c, --config <path>     Configuration file path
-v, --verbose           Verbose output
-q, --quiet             Suppress non-error output
    --no-color          Disable colored output
    --use-file          Force file-based backend

USAGE

# Log and search
zam log "git push origin main"
zam search "git"
zam search --regex "git (commit|push)"
zam search --fuzzy "dckr"
zam recent --count 10

# Interactive TUI browser
zam tui

# Shell integration (add to shell rc file)
eval "$(zam shell zsh)"

# Alias management
zam alias add ll "ls -la" "long listing"
zam alias list
zam alias export

# Import existing history
zam import zsh
zam import bash

# Merge from another machine
zam merge ~/backup/history.db

# Check status
zam status

CLAUDE CODE INTEGRATION

zam supports static sessions via --session-id, so all commands logged by a long-running tool like Claude Code are grouped under one session.

Add a hook to .claude/settings.json:

{
  "hooks": {
    "PostToolUse": [
      {
        "matcher": "Bash",
        "hooks": [
          {
            "type": "command",
            "command": "zam log \"$TOOL_INPUT\" --session-id \"claude-${SESSION_ID}\""
          }
        ]
      }
    ]
  }
}

Commands can then be reviewed per session:

zam sessions --show-commands "claude-<session-id>"

Without --session-id, each zam log invocation creates a new session. The flag reuses an existing session or creates one with the given ID on first use.

CONFIGURATION

Default config file: ~/.zam.json

zam config --init       Generate default config
zam config --show       Print current config

Key settings: redaction patterns, search defaults, shell integration exclusions, import paths.

REDACTION

Automatically detects and redacts passwords, API keys, tokens, connection strings, bearer tokens, SSH keys, AWS credentials, and GitHub tokens.

Custom patterns can be added via configuration.

zam validate "pattern" --test "test string"

STORAGE

Default location: ~/.local/zam/

Database backend (default): zam.db -- SQLite with sessions, hosts, tokens
File backend (--use-file): zam.log -- structured log format

BUILDING

git clone https://github.com/fmeyer/zam.git
cd zam
cargo build --release
cargo test

LICENSE

MIT

zam 0.8.0