Retain
A unified knowledge base for all your AI coding conversations
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Hey HN! I built Retain as the evolution of claude-reflect (github.com/BayramAnnakov/claude-reflect).The original problem: I use Claude Code/Codex daily for coding, plus claude.ai and ChatGPT occasionally. Every conversation contains decisions, corrections, and patterns I forget existed weeks later. I kept re-explaining the same preferences.claude-reflect was a CLI tool that extracted learnings from Claude Code sessions. Retain takes this further with a native macOS app that:- Aggregates conversations from Claude Code, claude.ai, ChatGPT, and Codex CLI - Instant full-text search across thousands of conversations (SQLite + FTS5)It's local-first - all data stays in a local SQLite database. No servers, no telemetry. Web sync uses your browser cookies to fetch conversations directly.
HN · launched Jan 21, 2026 · 45 upvotes (top 22%) · 1 view
Niche: ai coding agent session managers · 514 launches, 36 in the last 7 days ▼ -18% · Explore this niche →
Category and tags
- Horizontal
- Search & retrieval
- Developer
- AI feature
- Commercial product
Visit website ↗ Source listing ↗
More like this: all 514 launches in ai coding agent session managers →
Could you build this?
Yes It is a knowledge base application that ingests AI chat export logs/sessions, parses decisions and patterns via LLM, and provides a searchable UI.
Discussion
16 comments analyzed.
Competitors mentioned: Claude Code, Anthropic's search feature
Concerns raised: Local-first claim unclear when data pulled from LLM servers, FTS5 semantic search accuracy issues, Limited platform support (Windows, Linux, macOS gaps)
Feature requests: Java/cross-platform version, Native macOS app, Windows support, Linux support
Competitors
Other products that read as similar to this one : 908 launches clear the similarity bar, closest 8 shown.
Attention rank: #257 of 909 (itself plus its competitors, highest first, normalized so YC and Product Hunt are compared fairly).
Launched 76 days after the earliest competitor.
- Second Brain for AI · ph · 2026-05-31 · 284 upvotes · similarity 0.54
- Pull Claude Code transcripts into your Codex session, and vice versa · hn · 2026-07-03 · 7 upvotes · similarity 0.53
- Seturos · ph · 2026-10-16 · 1 upvotes · similarity 0.53
- chat-recall · ph · 2026-09-11 · 95 upvotes · similarity 0.53
- Lore · ph · 2026-10-25 · 1 upvotes · similarity 0.52
- Stop Claude Code from forgetting everything · hn · 2025-12-29 · 202 upvotes · similarity 0.52
- Persistent Memory for Claude Code (MCP) · hn · 2026-01-10 · 7 upvotes · similarity 0.51
- Simple plugin to get Claude Code to listen to you · hn · 2026-03-13 · 18 upvotes · similarity 0.51
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