(Claude) Make a date-filtered run a view of its window

CONTRIBUTING.md

@@ -660,13 +660,20 @@ The tool implements a SQLite-based caching system for performance:
   its total at 0 until it finishes. Only the refresh writes entry rows: a run
   renders what its refresh committed, so lines written to a session while it
   renders appear on the next run. A date-filtered run refreshes the
-  cache as an unfiltered one would and leaves the files it wrote from its
-  window marked stale, so the next unfiltered run re-renders them. Its
-  refresh therefore loads whole files when they changed and the incremental
-  refresh declines, not just the window's entries, and nothing when no file
-  changed. A date-filtered `--all-projects` pass converts the projects with a
-  session in the window (or a changed file, or no combined page at the
-  destination) and reports the others as having no messages in it. A pass that loses a project ends with a count of the
+  cache as an unfiltered one would (whole files when they changed and the
+  incremental refresh declines, nothing when no file changed); an
+  `--all-projects` pass refreshes every project before converting any,
+  serially in the parent, to read which sessions the window shows. It
+  writes a view of the window (`window_session_ids` decides its session
+  pages, the index's links and the check below alike), into a destination
+  that holds none of its pages or, with `--force`, over them, removing
+  nothing; the vendored `assets/` and referenced images are not checked.
+  Written in place, it leaves the `html_cache`/`html_pages` rows of the
+  files it replaced marked stale, so the next unfiltered run re-renders
+  them; written anywhere else it touches no such row, since they are keyed
+  by project and file name and describe the full view. The master
+  `index.html`, `search.html` and the recent page have no row: every run
+  rewrites them. A pass that loses a project ends with a count of the
   failed projects, and the CLI exits 1
 - **Performance**: 10-100x faster loading for large projects
 

README.md

@@ -121,9 +121,9 @@ claude-code-log --all-projects
 # Process all projects and open in browser
 claude-code-log --open-browser
 
-# Process all projects with date filtering
-claude-code-log --from-date "yesterday" --to-date "today"
-claude-code-log --from-date "last week"
+# A view of a date window, in a directory of its own
+claude-code-log --from-date "yesterday" --to-date "today" -o ~/yesterday
+claude-code-log --from-date "last week" -o ~/last-week
 
 # Skip individual session files (only create combined transcripts)
 claude-code-log --no-individual-sessions
@@ -152,10 +152,19 @@ claude-code-log /path/to/directory -o combined_transcripts.html
 claude-code-log /path/to/directory --open-browser
 
 # Filter by date range (supports natural language)
-claude-code-log /path/to/directory --from-date "yesterday" --to-date "today"
-claude-code-log /path/to/directory --from-date "3 days ago" --to-date "yesterday"
+claude-code-log /path/to/directory --from-date "yesterday" --to-date "today" --combined only -o ~/yesterday.html
+claude-code-log /path/to/directory --from-date "3 days ago" --to-date "yesterday" --force
 ```
 
+A date-filtered run writes a view of its window: only the projects and
+sessions with messages in it, with the window's totals. It goes into a
+destination that holds none of the pages it writes, so over the pages of
+an earlier run it refuses to start: give it another `-o`, or `--force` to
+write over them (nothing is removed). For one directory, `-o` names the
+combined page alone and the session pages go into the directory, hence
+`--combined only` above. See [Viewing a date
+window](https://daaain.github.io/claude-code-log/date-window/).
+
 ### Feeding Past Conversations to an LLM
 
 The combination `--depth agent --format md --compact` produces condensed Markdown suitable as context for an LLM to review or distill patterns from past work:

claude_code_log/cache.py

@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@
 import threading
 import zlib
 from contextlib import contextmanager
-from datetime import datetime, timezone
+from datetime import datetime
 from pathlib import Path
 from typing import Any, Callable, Dict, Generator, List, Optional, Tuple, get_args
 
@@ -3451,45 +3451,6 @@ def update_html_cache(
                 ),
             )
 
-    def has_sessions_in_window(
-        self, from_dt: Optional[datetime], to_dt: Optional[datetime]
-    ) -> bool:
-        """Does a visible session of this project overlap the window?
-
-        Read from the session rows' first and last timestamps, so it is
-        only as current as those rows: a caller must not trust it for a
-        project whose files changed since. ``from_dt`` / ``to_dt`` are
-        naive UTC, as ``utils.parse_date_bounds`` returns them. A session
-        whose stamps do not parse counts as overlapping.
-        """
-        from .utils import parse_timestamp
-
-        if self._project_id is None:
-            return True
-
-        def naive_utc(stamp: Optional[str]) -> Optional[datetime]:
-            parsed = parse_timestamp(stamp)
-            if parsed is None:
-                return None
-            return parsed.astimezone(timezone.utc).replace(tzinfo=None)
-
-        with self._get_connection() as conn:
-            rows = conn.execute(
-                """SELECT first_timestamp, last_timestamp FROM sessions
-                   WHERE project_id = ? AND hidden = 0""",
-                (self._project_id,),
-            ).fetchall()
-        for row in rows:
-            first = naive_utc(row["first_timestamp"])
-            last = naive_utc(row["last_timestamp"])
-            if first is None or last is None:
-                return True
-            if (to_dt is None or first <= to_dt) and (
-                from_dt is None or last >= from_dt
-            ):
-                return True
-        return False
-
     def mark_rendered_from_window(self, html_path: str) -> None:
         """Record that ``html_path`` was just written from a date window.
 

claude_code_log/cli.py

@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@
 )
 from .converter import (
     RegenerationReport,
+    WindowOutputExists,
     convert_jsonl_to,
     convert_jsonl_to_html,
     ensure_fresh_cache,
@@ -1015,6 +1016,16 @@ def main() -> None:
     type=str,
     help='Filter messages up to this date/time (e.g., "1 hour ago", "today", "2025-06-08 15:00")',
 )
+@click.option(
+    "--force",
+    is_flag=True,
+    help=(
+        "With --from-date/--to-date: write the date window's view over the "
+        "files of it that already exist at the destination. Without it, such "
+        "a run refuses to start when any does. Nothing is removed: pages of "
+        "an earlier view that this one does not rewrite stay, unlinked."
+    ),
+)
 @click.option(
     "--all-projects",
     is_flag=True,
@@ -1214,6 +1225,7 @@ def convert(
     open_browser: bool,
     from_date: Optional[str],
     to_date: Optional[str],
+    force: bool,
     all_projects: bool,
     no_individual_sessions: bool,
     no_cache: bool,
@@ -1260,6 +1272,11 @@ def convert(
     # usage error here, before any work starts.
     resolved_theme = _resolve_theme(theme)
 
+    # `--force` lets a date window's view overwrite the files of it already
+    # at its destination; there is nothing else for it to force yet.
+    if force and from_date is None and to_date is None:
+        raise click.UsageError("--force is only accepted with --from-date/--to-date.")
+
     # Provider mode has three sub-modes:
     #   * export     — `--session-id <id>`: render one session by id
     #   * single-file — INPUT_PATH is a rollout FILE: render that one session
@@ -1299,6 +1316,10 @@ def convert(
         conflicts: list[str] = []
         if tui:
             conflicts.append("--tui")
+        if force:
+            # The provider pipeline writes its date window over a full view
+            # as before, so there is nothing for --force to allow.
+            conflicts.append("--force")
         if provider_wholesale:
             # Wholesale honors --expand-paths/--filter-path (Obsidian projection),
             # --combined, date range, -o/-f, --open-browser, and the cache flags
@@ -1940,6 +1961,7 @@ def render_provider(destination: Path) -> Path:
                 theme=resolved_theme,
                 jobs=jobs,
                 failed_projects=failed_projects,
+                force=force,
             )
 
             # Count processed projects
@@ -1979,6 +2001,11 @@ def render_provider(destination: Path) -> Path:
             from .providers import discover_providers
 
             detected = discover_providers().detect_provider_for_path(input_path)
+            if detected is not None and force:
+                raise click.UsageError(
+                    f"--force does not apply to {input_path}, a {detected} "
+                    "input: its date-filtered view is written as before."
+                )
             if detected is not None:
                 if input_path.is_dir():
                     _run_provider_wholesale(
@@ -2122,6 +2149,7 @@ def render_provider(destination: Path) -> Path:
             render_jobs=(
                 min(jobs, resolve_render_jobs(None)) if jobs is not None else None
             ),
+            force=force,
         )
         # Report only work actually done this run. On a pure skip the converter
         # already printed its "... is current, skipping regeneration" line, so
@@ -2160,7 +2188,7 @@ def render_provider(destination: Path) -> Path:
         if open_browser:
             click.launch(str(output_path))
 
-    except FileNotFoundError as e:
+    except (FileNotFoundError, WindowOutputExists) as e:
         click.echo(f"Error: {e}", err=True)
         if debug:
             import traceback