Enable “auto-scan” of past Cursor chats (BL-10)¶

Workspace note: The Python script lives at scripts/scan_cursor_transcripts_for_backlog.py in a full monorepo, not in the minimal public ai-assisted-work tree. See ../INDEX-full-workspace-only.md. Copy the script into your project or clone a workspace that already includes scripts/.

What this is: A local, opt-in script that reads Cursor agent-transcripts (*.jsonl) and writes a draft Markdown report of lines that look like todos / follow-ups / deferred work. You review the report and manually promote items to BACKLOG.md or your journal — nothing is auto-merged.

What this is not: The assistant does not silently read all your old chats during normal turns. That would mix privacy, noise, and trust. In full workspaces, behavior may be described under .cursor/skills/session-backlog-scan/ (this thread only unless you authorize).

1. Prerequisites¶

Python 3.9+ on your machine.
Cursor has stored transcripts for this workspace. Typical path on your Mac for this repo:

~/.cursor/projects/Users-victoriacrosby-Desktop-Cursor/agent-transcripts/

Each subfolder is a chat UUID; inside is one *.jsonl file.

Trust: Transcripts can include API keys, personal info, or work secrets. Scrub before sharing. Output defaults to scratch/transcript-backlog-scans/ (gitignored).

2. Run the scanner¶

From the workspace root (Cursor/):

# Default root: ~/.cursor/projects/Users-victoriacrosby-Desktop-Cursor/agent-transcripts
python3 scripts/scan_cursor_transcripts_for_backlog.py

Another project:

export CURSOR_AGENT_TRANSCRIPTS_ROOT="$HOME/.cursor/projects/OTHER-PROJECT/agent-transcripts"
python3 scripts/scan_cursor_transcripts_for_backlog.py

Include assistant turns (noisier — catches “Want me to…?” style text):

python3 scripts/scan_cursor_transcripts_for_backlog.py --include-assistant

Custom output path:

python3 scripts/scan_cursor_transcripts_for_backlog.py --out /tmp/my-scan.md

Open the generated scratch/transcript-backlog-scans/scan-*.md, delete false positives, then:

Paste survivors under Backlog candidates in today’s journal, or
Add BL-## rows to BACKLOG.md (a2b + BACKLOG_STORY_DETAILS.md).

3. Semi-automation (optional)¶

Weekly Review: Run the script Sunday, spend 10 minutes triaging.
Cron / launchd: Schedule the same command; still human-in-the-loop for promotion.
Tuning: Edit trigger regex in scripts/scan_cursor_transcripts_for_backlog.py if you get too much / too little noise.

4. Having the agent use transcripts¶

Only after you explicitly authorize in chat, e.g.:

You may read scratch/transcript-backlog-scans/scan-….md and propose journal/BL rows.

Or paste excerpts yourself. Do not point the agent at raw ~/.cursor/.../agent-transcripts unless you accept the privacy risk in that thread.

5. Relation to other capture¶

Mechanism	Scope
`session-backlog-scan` skill + `/session-end`	This chat → journal `Backlog candidates`
This script	All chats on disk for this project → draft report
`BACKLOG.md`	Canonical prioritized todo list after you promote