cp2md

Copyright (C) 2025 Brian Hetro whee@smaertness.net

Convert GitHub Copilot chat exports to Markdown.

Highlights

• Converts GitHub Copilot chat exports (single files or whole directories) to Markdown
• Shows model, agent, and attached context by default
• Optional inclusion of tool invocations and timestamps
• Recurses through directories, processes only JSON exports, and sorts/deduplicates inputs for deterministic output
• CLI-friendly: cp2md [OPTIONS] -o <OUTPUT> <INPUT>...

Installation

Download a prebuilt binary from GitHub Releases, or build from source:

cargo build --release
./target/release/cp2md --help

Usage

cp2md [OPTIONS] -o <OUTPUT> <INPUT>...

Arguments

• <INPUT>... - Input JSON files or directories containing exports

Options

• -o, --output <OUTPUT> - Output directory (or file with --concat, or - for stdout)
• --concat - Combine all inputs into a single output
• --heading-offset <N> - Shift heading levels by N (0-5, default: 0)

Notes:

• Without --concat, -o must point to a directory (or - for stdout) and stdout is only allowed when converting a single input file.
• With --concat, -o is treated as a single output file (or - for stdout) and is required to combine multiple inputs.

Metadata Display

Use --show-* or --hide-* flags to control what appears in output:

Flag	Default	Description
--show-timestamps / --hide-timestamps	off	Timestamps for each message
--show-model / --hide-model	on	Model identifier (e.g., claude-sonnet-4)
--show-agent / --hide-agent	on	VS Code agent name (e.g., @workspace)
--show-context / --hide-context	on	Attached files, selections, folders, and instruction files
--show-tools / --hide-tools	off	Tool invocations (searches, reads)
--show-edits / --hide-edits	off	Full code content for file edits

-v, --verbose is an alias for --show-tools.

--compact hides all metadata (model, agent, context, tools, timestamps).

If you pass both show/hide forms for the same field, the last flag wins.

Timestamp Options

When timestamps are enabled (--show-timestamps):

Flag	Description
--utc-time	Render in UTC (default)
--local-time	Render in local timezone
--timestamps-both	Render as <local> / <utc>

Other Options

• -q, --quiet - Suppress progress messages
• -n, --dry-run - Show what would be processed without writing
• -f, --force - Overwrite existing output files
• -h, --help - Print help
• -V, --version - Print version

Examples

Convert a single chat export:

cp2md chat.json -o output/

Convert all JSON files in a directory:

cp2md ~/copilot-exports/ -o markdown/

Include tool invocations (searches, file reads, etc.):

cp2md chat.json -o output/ --verbose

Minimal output (just messages):

cp2md chat.json -o - --hide-model --hide-agent --hide-context

Preview what would be converted without writing:

cp2md ~/copilot-exports/ -o markdown/ --dry-run

Combine multiple chats into a single file:

cp2md chat1.json chat2.json -o combined.md --concat

Output to stdout (useful for piping):

cp2md chat.json -o - | less

Finding Copilot Exports

Export chat history using the VS Code command palette: Copilot: Export Chat...

Output Format

Each input file foo.json produces foo.md in the output directory. The Markdown includes:

• Model identifier and agent name in the metadata line (shown by default when present and not hidden)
• Attached context in a collapsible details block (files, selections, folders, instruction files) when present and not hidden
• User prompts and assistant responses
• Timestamps (when --show-timestamps is set)
• Tool invocations with past-tense messages (when --show-tools / --verbose is set)
• File modification summaries for edits (with line counts) when a text edit group is present

Headings in user/assistant content are shifted down to prevent them from disrupting document structure. XML-like tags are escaped to render literally.

Example output:

# Copilot Chat

## User

*claude-sonnet-4 · @workspace*

<details>
<summary>📎 Context</summary>

- `main.rs` (file)
- `lib.rs`:10-25 (selection)

</details>

How do I reverse a string in Python?

## Assistant

You can reverse a string using slicing: `[::-1]`

License

This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of version 3 of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation.

See LICENSE for the full text.