CSCTF — Chat Shared Conversation To File Skill

CSCTF — Chat Shared Conversation To File

A Bun-native CLI that turns public ChatGPT, Gemini, Grok, and Claude share links into clean Markdown + HTML transcripts with preserved code fences, stable filenames, and optional GitHub Pages publishing.

Why This Exists

Copy/pasting AI share links often:

Breaks fenced code blocks — loses formatting and structure
Loses language hints — no syntax highlighting
Produces messy filenames — random or unreadable names
Requires manual cleanup — inconsistent formatting

CSCTF fixes this with:

Stable slugs — deterministic, collision-proof filenames
Language-preserving fences — code blocks retain syntax hints
Normalized whitespace — clean, consistent output
Static HTML twin — no JS, ready for hosting/archiving
One-command GitHub Pages — instant shareable microsite

Quick Start

# Install
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Dicklesworthstone/chat_shared_conversation_to_file/main/install.sh | bash

# Convert any share link
csctf https://chatgpt.com/share/69343092-91ac-800b-996c-7552461b9b70
csctf https://gemini.google.com/share/66d944b0e6b9
csctf https://grok.com/share/bGVnYWN5_d5329c61-f497-40b7-9472-c555fa71af9c
csctf https://claude.ai/share/549c846d-f6c8-411c-9039-a9a14db376cf

Output:

<conversation_title>.md — Clean Markdown with preserved code fences
<conversation_title>.html — Styled static HTML (zero JavaScript)

Supported Providers

| Provider | URL Pattern | Method | Notes | |----------|-------------|--------|-------| | ChatGPT | chatgpt.com/share/* | Headless Chromium | Public shares only | | Gemini | gemini.google.com/share/* | Headless Chromium | Public shares only | | Grok | grok.com/share/* | Headless Chromium | Public shares only | | Claude | claude.ai/share/* | Your Chrome session | Requires login |

Claude.ai Special Handling

Claude.ai uses Cloudflare protection that blocks standard browser automation. CSCTF handles this automatically:

Copies your Chrome session cookies to a temporary profile
Launches Chrome with remote debugging enabled
Connects via Chrome DevTools Protocol to extract conversation
If Chrome is running, offers to save tabs, restart, and restore afterward

Requirements: Chrome installed + logged into claude.ai in your regular Chrome session.

Design Principles

| Principle | Implementation | |-----------|----------------| | Determinism | Explicit slugging and collision handling | | Minimal network | Only share URL fetched (update checks/publish opt-in) | | Safety | Static HTML (inline CSS/HLJS), no scripts emitted | | Clarity | Colorized step-based logging, confirmation gates | | Atomicity | Temp+rename writes prevent partial files |

How It Works

ChatGPT, Gemini, Grok (End-to-End)

1. Launch headless Playwright Chromium with stealth config
   (spoofed navigator properties, realistic headers)
2. Navigate twice (domcontentloaded → networkidle) for late-loading assets
3. Detect provider from URL hostname
4. Wait for provider-specific selectors with retry/fallback
5. Extract each role's inner HTML (assistant/user), traverse Shadow DOM
6. Clean pills/metadata, run Turndown with fenced-code rule
7. Normalize whitespace and newlines
8. Write Markdown to temp file, rename atomically
9. Render HTML twin with inline CSS/TOC/HLJS

Claude.ai

1. Copy Chrome session cookies to temporary profile
2. Launch Chrome with remote debugging
3. Connect via Chrome DevTools Protocol
4. Extract conversation HTML
5. Process through same Turndown/normalization pipeline
6. Clean up temporary profile

Processing Algorithms

Selector Strategy

Provider-specific selectors with fallback chains:

ChatGPT: article [data-message-author-role]
Gemini: Custom web components (share-turn-viewer, response-container)
Grok: Flexible data-testid patterns
Claude: [data-testid="user-message"] and streaming indicators

Each has multiple fallbacks tried with short timeouts.

Turndown Customization

Injects fenced code blocks
Detects language via class="language-*"
Strips citation pills and data-start/data-end attributes

Normalization

Converts newlines to \n
Removes Unicode LS/PS characters
Collapses excessive blank lines

Slugging Algorithm

Title → lowercase → non-alphanumerics → "_" → trim → max 120 chars
       → Windows reserved-name suffix → collision suffix (_2, _3, ...)

HTML Rendering

Markdown-it + highlight.js
Heading slug de-dupe for TOC
Inline CSS for light/dark/print
Zero JavaScript

Command Reference

csctf <share-url> [options]

Output Options

| Flag | Default | Description | |------|---------|-------------| | --outfile <path> | auto | Override output path | | --no-html / --md-only | off | Skip HTML output | | --html-only | off | Skip Markdown output | | --quiet | off | Minimal logging | | --timeout-ms <ms> | 60000 | Navigation + selector timeout |

GitHub Pages Publishing

| Flag | Default | Description | |------|---------|-------------| | --publish-to-gh-pages | off | Publish to GitHub Pages | | --gh-pages-repo <owner/name> | my_shared_conversations | Target repo | | --gh-pages-branch <branch> | gh-pages | Target branch | | --gh-pages-dir <dir> | csctf | Subdirectory in repo | | --remember | off | Save GH settings | | --forget-gh-pages | off | Clear saved settings | | --dry-run | off | Simulate publish (build index, no push) | | --yes / --no-confirm | off | Skip PROCEED confirmation prompt | | --gh-install | off | Auto-install gh CLI |

Other

| Flag | Description | |------|-------------| | --check-updates | Print latest release tag | | --version | Print version and exit |

Output Format

Markdown Structure

# Conversation: <Title>

**Source:** https://chatgpt.com/share/...
**Retrieved:** 2026-01-08T15:30:00Z

## User

How do I sort an array in Python?

## Assistant

Here's how to sort an array in Python:

```python
# Sort in place
my_list.sort()

# Return new sorted list
sorted_list = sorted(my_list)


### HTML Features

- **Standalone** — No external dependencies
- **Zero JavaScript** — Safe for any hosting
- **Inline CSS** — Light/dark mode via `prefers-color-scheme`
- **Syntax highlighting** — highlight.js themes inline
- **Table of contents** — Auto-generated from headings
- **Language badges** — Code block language indicators
- **Print-friendly** — Optimized print styles

## Filename Generation

"How to Build a REST API" → how_to_build_a_rest_api.md "Python Tips & Tricks!" → python_tips_tricks.md "File exists already" → file_exists_already_2.md


Rules:
- Lowercase
- Non-alphanumerics → `_`
- Trimmed leading/trailing `_`
- Max 120 characters
- Windows reserved names suffixed
- Collisions: `_2`, `_3`, ...

## GitHub Pages Publishing

### Quick Recipe

```bash
# Publish with defaults
csctf <url> --publish-to-gh-pages --yes

# Creates: <gh-username>/my_shared_conversations repo
# Branch: gh-pages
# Directory: csctf/

Remembered Settings

# First time: save settings
csctf <url> --publish-to-gh-pages --remember --yes

# Subsequent: just use --yes
csctf <url> --yes

# Clear remembered settings
csctf --forget-gh-pages

Custom Configuration

csctf <url> --publish-to-gh-pages \
  --gh-pages-repo myuser/my-chats \
  --gh-pages-branch main \
  --gh-pages-dir exports \
  --yes

Requirements

GitHub CLI (gh) installed and authenticated
Verify with: gh auth status

Publish Flow

Resolve repo/branch/dir (use remembered or defaults)
Clone (or create via gh)
Copy MD + HTML files
Regenerate manifest.json and index.html
Commit + push
Print viewer URL

Recipes

Quiet CI Scrape (MD only)

csctf <url> --md-only --quiet --outfile /tmp/chat.md

HTML-only for Embedding

csctf <url> --html-only --outfile site/chat.html

Slow/Large Conversations

csctf <url> --timeout-ms 90000

Custom Browser Cache

PLAYWRIGHT_BROWSERS_PATH=/opt/ms-playwright csctf <url>

Batch Archive

for url in $URLS; do
  csctf "$url" --outfile ~/archive/ --quiet
done

Security & Privacy

Network Behavior

Only fetches: The share URL itself
Opt-in: Update checks, GitHub publish flows
Auth: GitHub CLI (gh) for publishing—no tokens stored

HTML Safety

Zero JavaScript in output
Inline styles only
Citation pills and data attributes stripped
highlight.js used statically

Filesystem

Temp+rename write pattern (atomic)
Collision-proof naming
Config: ~/.config/csctf/config.json

Claude.ai Cookies

Copied to temporary directory only
Used for single scraping session
Original Chrome profile never modified

Performance

| Phase | Time | |-------|------| | First run (Chromium download) | 30-60s | | Subsequent runs | 5-15s | | Claude.ai (uses local Chrome) | 5-10s |

Characteristics

Playwright browsers cached after first run
60s default timeout, 3-attempt backoff
Single page/context, linear processing
Atomic writes prevent partial outputs

Failure Modes & Remedies

| Symptom | Fix | |---------|-----| | "No messages found" | Link is private or layout changed; verify public share, retry with --timeout-ms 90000 | | Bot detection / challenge page | Stealth techniques used; retry or verify link in browser | | Timeout or blank page | Raise --timeout-ms, verify connectivity | | Publish fails (auth) | Ensure gh auth status passes | | Publish fails (branch/dir) | Pass --gh-pages-branch / --gh-pages-dir; use --remember | | Filename collisions | Expected; tool appends _2, _3, ... | | Claude.ai Cloudflare challenge | Complete verification in Chrome window, press Enter | | Claude.ai won't load | Ensure logged into claude.ai in Chrome; close Chrome if prompted |

Environment Variables

Runtime

| Variable | Description | |----------|-------------| | PLAYWRIGHT_BROWSERS_PATH | Reuse cached Chromium bundle |

Installer

| Variable | Description | Default | |----------|-------------|---------| | VERSION | Pin release tag | latest | | DEST | Install directory | ~/.local/bin | | CHECKSUM_URL | Override checksum location | — |

File Locations

| Path | Purpose | |------|---------| | ~/.local/bin/csctf | Binary | | ~/.config/csctf/config.json | GitHub Pages settings | | ~/.cache/ms-playwright/ | Playwright Chromium cache |

Installation

# One-liner (recommended)
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Dicklesworthstone/chat_shared_conversation_to_file/main/install.sh | bash

# Pin version
VERSION=v1.0.0 curl -fsSL .../install.sh | bash

# Custom directory
DEST=/opt/bin curl -fsSL .../install.sh | bash

# Verify checksum
curl -fsSL .../install.sh | bash -s -- --verify

From Source

bun install
bun run build
# Binary at dist/csctf

Comparison

| Feature | Copy/Paste | csctf | |---------|------------|-------| | Code blocks preserved | Often broken | Always preserved | | Language hints | Lost | Detected and kept | | Filenames | Random/messy | Deterministic slugs | | HTML output | None | Styled, no-JS twin | | GitHub Pages | Manual | One command | | Collision handling | Overwrite | Auto-suffix |

Limitations

Requires public share links (except Claude.ai which uses your session)
Provider layouts may change (selectors maintained with fallbacks)
Markdown/HTML exports require share to be available at scrape time
Claude.ai requires Chrome installed with active login session
First run downloads Playwright Chromium (~200MB)

Integration with Flywheel

| Tool | Integration | |------|-------------| | CASS | Archive conversations for session search | | CM | Extract procedural memory from exported chats | | Agent Mail | Attach conversation exports to agent messages | | NTM | Export multi-agent session transcripts |

Agent Skills: CSCTF — Chat Shared Conversation To File

Skill Files