ada query — Query Session Data

The ada query command lets you query captured session data — traces, transcripts, screenshots, and metadata.

ada query <bundle> <subcommand> [options]

Session Selectors

The <bundle> argument accepts:

@latest — the most recent session
Session ID — e.g. session_2026_01_24_14_56_19_a1b2c3
Bundle path — a direct path to a session directory or .adabundle

Subcommands

summary

Show session summary statistics — event counts, time range, and modules.

ada query @latest summary
ada query @latest summary --format json

Flag	Short	Default	Description
`--format`	`-f`	`text`	Output format (`text` or `json`)

events

List trace events with optional filters.

ada query @latest events --limit 100
ada query @latest events --thread 0 --function "viewDidLoad" --limit 50
ada query @latest events --since-ns 1000000000 --until-ns 2000000000 --limit 100 --format json

Flag	Short	Default	Description
`--thread`	`-t`	(all)	Filter by thread ID
`--function`		(none)	Filter by function name (substring match)
`--limit`	`-l`	`1000`	Maximum number of events to return
`--offset`	`-o`	`0`	Number of events to skip
`--since-ns`		(none)	Filter events with timestamp ≥ value (nanoseconds)
`--until-ns`		(none)	Filter events with timestamp ≤ value (nanoseconds)
`--with-values`		(off)	Include register values (x0-x7) from ATF detail lane
`--format`	`-f`	`text`	Output format (`text`, `json`, `line`, or `chrome-trace`)

timeline

Show multi-thread interleaved timeline with call depth visualization.

ada query @latest timeline [options]

Flag	Short	Default	Description
`--thread`	`-t`	(none)	Filter by thread ID
`--function`		(none)	Filter by function name (substring match)
`--limit`	`-l`	`10000`	Maximum number of events to return
`--since-ns`		(none)	Filter events with timestamp ≥ value (nanoseconds)
`--until-ns`		(none)	Filter events with timestamp ≤ value (nanoseconds)
`--with-values`		(off)	Include register values (x0-x7) from ATF detail lane
`--format`	`-f`	`dtrace-flowindent`	Output format (`dtrace-flowindent`, `json`, or `line`)

reverse

Reverse-trace matched functions newest-to-oldest (rr-style).

ada query @latest reverse <function_pattern> [options]

Flag	Short	Default	Description
`--thread`	`-t`	(none)	Filter by thread ID
`--limit`	`-l`	`1000`	Maximum number of matching events to return
`--since-ns`		(none)	Filter events with timestamp ≥ value (nanoseconds)
`--until-ns`		(none)	Filter events with timestamp ≤ value (nanoseconds)
`--with-values`		`true`	Include register values (x0-x7) — enabled by default for reverse
`--format`	`-f`	`text`	Output format (`text`, `json`, or `line`)

functions

List all traced functions with their IDs.

ada query @latest functions
ada query @latest functions --format json

Flag	Short	Default	Description
`--format`	`-f`	`text`	Output format (`text` or `json`)

threads

List all traced threads.

ada query @latest threads
ada query @latest threads --format json

Flag	Short	Default	Description
`--format`	`-f`	`text`	Output format (`text` or `json`)

calls

Find calls to a specific function (substring match).

ada query @latest calls "viewDidLoad"
ada query @latest calls "viewDidLoad" --limit 50 --format json

Flag	Short	Default	Description
`--limit`	`-l`	`1000`	Maximum number of results
`--format`	`-f`	`text`	Output format (`text`, `json`, `line`, or `chrome-trace`)

time-info

Show session time bounds and duration.

ada query @latest time-info
ada query @latest time-info --format json

Flag	Short	Default	Description
`--format`	`-f`	`text`	Output format (`text` or `json`)

capabilities

Show available query capabilities and tool requirements.

ada query @latest capabilities

Flag	Short	Default	Description
`--format`	`-f`	`text`	Output format (`text` or `json`)

transcribe info

Get voice transcript metadata without loading the full content.

ada query @latest transcribe info
ada query @latest transcribe info --format json

Flag	Short	Default	Description
`--format`	`-f`	`text`	Output format (`text` or `json`)

transcribe words

Get word-level timestamps for a time range.

ada query @latest transcribe words [options]

Flag	Short	Default	Description
`--since`		(none)	Start time in seconds
`--until`		(none)	End time in seconds
`--format`	`-f`	`text`	Output format (`text` or `json`)

transcribe segments

Get transcript segments with pagination. The first query runs whisper-cli and caches results to transcript.json inside the session bundle. Subsequent queries reuse the cache.

ada query @latest transcribe segments --limit 100 --format json
ada query @latest transcribe segments --since 10 --until 30

Flag	Short	Default	Description
`--offset`	`-o`	`0`	Number of segments to skip
`--limit`	`-l`	`20`	Maximum number of segments to return
`--since`		(none)	Filter segments starting at or after this time (seconds)
`--until`		(none)	Filter segments ending at or before this time (seconds)
`--format`	`-f`	`text`	Output format (`text` or `json`)

screenshot

Extract a screenshot from the screen recording at a given timestamp.

ada query @latest screenshot --time 15.5 --output /tmp/screen.png

Flag	Short	Default	Description
`--time`	`-t`	(none)	Time in seconds to extract a single frame from
`--from`		(none)	Start time in seconds for range extraction
`--to`		(none)	End time in seconds for range extraction
`--every`		`1`	Extract every Nth frame in range mode (default: all frames)
`--output`	`-o`	(none)	Output file path (single mode) or directory (range mode)
`--format`	`-f`	`text`	Output format (`text` or `json`)

video-info

Show screen recording video info (fps, frame count, codec).

ada query @latest video-info
ada query @latest video-info --format json

Flag	Short	Default	Description
`--format`	`-f`	`text`	Output format (`text` or `json`)

Output Formats

Most subcommands support --format (-f):

text (default) — human-readable output
json — structured output for programmatic use
line — one entry per line (events and calls only)

This is how the /analyze skill consumes trace data.