Extract timestamps from ChatGPT backup conversations.json using pwsh and jq

Common-Host.ps1

#!/usr/bin/env pwsh

Set-StrictMode -Version 3.0

# Script variables section
# ---

Set-Alias NewLine Write-Host -Option ReadOnly -Force

# Functions section
# ---

# Write a Header message to a host
function Write-Header {
    [OutputType([void])]
    Param(
        [Parameter(Position = 0, Mandatory, HelpMessage = 'Writes a header message to the host.')]
        [ValidateNotNullOrEmpty()]
        [string]
        $Header,

        [Parameter(HelpMessage = 'No newline before the header message.')]
        [switch] $NoNewlineBefore,

        [Parameter(HelpMessage = 'No newline after the header message.')]
        [switch] $NoNewlineAfter,

        [Parameter(HelpMessage = 'No newlines before and after the header message.')]
        [switch] $NoNewlines
    )

    if (-not $NoNewlineBefore -and -not $NoNewlines) {
        NewLine
    }

    Write-Host $Header -ForegroundColor DarkBlue

    if (-not $NoNewlineAfter -and -not $NoNewlines) {
        NewLine
    }
}

# Write an info message to a host
function Write-Info {
    [OutputType([void])]
    Param(
        [Parameter(Position = 0, Mandatory, HelpMessage = 'Writes an info message to the host.')]
        [ValidateNotNullOrEmpty()]
        [string]
        $Message,

        [Parameter(HelpMessage = 'No newline is added after the last output string.')]
        [switch] $NoNewline
    )

    Write-Host $Message -ForegroundColor DarkGreen -NoNewline:$NoNewline
}

# Write a progress message to a host
function Write-Progress {
    [OutputType([void])]
    Param(
        [Parameter(Position = 0, Mandatory, HelpMessage = 'Writes a progress message to the host.')]
        [ValidateNotNullOrEmpty()]
        [string]
        $Message,

        [Parameter(HelpMessage = 'No newline is added after the last output string.')]
        [switch] $NoNewline
    )

    Write-Host $Message -ForegroundColor DarkYellow -NoNewline:$NoNewline
}

# Write an error message to a host
function Write-Error {
    [OutputType([void])]
    Param(
        [Parameter(Position = 0, Mandatory, HelpMessage = 'Writes an error message to the host.')]
        [ValidateNotNullOrEmpty()]
        [string]
        $Message
    )

    Write-Host $Message -ForegroundColor Red
}

# Write an error message to a host and exit with 1 error code
function Write-ExitError {
    [OutputType([void])]
    Param(
        [Parameter(Position = 0, Mandatory, HelpMessage = 'Writes an error message to the host.')]
        [ValidateNotNullOrEmpty()]
        [string]
        $Message,

        [Parameter(HelpMessage = 'Specifies the exit code.')]
        [ValidateNotNull()]
        [int]
        $ExitCode = 1,

        [Parameter(HelpMessage = 'No newline before the header message.')]
        [switch] $NoNewlineBefore
    )

    if (-not $NoNewlineBefore) {
        NewLine
    }

    Write-Error $Message

    exit $ExitCode
}

# Write a label and a value to a host
function Write-LogItem {
    param(
        [Parameter(Position = 0, Mandatory,
            HelpMessage = 'Specifies the label to write to a host.')]
        [ValidateNotNullOrEmpty()]
        [string] $Label,

        [Parameter(Position = 1, HelpMessage = 'Specifies the value to write to a host.')]
        [string] $Value,

        [Parameter(Position = 2, HelpMessage = 'Specifies additional info to write to a host.')]
        [ValidateNotNullOrEmpty()]
        [string] $Info,

        [Parameter(HelpMessage = 'Specifies the color of the label.')]
        [ConsoleColor] $LabelColor = [ConsoleColor]::DarkGreen,

        [Parameter(HelpMessage = 'Specifies the color of the value.')]
        [ConsoleColor] $ValueColor,

        [Parameter(HelpMessage = 'Specifies the color for special values like <null> or <empty>.')]
        [ConsoleColor] $SpecialColor = [ConsoleColor]::DarkGray,

        [Parameter(HelpMessage = 'Specifies the color of the info text.')]
        [ConsoleColor] $InfoColor = [ConsoleColor]::DarkGray,

        [Parameter(HelpMessage = 'No newline is added after the last output string.')]
        [switch] $NoNewline
    )

    # Normalize the label to always end with ': '
    if (-not $Label.TrimEnd().EndsWith(':')) {
        $Label += ': '
    }

    # Handle special values
    if (-not $PSBoundParameters.ContainsKey('Value')) {
        $Value = '<not_provided>'
        $ValueColor = $SpecialColor
    }
    elseif ($Value -eq '') {
        $Value = '<empty>'
        $ValueColor = $SpecialColor
    }

    Write-Host "$Label" -NoNewline -ForegroundColor $LabelColor

    $hasInfo = $Info.Trim() -ne ''
    $NoNewlineForValue = $hasInfo ? $true : $NoNewline

    $ValueColor `
        ? (Write-Host $Value -ForegroundColor $ValueColor -NoNewline:$NoNewlineForValue)
        : (Write-Host $Value -NoNewline:$NoNewlineForValue)

    # Nothing to do, no info passed
    if (-not $hasInfo) {
        return
    }

    # Ensure info starts with a space
    if (-not $Info.StartsWith(' ')) {
        $Info = " $Info"
    }
    Write-Host "$Info" -ForegroundColor $InfoColor -NoNewline:$NoNewline
}

# Present a dialog allowing the user to choose continue or quit/return
function Approve-Continue {
    [CmdletBinding(DefaultParameterSetName = 'Return')]
    [OutputType([int], ParameterSetName = 'Return')]
    [OutputType([void], ParameterSetName = 'Exit')]
    Param(
        [Parameter(HelpMessage = 'Specifies the caption to precede or title the prompt.')]
        [ValidateNotNull()]
        [string]
        $Caption = '',

        [Parameter(Position = 0,
            HelpMessage = 'Specifies a message that describes what the choice is for.')]
        [ValidateNotNullOrEmpty()]
        [string]
        $Message = 'Ok to proceed?',

        [Parameter(HelpMessage = 'The index of the label in the choices collection element ' +
            'to be presented to the user as the default choice. -1 means "no default". ' +
            'Must be a valid index.')]
        [ValidateNotNull()]
        [int]
        $DefaultChoice = 1,

        [Parameter(ParameterSetName = 'Exit',
            HelpMessage = 'No newline before the header message.')]
        [switch] $Exit,

        [Parameter(ParameterSetName = 'Exit', HelpMessage = 'Specifies the exit code.')]
        [ValidateNotNull()]
        [int]
        $ExitCode = 1
    )

    $isExitSet = $PsCmdlet.ParameterSetName -eq 'Exit'

    $confirmChoices = [System.Management.Automation.Host.ChoiceDescription[]](@(
        New-Object System.Management.Automation.Host.ChoiceDescription('&Yes', 'Continue')
        New-Object System.Management.Automation.Host.ChoiceDescription( `
            '&No', ($isExitSet ? 'Quit' : 'Skip')
        )
    ))

    NewLine
    $answer = $Host.Ui.PromptForChoice($Caption, $Message, $confirmChoices, $DefaultChoice)

    if ($isExitSet) {
        switch ($answer) {
            0 { return }
            1 { Write-ExitError -ExitCode $ExitCode "Quit" }
        }
    }

    return $answer
}

Get-TimestampsFromGptBackup.ps1

#!/usr/bin/env pwsh

Param(
    [Parameter(Position = 0,
        HelpMessage = 'Specifies the path to the ChatGPT backup conversations.json file.')]
    [ValidateNotNullOrEmpty()]
    [string] $Path = 'conversations.json',

    [Parameter(HelpMessage = 'Specifies the starting timestamp to retrieve messages from.')]
    [ValidateNotNull()]
    [ValidateRange(0, [double]::MaxValue)]
    [double] $FromTimestamp
)

Set-StrictMode -Version 3.0

. $PSScriptRoot\private\Common-Host.ps1

# Script variables section
# ---

$Script:LastTimestampPath = $env:APPDATA + '\flow\ChatGPT\last_backup_timestamp.txt'
$Script:LastTimestampBackupPath  = $Script:LastTimestampPath + '.bak'
$Script:LastTimestampBackup1Path = $Script:LastTimestampPath + '.bak1'

# Functions section
# ---

# Read the last timestamp from the file, or return 0.0 if the file doesn't exist
function Read-LastTimestamp {
    [OutputType([double])]
    Param()

    if ($PSBoundParameters.ContainsKey('FromTimestamp') -or
        -not (Test-Path $Script:LastTimestampPath)
    ) {
        return 0.0
    }

    [double] $result = Get-Content -Path $Script:LastTimestampPath
    # Covers the case when the file is empty or contains invalid data
    if ($result -eq 0.0) {
        return 0.0
    }

    Write-Info 'Using previously saved timestamp: ' -NoNewline
    Write-Host $result.ToString([System.Globalization.CultureInfo]::InvariantCulture)

    return $result
}

# Backup the last timestamp file to a backup file
function Backup-LastTimestamp {
    [OutputType([void])]
    Param()

    # .bak to .bak1
    if (Test-Path $Script:LastTimestampBackupPath) {
        Move-Item `
            -Path $Script:LastTimestampBackupPath `
            -Destination $Script:LastTimestampBackup1Path -Force
    }

    # Backup the last timestamp file to .bak
    if (-not (Test-Path $Script:LastTimestampPath)) {
        return
    }

    Move-Item -Path $Script:LastTimestampPath -Destination $Script:LastTimestampBackupPath -Force
}

# Save the last timestamp to the file if it is greater than the FromTimestamp
function Save-LastTimestamp {
    [OutputType([void])]
    Param()

    [double] $timestampLast = $timestamps[-1]

    # Save only if the last timestamp is greater than the FromTimestamp
    if ($timestampLast -le $FromTimestamp) {
        return
    }

    Backup-LastTimestamp

    # Add a small value to ensure it's greater than FromTimestamp
    $timestampLast += 0.000001
    $timestampString = $timestampLast.ToString([System.Globalization.CultureInfo]::InvariantCulture)
    Set-Content -Path $Script:LastTimestampPath -Value $timestampString

    Write-Info "Saved Latest timestamp: $timestampString"
}

# Main section
# ---

# Test whether the ChatGPT backup file exists
if (-not (Test-Path $Path)) {
    Write-ExitError "The ChatGPT backup file '$Path' doesn't exist."
}

$FromTimestamp = Read-LastTimestamp

[array] $timestamps = Get-Content -Path $Path
    | jq --argjson timestampMin "$FromTimestamp" --raw-output @'
.[]
| .mapping
| to_entries[]
| select(.key | test("^[0-9a-f-]{36}$"))  # only UUID keys
| .value.message as $msg
| select(
    $msg.create_time != null
    and $msg.create_time > $timestampMin
    and ($msg.author.role == "user" or $msg.author.role == "assistant")
    and $msg.content.content_type == "text"
    and $msg.content.parts[0] != ""
    )
| $msg.create_time
'@
    | Sort-Object

if ($timestamps -eq $null -or $timestamps -isnot [array] -or $timestamps.Count -eq 0) {
    Write-ExitError "No messages found in the ChatGPT backup file after the specified timestamp."
}

# Save latest timestamp if available
Save-LastTimestamp

Write-Output $timestamps

# For debugging when I want to see also messages
#   | "-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\($msg.create_time)\n----\n\($msg.content.parts[0])"
#   | "\($msg.create_time) \t \($msg.author.role): \($msg.content.parts[0] | gsub("\n"; " ") | .[0:80])"