---
title: "Debug console"
description: "assay turns — the read-only timeline for a sitting, with cost joined."
---

`assay turns` is the debugging read surface for durable turn logging. It decrypts one sitting (or a filter) and prints the timeline: messages, reasoning, tool calls, tool results, with per-turn cost joined from the ledger.

It is **read-only**. It never mutates the store.

## Command

```bash
assay turns --session <session-id>
assay turns --principal <id> --limit 50
assay turns --session <session-id> --json
```

Each block is:

```
[<time>] <session>#<seq> <kind> (<role>) [tool=<name>]
    <decrypted content>
    cost  $0.12
```

Cost prints on the **last** record that shares a span ref, so a tool call and its result are not billed twice.

## Filters

| Flag | |
|---|---|
| `--session` | One sitting |
| `--principal` | One director |
| `--kind` | `message` / `reasoning` / `tool` / … |
| `--role` | `human` / `agent` / … |
| `--task` | One task |
| `--since` / `--until` | Time window |
| `--limit` | Max turns |
| `--key-file` | Content key (default `~/.config/assay/transcript.key`) |
| `--json` | Array of decrypted records |
| `--db` / `--pg` | Which store |

A shredded principal prints a leading notice and `[shredded]` per content line. Metadata rows stay. JSON uses `null` content when shredded or unreadable, and omits content when the turn had none. Empty string is never used as a stand-in for erased text.

## In an agent loop

This is the command an agent (or a test) should use to **see what was actually logged**:

```bash
assay turns --session "$SESSION_ID" --json
```

Parse stdout. On failure, stderr starts with the error and the exit code is non-zero.

For a published sitting, do not use `assay turns` against the live store. Point the agent at the **share link**. The same URL serves a machine bundle (`outline.json`, `manifest.json`, `turns.jsonl`). See [Share](/share).

## Related reads

| Need | Use |
|---|---|
| One sitting in a browser | `assay dashboard` → Sessions → the sitting |
| Search across sittings | `assay search "…"` or the Search tab |
| Rollup cost | `assay show --session <id>` |
| Latest spans | `assay tail` |

The session page in the console is the same timeline with folding, type, objective chips, and share. `assay turns` is the scriptable form.