Option to save <ChatGPT> buffers by default

[moritzschaefer]

It would be nice to have the configurable option to automatically associated the gptel buffers (named <ChatGPT #n> by default with a file (e.g. in a configurable directory with file name .txt). This way, without extra effort, one can maintain a well-accessible history of chat interactions.

If not within gptel, do you have a recommendation how to implement this in the easiest manner?

[karthink]

There are many ways to do it:

• Save the gptel buffer to a file as needed. I take it this is the step you want to automate.

• Save the buffer to a file when gptel-mode is turned on: (Note: untested)

(defun my/gptel-write-buffer ()
  "Save buffer to disk when starting gptel"
  (unless (buffer-file-name (current-buffer))
    (let ((suffix (format-time-string "%Y%m%dT%H%M" (current-time)))
          (chat-dir "~/chatgpt-log"))
      (unless (file-directory-p chat-dir)
        (make-directory chat-dir :parents))
      (write-file (expand-file-name (concat "gptel-" suffix ".txt") chat-dir)))))

(add-hook 'gptel-mode-hook #'my/gptel-write-buffer)

This will save new gptel sessions to ~/chatgpt-log with names like gptel-20231105T1026.txt. Or you can save to default-directory, or to (project-root (project-current)) to save them at the root of your current project in Emacs.

• I use a single file per project (always named Chat.org) to keep persistent logs of ChatGPT conversations, and bind summoning it to the project keymap (C-x p), where all the other project commands are. Chat topics are separated by Org headers with gptel-set-topic.

This is a feature best tailored by users for their individual workflows, and thus not something I plan to implement in gptel -- so I'm moving this thread to the discussions section.