diff --git a/docs-site/src/content/docs/reference/cli.md b/docs-site/src/content/docs/reference/cli.md
index 4abfab58..9df5d72c 100644
--- a/docs-site/src/content/docs/reference/cli.md
+++ b/docs-site/src/content/docs/reference/cli.md
@@ -537,6 +537,22 @@ Tracing is **off by default** and is configured by environment variable at proxy
 Outbound capture covers adapters that send through the shared upstream fetch helper; the inbound request
 and response are captured for `/v1/responses`, `/v1/messages`, and `/v1/chat/completions`.
 
+Stored traces can be inspected directly from the local SQLite store; the proxy does not need to be running:
+
+```bash
+ocx trace list
+ocx trace list --conversation <conversation-id> --limit 20
+ocx trace show <trace-id>
+ocx trace show <trace-id> --json
+ocx trace show <trace-id> --body
+```
+
+`trace list` and `trace show` are payload-free by default. `--json` changes only the output format and
+does **not** reveal request or response bodies. Bodies are included only when `--body` is explicitly
+provided. Human `--body` output JSON-escapes stored strings so terminal control sequences from traced
+content are not executed. Metadata-only trace summaries remain in `usage.jsonl`; `ocx trace list`
+enumerates rows whose bodies were actually persisted in `trace.sqlite`.
+
 ## Updating
 
 ### `ocx update`
diff --git a/src/cli/help.ts b/src/cli/help.ts
index ef0b84c8..05aa833d 100644
--- a/src/cli/help.ts
+++ b/src/cli/help.ts
@@ -160,6 +160,15 @@ const helpEntries: Record<string, HelpEntry> = {
     usage: "ocx observe <logs|usage|storage|memory|cache|debug|claude-inbound|injection> ...",
     summary: "Inspect proxy requests, usage, storage, memory, response cache, and debug data.",
   },
+  trace: {
+    usage: "ocx trace <list|show> ...",
+    summary: "Inspect locally stored request traces without exposing payloads by default.",
+    details: [
+      "list [--conversation <id>] [--limit <n>] [--json]",
+      "show <trace-id> [--body] [--json]",
+      "Bodies are never printed unless --body is provided; --json alone remains metadata-only.",
+    ],
+  },
   logs: { usage: "ocx logs [filters] [--follow] [--json|--jsonl]", summary: "Alias of ocx observe logs." },
   usage: { usage: "ocx usage [--range <7d|30d|all>] [--surface <all|codex|claude|grok>] [--json]", summary: "Alias of ocx observe usage." },
   storage: { usage: "ocx storage [--json]", summary: "Alias of ocx observe storage." },
@@ -286,6 +295,7 @@ Usage:
   ocx combo <sub>             Combo failover/round-robin routing
   ocx agent <sub>             Subagents, injection, effort caps, and sidecars
   ocx observe <sub>           Logs, usage, storage, memory, cache, and debug data
+  ocx trace <sub>             Inspect local trace metadata; bodies require explicit --body
   ocx access <sub>            External API keys and endpoint information
   ocx grok <sub>              Grok Build model selection and apply
   ocx system <sub>            Runtime settings, startup, sync, and updates
diff --git a/src/cli/index.ts b/src/cli/index.ts
index e0d0c62c..88246e89 100755
--- a/src/cli/index.ts
+++ b/src/cli/index.ts
@@ -1034,6 +1034,11 @@ switch (command) {
     process.exitCode = await handleObserveCommand([command, ...args.slice(1)]);
     break;
   }
+  case "trace": {
+    const { handleTraceCommand } = await import("./trace");
+    process.exitCode = await handleTraceCommand(args.slice(1));
+    break;
+  }
   case "access": {
     const { handleAccessCommand } = await import("./access");
     process.exitCode = await handleAccessCommand(args.slice(1));
diff --git a/src/cli/trace.ts b/src/cli/trace.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..53a8fdca
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/cli/trace.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,128 @@
+import {
+  listTraces,
+  readTrace,
+  type TraceRowSummary,
+} from "../trace/store";
+import {
+  CliUsageError,
+  rejectArgs,
+  runCliAction,
+  takeFlag,
+  takeIntegerOption,
+  takeOption,
+} from "./runtime-api";
+
+const USAGE = `Usage:
+  ocx trace list [--conversation <id>] [--limit <n>] [--json]
+  ocx trace show <trace-id> [--body] [--json]
+
+Bodies are never printed unless --body is provided.
+Human body output is JSON-escaped so stored terminal control sequences are not executed.`;
+
+type TraceRecord = NonNullable<ReturnType<typeof readTrace>>;
+
+function metadataOnly(row: TraceRecord): TraceRowSummary {
+  const { inbound: _inbound, outbound: _outbound, response: _response, ...summary } = row;
+  return summary;
+}
+
+function formatBytes(value: number | undefined): string {
+  return value === undefined ? "-" : String(value);
+}
+
+function terminalText(value: string): string {
+  return JSON.stringify(value).slice(1, -1);
+}
+
+function traceLine(row: TraceRowSummary): string {
+  const route = [row.provider, row.model]
+    .filter((value): value is string => typeof value === "string")
+    .map(terminalText)
+    .join("/") || "-";
+  return [
+    new Date(row.createdAt).toISOString(),
+    terminalText(row.traceId),
+    row.mode,
+    route,
+    row.status === undefined ? "-" : String(row.status),
+    `req=${formatBytes(row.meta.requestBytes)}B`,
+    `out=${formatBytes(row.meta.outboundBytes)}B`,
+    `res=${formatBytes(row.meta.responseBytes)}B`,
+    row.truncated ? "truncated" : "",
+  ].filter(Boolean).join("  ");
+}
+
+function printTraceMetadata(row: TraceRowSummary): void {
+  console.log(`traceId: ${terminalText(row.traceId)}`);
+  console.log(`createdAt: ${new Date(row.createdAt).toISOString()}`);
+  console.log(`expiresAt: ${new Date(row.expiresAt).toISOString()}`);
+  console.log(`mode: ${row.mode}`);
+  console.log(`provider: ${row.provider ? terminalText(row.provider) : "-"}`);
+  console.log(`model: ${row.model ? terminalText(row.model) : "-"}`);
+  console.log(`status: ${row.status ?? "-"}`);
+  console.log(`conversationId: ${row.conversationId ? terminalText(row.conversationId) : "-"}`);
+  console.log(`truncated: ${row.truncated ? "yes" : "no"}`);
+  console.log(`meta: ${JSON.stringify(row.meta)}`);
+}
+
+function printEscapedBody(label: string, value: string | undefined): void {
+  console.log(`${label}: ${value === undefined ? "(not captured)" : JSON.stringify(value)}`);
+}
+
+function listCommand(argv: string[]): void {
+  const args = [...argv];
+  const wantsJson = takeFlag(args, "--json");
+  const conversationId = takeOption(args, "--conversation");
+  const limit = takeIntegerOption(args, "--limit", { min: 1 }) ?? 50;
+  if (limit > 500) throw new CliUsageError("--limit must be between 1 and 500", USAGE);
+  rejectArgs(args, USAGE);
+
+  const rows = listTraces({ conversationId, limit });
+  if (wantsJson) {
+    console.log(JSON.stringify(rows, null, 2));
+    return;
+  }
+  if (rows.length === 0) {
+    console.log("(no stored traces)");
+    return;
+  }
+  for (const row of rows) console.log(traceLine(row));
+}
+
+function showCommand(argv: string[]): void {
+  const args = [...argv];
+  const wantsJson = takeFlag(args, "--json");
+  const includeBody = takeFlag(args, "--body");
+  const traceId = args.shift();
+  if (!traceId || traceId.startsWith("-")) {
+    throw new CliUsageError("trace show requires a trace id", USAGE);
+  }
+  rejectArgs(args, USAGE);
+
+  const row = readTrace(traceId);
+  if (!row) throw new Error(`trace not found or expired: ${traceId}`);
+
+  const output = includeBody ? row : metadataOnly(row);
+  if (wantsJson) {
+    console.log(JSON.stringify(output, null, 2));
+    return;
+  }
+
+  printTraceMetadata(metadataOnly(row));
+  if (!includeBody) return;
+  console.log("");
+  printEscapedBody("inbound", row.inbound);
+  printEscapedBody("outbound", row.outbound);
+  printEscapedBody("response", row.response);
+}
+
+export async function handleTraceCommand(argv: string[]): Promise<number> {
+  return runCliAction(async () => {
+    const [sub = "list", ...rest] = argv;
+    if (sub === "list") listCommand(rest);
+    else if (sub === "show") showCommand(rest);
+    else throw new CliUsageError(`unknown trace command ${sub}`, USAGE);
+  });
+}
+
+export const TRACE_USAGE = USAGE;
diff --git a/tests/cli-trace.test.ts b/tests/cli-trace.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..6462125a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/cli-trace.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,145 @@
+import {
+  afterEach,
+  beforeEach,
+  describe,
+  expect,
+  spyOn,
+  test,
+} from "bun:test";
+import { mkdtempSync, rmSync } from "node:fs";
+import { tmpdir } from "node:os";
+import { join } from "node:path";
+import { handleTraceCommand } from "../src/cli/trace";
+import {
+  closeTraceStore,
+  writeTrace,
+} from "../src/trace/store";
+import {
+  resetTraceSettingsForTests,
+  setTraceSettings,
+} from "../src/trace/settings";
+
+let testDir = "";
+let previousHome: string | undefined;
+
+beforeEach(() => {
+  previousHome = process.env.OPENCODEX_HOME;
+  testDir = mkdtempSync(join(tmpdir(), "ocx-cli-trace-"));
+  process.env.OPENCODEX_HOME = testDir;
+  closeTraceStore();
+  resetTraceSettingsForTests();
+  setTraceSettings({ mode: "full", ttlHours: 24 });
+});
+
+afterEach(() => {
+  closeTraceStore();
+  resetTraceSettingsForTests();
+  if (previousHome === undefined) delete process.env.OPENCODEX_HOME;
+  else process.env.OPENCODEX_HOME = previousHome;
+  if (testDir) rmSync(testDir, { recursive: true, force: true });
+});
+
+async function captureLogs(argv: string[]): Promise<{ code: number; output: string }> {
+  const lines: string[] = [];
+  const log = spyOn(console, "log").mockImplementation((...args: unknown[]) => {
+    lines.push(args.map(value => String(value)).join(" "));
+  });
+  const error = spyOn(console, "error").mockImplementation((...args: unknown[]) => {
+    lines.push(args.map(value => String(value)).join(" "));
+  });
+  try {
+    const code = await handleTraceCommand(argv);
+    return { code, output: lines.join("\n") };
+  } finally {
+    log.mockRestore();
+    error.mockRestore();
+  }
+}
+
+function seedTrace(
+  traceId: string,
+  conversationId: string,
+  createdAt: number,
+  model = "gpt-5.6-terra",
+): void {
+  const stored = writeTrace({
+    traceId,
+    createdAt,
+    mode: "full",
+    conversationId,
+    provider: "openai",
+    model,
+    status: 200,
+    meta: {
+      mode: "full",
+      stored: true,
+      requestBytes: 22,
+      outboundBytes: 23,
+      responseBytes: 24,
+    },
+    inbound: "request-private-marker",
+    outbound: "outbound-private-marker",
+    response: "\u001b[31mresponse-private-marker",
+    truncated: false,
+  });
+  expect(stored).toBe(true);
+}
+
+describe("trace CLI", () => {
+  test("show is metadata-only even in JSON unless --body is explicit", async () => {
+    seedTrace("trace-1", "conv-1", Date.now());
+
+    const safe = await captureLogs(["show", "trace-1", "--json"]);
+    expect(safe.code).toBe(0);
+    expect(safe.output).toContain('"traceId": "trace-1"');
+    expect(safe.output).not.toContain("request-private-marker");
+    expect(safe.output).not.toContain("outbound-private-marker");
+    expect(safe.output).not.toContain("response-private-marker");
+    expect(safe.output).not.toContain('"inbound"');
+    expect(safe.output).not.toContain('"outbound"');
+    expect(safe.output).not.toContain('"response"');
+
+    const withBody = await captureLogs(["show", "trace-1", "--body", "--json"]);
+    expect(withBody.code).toBe(0);
+    expect(withBody.output).toContain("request-private-marker");
+    expect(withBody.output).toContain("outbound-private-marker");
+    expect(withBody.output).toContain("response-private-marker");
+  });
+
+  test("human output escapes terminal control sequences in metadata and bodies", async () => {
+    seedTrace("trace-ansi", "conv-1", Date.now(), "\u001b[2Jgpt-private");
+
+    const result = await captureLogs(["show", "trace-ansi", "--body"]);
+    expect(result.code).toBe(0);
+    expect(result.output).not.toContain("\u001b[");
+    expect(result.output).toContain("\\u001b[2Jgpt-private");
+    expect(result.output).toContain("\\u001b[31mresponse-private-marker");
+  });
+
+  test("list filters by conversation and remains payload-free", async () => {
+    const now = Date.now();
+    seedTrace("trace-a", "conv-a", now - 1000);
+    seedTrace("trace-b", "conv-b", now);
+
+    const result = await captureLogs([
+      "list",
+      "--conversation",
+      "conv-a",
+      "--limit",
+      "10",
+      "--json",
+    ]);
+    expect(result.code).toBe(0);
+    expect(result.output).toContain('"traceId": "trace-a"');
+    expect(result.output).not.toContain('"traceId": "trace-b"');
+    expect(result.output).not.toContain("request-private-marker");
+    expect(result.output).not.toContain('"inbound"');
+  });
+
+  test("rejects unsafe or malformed command shapes", async () => {
+    expect((await captureLogs(["show"])).code).toBe(2);
+    expect((await captureLogs(["list", "--limit", "501"])).code).toBe(2);
+    expect((await captureLogs(["list", "--body"])).code).toBe(2);
+    expect((await captureLogs(["show", "missing"])).code).toBe(1);
+  });
+});