Session Management - djvolz/coda-code-assistant GitHub Wiki

Session Management

Coda provides powerful session management capabilities to save, load, and organize your AI conversations. Sessions are automatically saved and can be branched, searched, and exported in various formats.

Quick Start

# Your conversation is automatically saved
coda "Help me debug this Python function"

# List all your sessions
coda
> /session list

# Load a previous session
coda
> /session load my-debugging-session

# Export your conversation
coda
> /export markdown

Core Concepts

What are Sessions?

Sessions are persistent conversations with AI that include:

All messages exchanged between you and the AI
The AI provider and model used
Timestamps for each interaction
Metadata like tags and descriptions
Parent-child relationships for branched conversations
Tool usage history (when agent mode is enabled)

Automatic Saving

Coda automatically saves your conversations:

Sessions are created when you send your first message
Every message is saved in real-time
No manual saving required - just start chatting
Sessions are stored in ~/.cache/coda/sessions.db
First-run detection shows helpful tips for new users

Session Indexing

For improved performance, sessions are indexed by:

Name (for quick lookups)
Creation time (for sorting)
Full-text search across all messages

Session Commands

Viewing Sessions

# List all sessions
/session list
/s list

# Show detailed info about current session
/session info
/s info

# Show info about a specific session
/session info my-session
/s info 123  # Using session ID

Loading Sessions

# Load by name
/session load my-debugging-session
/s load my-debugging-session

# Load by ID
/session load 42
/s load 42

# Load most recent session
/session last
/s last

# Resume from where you left off (also works with --resume flag)
coda --resume

Saving Sessions

Sessions are auto-saved, but you can rename them:

# Rename current session
/session save my-important-chat
/s save bug-fix-discussion

Branching Sessions

Create alternate conversation paths:

# Branch from current conversation
/session branch
/s branch

# Branch with a custom name
/session branch alternative-approach
/s branch testing-refactor

Searching Sessions

Full-text search across all your conversations:

# Search for specific topics
/session search "python decorator"
/s search "error handling"

# Search with multiple terms
/session search "async await"

Deleting Sessions

# Delete by name or ID (with confirmation)
/session delete old-session
/s delete 123

# Delete multiple sessions
/session delete session1 session2 session3
/s rm 123 456 789

# Skip confirmation with -f flag
/session delete old-session -f

Renaming Sessions

# Rename current session
/session rename "better-name"

# Rename a specific session by ID
/session rename 123 "new-name"

Export Functionality

Export your conversations in various formats:

Export Formats

# Markdown format (great for documentation)
/export markdown
/export md
/e md

# JSON format (preserves all metadata)
/export json
/e json

# Plain text format
/export txt
/export text
/e txt

# HTML format (with syntax highlighting)
/export html
/e html

Export Examples

# Export creates a file with timestamp
/export markdown
# Creates: coda_session_2025_01_05_143052.md

# Exported files include:
# - Full conversation history
# - Model and provider information
# - Timestamps
# - Session metadata

Context Management

Coda intelligently manages conversation context to stay within model token limits:

Automatic Context Windowing

Preserves system prompts and mode settings
Prioritizes recent messages
Includes relevant historical context
Automatically adjusts to model limits

Context Preservation

Full conversation history is always saved
Only relevant context is sent to the AI
You can always access complete history via exports

Best Practices

Session Naming

Use descriptive names: bug-fix-auth-system
Include dates for time-sensitive work: 2025-01-05-deployment
Use prefixes for organization: feature/new-api, debug/memory-leak

Branching Strategy

Branch before trying different approaches
Keep main session for successful solutions
Use branches for experimentation

Privacy Considerations

Sessions are stored locally on your machine
Use /session delete to remove sensitive conversations
Export and backup important sessions

Advanced Usage

Session Templates

Create template sessions for common tasks:

# Create a debugging template
coda
> /mode debug
> I need help debugging Python code. Please ask for details.
> /session save template-python-debug

# Later, branch from template
> /session load template-python-debug
> /session branch new-bug-investigation

Session Workflows

Example workflow for complex debugging:

# 1. Start with problem description
coda "Application crashes on startup"

# 2. Save with descriptive name
/session save debug-startup-crash

# 3. Try different approaches via branches
/session branch check-dependencies
# ... investigate dependencies ...

/session load debug-startup-crash
/session branch check-config
# ... investigate configuration ...

# 4. Export successful solution
/export markdown

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

Session not found:

Check exact name with /session list
Try searching: /session search "partial name"
Use session ID instead of name

Export not working:

Ensure you have write permissions in current directory
Check disk space
Try different export format

Context seems lost:

This is normal for long conversations
Full history is preserved in database
Use /export to see complete conversation

Database Location

Sessions are stored in:

Default: ~/.cache/coda/sessions.db
Follows XDG Base Directory specification
SQLite database format

Future Enhancements

Planned improvements for session management:

Cloud sync for sessions across devices
Session sharing via URLs
Team collaboration features
Session analytics and insights
Conversation summarization
Template marketplace