# Sessions and undo

> Session ids, resume, rename, export, fork, the session tree, undo, crash recovery and throwaway stores.

Source: https://nodecode.ai/docs/sessions
Updated: 2026-10-06

A session is one conversation in the store, `~/.nodecode/history.db`.

## Session ids

| Id | Session |
| --- | --- |
| `s-` and up to 8 letters or digits | A session the shell opened. Example: `s-K3F9Q2ZA`. |
| `s-GATEWAY` | The boot session of the background gateway. |

Cells name their own sessions. A session nobody typed in is never stored.

## List and resume

| Do | How |
| --- | --- |
| List sessions | `/sessions`, `/agents` or Ctrl+S. |
| Leave a session running | Press Left on an empty composer. The picker opens. |
| Switch | Select a row. Press Enter. |
| Rename in the picker | Press F2 on a row. |
| Fold or unfold forks | Left and Right. |
| Resume from the command line | `nodecode resume SESSION-ID` |

```sh
nodecode resume s-K3F9Q2ZA
```

The shell prints the resume line when it exits: `To resume: nodecode resume SESSION-ID`. `resume` needs a terminal.

## Rename

| Command | Does |
| --- | --- |
| `/rename` | Shows the session's name. |
| `/rename NAME` | Names the session. One line, 64 characters at most. |
| `/rename default` | Gives back the name the first prompt made. |

A session has no name before its first prompt.

## Export

`/export [path]` saves the session as Markdown. It works in the shell only.

| Argument | File written |
| --- | --- |
| None | A file named after the session, in the shell's folder. |
| A folder | That file name, inside the folder. |
| A file path | That path. |

| In the file | Left out |
| --- | --- |
| Prompts, answers, plans, one line per call | Reasoning, the output of calls |

## Clear

| Where | `/clear` or `/new` does |
| --- | --- |
| Shell | Opens a fresh session in the shell's folder. The old session stays in `/sessions`. |
| Web page, chat room, eval | Moves this session back to its start. `/redo` returns. |

## Fork

`/fork` opens a new session at the current head. The shell switches to it.

| Rule | Detail |
| --- | --- |
| History | The fork reads the parent's turns up to the fork point. Nothing is copied. |
| Later parent changes | A rewind in the parent does not change the fork. |
| Folder | The fork works in the parent's folder. |

## Tree

`/tree` shows the session as a tree of turns. Alias: `/checkpoints`. Esc twice within 0.5 seconds opens it too.

| Key | Action |
| --- | --- |
| Typing | Search the rows. |
| Right | Show the tool calls of a turn. |
| Left | Hide them. |
| Enter on a turn | Opens the options below. |
| Enter on a tool call | Moves the head to that turn. Restores files to that call. |

| Option | Result |
| --- | --- |
| Continue from this turn | The head moves to the turn. Its answer is kept. New turns branch from it. |
| Rewind to before this message | The head moves before the turn. The prompt returns to the composer. |
| Rewind to before this message + code changes | The same, and the files are restored. Offered when a snapshot exists. |

The head row offers the rewinds only.

## Undo and redo

| Command | Does |
| --- | --- |
| `/undo` | Rewinds the last turn. |
| `/redo` | Returns to the branch the last rewind left. |

| Where | `/undo` restores |
| --- | --- |
| Shell | The conversation and the files. |
| Web page, chat room, eval | The conversation only. Refused while a turn runs. |

A rewind deletes nothing. It records a head move. The branch you left stays in `/tree`.

## Workspace snapshots

Nodecode captures the session's folder at turn and tool boundaries. Undo restores files from these captures.

| Fact | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Repository | A bare git repository at `<cwd>/.nodecode/workspace_snapshots`. |
| Tool | The `git` command. Without git there is no capture. The turn still runs. |
| Scope | Files under the session's folder. Writes elsewhere are not captured. |
| Restore | Per file. A file changed by something else is left alone. Nodecode reports the conflict. |
| Your repository | `.nodecode/` can show in `git status`. Nodecode does not add it to `.gitignore`. |
| Off switch | `"workspace": { "captures": false }` in the config. Applies at the next start. |

## After a crash

| Fact | Detail |
| --- | --- |
| Open turns | Each interrupted turn resumes at the next boot. |
| Unanswered tool calls | Each gets the result `interrupted by process restart`. |
| Limit | A turn is resumed on up to 3 boots. Then it is marked failed. |
| Cost | A resumed turn calls the model again. |
| Cancel | Esc stops a resumed turn like any other. |

## Ephemeral

```sh
nodecode --ephemeral
```

| Fact | Detail |
| --- | --- |
| Store | A new file: `nodecode-ephemeral-<pid>.db` in the temp folder (`TMPDIR`). |
| Still shared | Config, layer, cells, memory and skills are the home's. |
| Layer | The layer is the set of definitions the agent wrote and kept. New ones still land in it. |
| Channels | Channel bots do not start. |
| Refused with | `serve`, `resume` and `--store`. |

For a throwaway organism, a whole running Nodecode with its own home, run `HOME=$(mktemp -d) nodecode`.