Files
openclaw-openclaw/docs/cli/sessions.md
Peter Steinberger f7d7148cf0 docs: rewrite published docs grounded in current source (#100142)
Source-grounded rewrite of 529 published docs pages with per-unit information-loss verification: 1,713 factual corrections cited to src/**, generated surfaces regenerated, frontmatter titles preserved for i18n, release notes pages untouched. All docs gates green.

Closes #100141
2026-07-05 00:32:47 -04:00

266 lines
13 KiB
Markdown

---
summary: "CLI reference for `openclaw sessions` (list stored sessions + usage)"
read_when:
- You want to list stored sessions and see recent activity
title: "Sessions"
---
# `openclaw sessions`
List stored conversation sessions.
Session lists are not channel/provider liveness checks. They show persisted
conversation rows from session stores. A quiet Discord, Slack, Telegram, or
other channel can reconnect successfully without creating a new session row
until a message is processed. Use `openclaw channels status --probe`,
`openclaw status --deep`, or `openclaw health --verbose` when you need live
channel connectivity.
```bash
openclaw sessions
openclaw sessions --agent work
openclaw sessions --all-agents
openclaw sessions --active 120
openclaw sessions --limit 25
openclaw sessions --store ./tmp/sessions.json
openclaw sessions --json
```
Flags:
| Flag | Description |
| -------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `--agent <id>` | One configured agent store (default: configured default agent). |
| `--all-agents` | Aggregate all configured agent stores. |
| `--store <path>` | Explicit store path (cannot combine with `--agent` or `--all-agents`). |
| `--active <minutes>` | Only show sessions updated within the past N minutes. |
| `--limit <n\|all>` | Max rows to output (default `100`; `all` restores full output). |
| `--json` | Machine-readable output. |
| `--verbose` | Verbose logging. |
`openclaw sessions` and the Gateway `sessions.list` RPC are bounded by default
so large long-lived stores cannot monopolize the CLI process or Gateway event
loop. The CLI returns the newest 100 sessions by default; pass `--limit <n>`
for a smaller/larger window or `--limit all` when you intentionally need the
full store. JSON responses include `totalCount`, `limitApplied`, and `hasMore`
when callers need to show that more rows exist.
RPC clients can pass `configuredAgentsOnly: true` to keep the broad combined
discovery source but return only rows for agents currently present in config.
Control UI uses that mode by default so deleted or disk-only agent stores do
not reappear in the Sessions view.
`--all-agents` reads configured agent stores. Gateway and ACP session
discovery are broader: they also include disk-only stores found under the
default `agents/` root or a templated `session.store` root. Those discovered
stores must resolve to regular `sessions.json` files inside the agent root;
symlinks and out-of-root paths are skipped.
`openclaw sessions --all-agents --json`:
```json
{
"path": null,
"stores": [
{ "agentId": "main", "path": "/home/user/.openclaw/agents/main/sessions/sessions.json" },
{ "agentId": "work", "path": "/home/user/.openclaw/agents/work/sessions/sessions.json" }
],
"allAgents": true,
"count": 2,
"totalCount": 2,
"limitApplied": 100,
"hasMore": false,
"activeMinutes": null,
"sessions": [
{ "agentId": "main", "key": "agent:main:main", "model": "openai/gpt-5.5" },
{ "agentId": "work", "key": "agent:work:main", "model": "anthropic/claude-sonnet-4-6" }
]
}
```
## Tail trajectory progress
```bash
openclaw sessions tail
openclaw sessions tail --follow
openclaw sessions tail --session-key "agent:main:telegram:direct:123" --tail 25
openclaw sessions --agent work tail --follow
openclaw sessions --all-agents tail --follow
```
`openclaw sessions tail` renders recent trajectory JSONL events as compact
progress lines. Without `--session-key`, it tails running sessions first, then
the latest stored session. `--tail <count>` controls how many existing events
print before follow mode; default `80`, and `0` starts at the current end.
`--follow` keeps watching the selected trajectory files, including relocated
files referenced by `<session>.trajectory-path.json`.
The progress view is intentionally conservative: prompt text, tool arguments,
and tool result bodies are not printed. Tool calls show the tool name with
`{...redacted...}`; tool results show status such as `ok`, `error`, or `done`;
model completion lines show provider/model and terminal status.
## Export a trajectory bundle
```bash
openclaw sessions export-trajectory --session-key "agent:main:telegram:direct:123" --workspace .
openclaw sessions export-trajectory --session-key "agent:main:telegram:direct:123" --output bug-123 --json
```
This is the command path used by the `/export-trajectory` slash command after
the owner approves the exec request. The output directory is always resolved
inside `.openclaw/trajectory-exports/` under the selected workspace.
## Cleanup maintenance
Run maintenance now instead of waiting for the next write cycle:
```bash
openclaw sessions cleanup --dry-run
openclaw sessions cleanup --agent work --dry-run
openclaw sessions cleanup --all-agents --dry-run
openclaw sessions cleanup --enforce
openclaw sessions cleanup --enforce --active-key "agent:main:telegram:direct:123"
openclaw sessions cleanup --dry-run --fix-dm-scope
openclaw sessions cleanup --json
```
`openclaw sessions cleanup` uses `session.maintenance` settings from config
([Configuration reference](/gateway/config-agents#session)):
- Scope note: `openclaw sessions cleanup` maintains session stores,
transcripts, and trajectory sidecars. It does not prune cron run history,
which is managed by `cron.runLog.keepLines`
([Cron configuration](/automation/cron-jobs#configuration)).
- Cleanup also prunes unreferenced primary transcripts, compaction
checkpoints, and trajectory sidecars older than `session.maintenance.pruneAfter`;
files still referenced by `sessions.json` are preserved.
- Cleanup reports short-lived Gateway model-run probe cleanup separately as
`modelRunPruned`. This only matches strict explicit keys shaped like
`agent:*:explicit:model-run-<uuid>`. Retention is a fixed `24h` and is
pressure-gated: it only removes stale probe rows when session-entry
maintenance/cap pressure is reached. When it runs, model-run cleanup
happens before global stale cleanup and capping.
Flags:
| Flag | Description |
| -------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `--dry-run` | Preview how many entries would be pruned/capped without writing. In text mode, prints a per-session action table (`Action`, `Key`, `Age`, `Model`, `Flags`) plus a summary grouped by session label. |
| `--enforce` | Apply maintenance even when `session.maintenance.mode` is `warn`. |
| `--fix-missing` | Remove entries whose transcript files are missing or header-only/empty, even if they would not normally age/count out yet. |
| `--fix-dm-scope` | When `session.dmScope` is `main`, retire stale peer-keyed direct-DM rows left behind by earlier `per-peer`, `per-channel-peer`, or `per-account-channel-peer` routing. Use `--dry-run` first; applying removes those rows from `sessions.json` and preserves their transcripts as deleted archives. |
| `--active-key <key>` | Protect a specific active key from disk-budget eviction. Durable external conversation pointers, such as group sessions and thread-scoped chat sessions, are also kept by age/count/disk-budget maintenance. |
| `--agent <id>` | Run cleanup for one configured agent store. |
| `--all-agents` | Run cleanup for all configured agent stores. |
| `--store <path>` | Run against a specific `sessions.json` file. |
| `--json` | Print a JSON summary. With `--all-agents`, output includes one summary per store. |
When a Gateway is reachable, non-dry-run cleanup for configured agent stores is
sent through the Gateway so it shares the same session-store writer as runtime
traffic. Use `--store <path>` for explicit offline repair of a store file.
`openclaw sessions cleanup --all-agents --dry-run --json`:
```json
{
"allAgents": true,
"mode": "warn",
"dryRun": true,
"stores": [
{
"agentId": "main",
"storePath": "/home/user/.openclaw/agents/main/sessions/sessions.json",
"beforeCount": 120,
"afterCount": 80,
"missing": 0,
"dmScopeRetired": 0,
"pruned": 40,
"capped": 0
},
{
"agentId": "work",
"storePath": "/home/user/.openclaw/agents/work/sessions/sessions.json",
"beforeCount": 18,
"afterCount": 18,
"missing": 0,
"dmScopeRetired": 0,
"pruned": 0,
"capped": 0
}
]
}
```
## Compact a session
Reclaim context budget for a wedged or oversized session. `openclaw sessions
compact <key>` is the first-class wrapper around the `sessions.compact`
Gateway RPC and requires a running Gateway.
```bash
openclaw sessions compact "agent:main:main"
openclaw sessions compact "agent:main:main" --max-lines 200
openclaw sessions compact "agent:work:main" --agent work --json
```
- Without `--max-lines`, the Gateway LLM-summarizes the transcript. The CLI
does not impose a client deadline by default; the Gateway owns the
configured compaction lifecycle.
- With `--max-lines <n>`, it truncates to the last `n` transcript lines and
archives the prior transcript as a `.bak` sidecar.
- `--agent <id>`: agent that owns the session; required for `global` keys.
- `--url` / `--token` / `--password`: Gateway connection overrides.
- `--timeout <ms>`: optional client-side RPC timeout in milliseconds.
- `--json`: print the raw RPC payload.
The command exits non-zero when the Gateway reports a failed compaction or is
unreachable, so crons and scripts never mistake a silent no-op for success.
<Note>
`openclaw agent --message '/compact ...'` is **not** a compaction path. Slash
commands from the CLI are rejected by the authorized-sender check; that
invocation exits non-zero with guidance pointing here instead of silently
no-opping.
</Note>
### sessions.compact RPC
`openclaw gateway call sessions.compact --params '<json>'` accepts:
| Field | Type | Required | Description |
| ---------- | ----------- | -------- | ---------------------------------------------------------- |
| `key` | string | yes | Session key to compact (for example `agent:main:main`). |
| `agentId` | string | no | Agent id that owns the session (for `global` keys). |
| `maxLines` | integer ≥ 1 | no | Truncate to the last N lines instead of LLM summarization. |
Example LLM-summarize response:
```json
{
"ok": true,
"key": "agent:main:main",
"compacted": true,
"result": { "tokensBefore": 243868, "tokensAfter": 34941 }
}
```
Example truncate response (`--max-lines 200`):
```json
{
"ok": true,
"key": "agent:main:main",
"compacted": true,
"archived": "/home/user/.openclaw/agents/main/sessions/transcripts/<id>.jsonl.bak",
"kept": 200
}
```
## Related
- [Session config](/gateway/config-agents#session)
- [Session management](/concepts/session)
- [Compaction](/concepts/compaction)
- [CLI reference](/cli)