Files and Git

Session history

See the terminal sessions of the current project that no longer run, and bring one back with Restore.

On this page

Purpose

You close a terminal, but you want its work back later. Session history keeps a list of the sessions of the current project that do not run now. Click Restore on a row to open that session again. A supported agent continues its saved conversation. Live agents are not in this list. See Agents panel and agent status for them.

Where to find it

Left sidebar, activity rail, the Session history button. It shows a clock with a counter-clockwise arrow. Its tooltip is "Session history". Click it to open the panel. Click it again to close the panel.

On a fresh start the button is in the lower group of the rail. See Window layout: top bar, sidebar and status bar for how to move or close panels.

The list is for the current project only. It covers all workbenches of that project. When you switch the project, the list changes.

What you see

  • Panel title — "Session history". At its right is a close button (tooltip "Close module").
  • Note — a grey line: "Closed sessions can be restored through the app's existing agent resume / reconnect path."
  • History — a section label with a number badge. The number is the count of rows.
  • Session rows — one row for each session. The newest closed session is at the top. Every row is dimmed. A row has, from left to right:
    • a status dot. A closed session shows a hollow grey ring (Not started).
    • a two-letter agent mark, or the word "shell" for a plain terminal. The marks are CX (Codex), CC (Claude Code), CU (Cursor), OC (OpenCode) and AG (Antigravity).
    • the name of the session.
    • a grey second line, for example "5m ago · feature-login". It has the time and, when the session ran in a worktree, the name of the worktree. A dot with spaces separates the two parts.
    • the Restore button. It has a small circular-arrow icon.
  • Row tooltip — hold the pointer on a row to read more. See "States and messages".

Which name a row shows:

  • A closed session shows the name that the terminal had when it closed. If it had none, the row shows the title of its task. If there is no task, the row shows the agent name, for example "Claude Code", or "shell".
  • A terminal that is still on the canvas shows its own name or title.

Which sessions are in the list:

  • Sessions of terminals that you closed.
  • Terminals that are still on the canvas but have no live process. These are terminals that came back after a restart, sleeping terminals, terminals that ended, and terminals with an error.

A terminal with a live process is never in this list.

How to

Open the Session history panel

  1. Click the Session history button in the activity rail of the left sidebar.

Result: the panel opens and shows the History list of the current project.

Read the details of a session

  1. Open Session history in the left sidebar.
  2. Hold the pointer on a session row.

Result: a tooltip shows the details. See "States and messages" for each line.

Restore a closed session

Before you start, select the project that owns the session.

  1. Open Session history in the left sidebar.
  2. Find the row of the session in the History list.
  3. Click Restore on that row. Its tooltip is "Re-open and resume this session".

Result: a new terminal window opens on the active workbench of the project. It starts at the top of the other windows. The window has the same agent and the saved name and recap of the old session. It opens in the folder of the worktree of the session. If the session had no worktree, or the worktree is gone, it opens in the folder of the project. If the agent can resume the saved conversation, it continues it. Otherwise a new session starts. Orkestra shows no message when it works. The row stays in the list.

Restore a terminal that is still on the canvas

Before you start, find a row of a terminal that has no live process. Its tooltip on Restore is "Reconnect this session".

  1. Open Session history in the left sidebar.
  2. Click Restore on the row.

Result: the terminal starts a process again in its own window. No new window opens. The row leaves the list when the process runs. The rules for the saved session are the same as in Terminal states, reconnect and history.

States and messages

Panel texts

  • "Select a project to see its terminal sessions." — no project is selected.
  • "No past sessions yet." — the current project has no closed session and no terminal without a process.

Time in a row. A row shows when the session closed. If Orkestra has no close time, the row shows when the session started. If it has neither, the row shows "closed". The time reads "now ago" (less than one minute), "5m ago", "3h ago" or "2d ago".

Row tooltip. Each line shows only when Orkestra has the fact:

  • "Name:" — the name that you gave, or "—" if none.
  • "Title:" — the name that the row shows.
  • "ID:" — the identifier of the terminal.
  • "Engine:" — the agent name, or "shell".
  • "Status:" — the status. A closed session reads "Not started (not live)". See Agents panel and agent status for the statuses and dots.
  • "Recap:" — the saved summary of the session. It ends with "…" after 240 characters. This is the only place where a row shows the recap.
  • "Worktree:" — the name of the worktree.
  • "Dir:" — the folder. Only a terminal that is still on the canvas has it.
  • "Session:" — the identifier of the agent session.
  • "Started:" and "Closed:" — for example "14m ago".

Restore tooltips. "Re-open and resume this session" for a closed session. "Reconnect this session" for a terminal that is still on the canvas.

Errors. A refused restore of a terminal that is still on the canvas shows a short error pop-up:

  • "A person controls this terminal through Telegram. Try again in 60 seconds, then 2 minutes, then 5 minutes."
  • "That terminal is no longer available."
  • "Could not finish the terminal action. See the error console for details."

If the process cannot start, the new window shows the problem. See Starting terminals and agents and Terminal states, reconnect and history. For the error messages in general, see Feedback, errors and notices.

Limits and tips

What the list does not do

  • It has no search, no filter and no sort control.
  • A row has no delete button, no copy button and no menu on right-click. A click on the row itself does nothing. Restore is the only button.
  • Orkestra keeps every closed session. The list has no limit and no "load more" step. The list stays after you restart Orkestra.

Order. The newest closed session is first. A row with no close time uses its start time. A row with neither is last.

What Restore does and does not do

  • Restore opens a new terminal. The old row stays in the list. If you close the new terminal later, the list can show two rows for the same conversation.
  • The new window opens on the active workbench. This can be another workbench than the one the session ran on.
  • A closed row does not store the folder of the terminal. Restore uses the worktree folder or the project folder. A custom folder is not kept.
  • A closed session of a task stays linked to that task. A session without a task stays without a task. A task session that starts new (no conversation to resume) also gets the task text again as its first input.

Which agents resume. Orkestra resumes a saved conversation only when the agent has data for it on this computer.

  • Claude Code gets its session link when it starts. It resumes when the data of the conversation is still on disk. If not, a new conversation starts.
  • Codex, Cursor, OpenCode and Antigravity get their session link after they record the conversation. They resume only when that saved session still exists. A session that closed before this point starts new.
  • A plain terminal ("shell") has no session. Restore opens a new shell.

Drag a session. The row can be dragged. Drop it on a terminal to type a one-line link to that terminal. The agent in the terminal can use the link with the Orkestra MCP server. See Terminal windows.

Other places. The History tab of a task shows the sessions of one task. See Task window. The task board is in ToDo: the task board. Worktree names come from Worktrees.