Session Command

The session subcommand provides tools for managing your current conversation session. It allows you to view, clear, and manage the context that Chat Gipitty maintains between interactions.

Overview

Sessions in Chat Gipitty store conversation history to enable continuous, contextual conversations. The session command gives you control over this stored context.

Usage

cgip session [OPTIONS]

Options

`--view, -v`

View the current session context, showing all stored messages.

cgip session --view

This displays:

All user messages from the session
All assistant responses
The total number of messages
Session metadata (name, creation time, etc.)

`--clear, -c`

Clear all stored context from the current session.

cgip session --clear

This removes all conversation history while keeping the session name active for future interactions.

Examples

Viewing Session Content

# Check what's in your current session
cgip session --view

Example output:

Session: my-coding-session (5 messages)
Created: 2024-01-15 10:30:00

[User] I'm working on a Rust web API
[Assistant] That's great! Rust is excellent for web APIs due to its performance and safety...

[User] How should I handle authentication?
[Assistant] For authentication in a Rust web API, you have several good options...

[User] Can you show me an example with JWT?
[Assistant] Here's a practical example of JWT authentication in Rust...

Clearing Session History

# Clear current session to start fresh
cgip session --clear

Example output:

Session 'my-coding-session' cleared successfully.

Checking Session Status

# View current session (will show empty if no context)
cgip session --view

If no session is active:

No active session. Set CGIP_SESSION_NAME to enable sessions.

Session Workflow

Typical Session Management Workflow

Start a session by setting the session name:

export CGIP_SESSION_NAME="debugging-session"

Have conversations with Chat Gipitty:

cgip "I'm having issues with my React component"
cgip "The error says 'Cannot read property of undefined'"

Check session context when needed:
```
cgip session --view
```
Clear session when context becomes irrelevant:
```
cgip session --clear
```

When to Use Session Commands

View Session (`--view`)

Use when you want to:

See what context will be included in your next query
Debug why the model's responses seem off-topic
Review the conversation history
Check if sensitive information is stored
Understand how much context has accumulated

Clear Session (`--clear`)

Use when you need to:

Start a completely new topic
Remove irrelevant or confusing context
Clear sensitive information from the session
Reset after the context has become too long
Fix issues where the model seems confused

Integration with Other Commands

Session-Aware Queries

All regular Chat Gipitty commands use session context:

# First query establishes context
cgip "I'm learning Rust ownership concepts"

# Later queries build on this context
cgip "Can you give me an example of borrowing?"
cgip "What about mutable references?"

# Check what context is being used
cgip session --view

Bypassing Sessions

Use --no-session to ignore session context:

# This won't add to or use session context
cgip --no-session "What's the weather like?" 

# Session context remains unchanged
cgip session --view  # Still shows previous Rust discussion

Session Information Display

When viewing sessions, you'll see:

Message Count

The total number of messages (user + assistant) stored.

Session Name

The current CGIP_SESSION_NAME value.

Creation Time

When the session was first created.

Message History

All user questions and assistant responses in chronological order.

Context Size

Indication of how much context is being stored (useful for token management).

Best Practices

Regular Session Maintenance

# Check session size periodically
cgip session --view | head -1

# Clear when context becomes too large or irrelevant
cgip session --clear

Topic Transitions

# Before switching topics, check current context
cgip session --view

# Clear if the new topic is unrelated
cgip session --clear

# Then start the new topic
cgip "Now I want to learn about Docker containers"

Debugging with Session Commands

# If responses seem off-topic, check session context
cgip session --view

# Clear and retry if context is confusing
cgip session --clear
cgip "Let me rephrase my question..."

Error Handling

No Session Active

cgip session --view
# Output: No active session. Set CGIP_SESSION_NAME to enable sessions.

Solution:

export CGIP_SESSION_NAME="my-session"
cgip session --view

Empty Session

cgip session --view
# Output: Session 'my-session' is empty.

This is normal for new sessions or after clearing.

Permission Issues

If you get permission errors, check session storage directory:

# Linux/macOS
ls -la ~/.config/cgip/sessions/
ls -la ~/Library/Application\ Support/cgip/sessions/

Advanced Usage

Scripting with Session Commands

#!/bin/bash
# Script to manage coding sessions

# Check if session has too many messages
MESSAGE_COUNT=$(cgip session --view | grep -o '[0-9]* messages' | cut -d' ' -f1)

if [ "$MESSAGE_COUNT" -gt 20 ]; then
    echo "Session has $MESSAGE_COUNT messages, clearing..."
    cgip session --clear
fi

Session Inspection

# Get session info for debugging
cgip session --view > session_dump.txt

# Analyze session content
grep "User\]" session_dump.txt | wc -l  # Count user messages
grep "Assistant\]" session_dump.txt | wc -l  # Count assistant messages

Conditional Session Management

# Clear session if working directory changes
CURRENT_PROJECT=$(basename $PWD)
if [[ "$LAST_PROJECT" != "$CURRENT_PROJECT" ]]; then
    cgip session --clear
    export LAST_PROJECT="$CURRENT_PROJECT"
fi

Chat GipiTTY