Session File Format

Source: https://pi.dev/docs/latest/session-format

Sessions are JSONL files. Each line is a JSON object with a type. Entries form a tree through id / parentId, enabling in-place branching without new files.

Location

~/.pi/agent/sessions/--<path>--/<timestamp>_<uuid>.jsonl

<path> is the working directory with / replaced by -. Delete sessions by removing the .jsonl file, or from /resume with Ctrl+D (Pi uses the trash CLI when available).

Versions

• v1: linear entry sequence (legacy, auto-migrated on load)
• v2: tree structure with id/parentId
• v3: renamed the hookMessage role to custom (extensions unification)

Existing sessions auto-migrate to v3 when loaded.

Content Blocks

TextContent { type: "text", text }, ImageContent { type: "image", data (base64), mimeType }, ThinkingContent { type: "thinking", thinking }, ToolCall { type: "toolCall", id, name, arguments }.

Message Types

Base (from pi-ai):

• UserMessage — role: "user", content string or (Text|Image)[], timestamp (Unix ms)
• AssistantMessage — content: (Text|Thinking|ToolCall)[], api, provider, model, usage, stopReason ∈ stop/length/toolUse/error/aborted, optional errorMessage, timestamp
• ToolResultMessage — toolCallId, toolName, content: (Text|Image)[], optional details, optional usage (nested LLM work performed by the tool), isError, timestamp
• Usage — input, output, cacheRead, cacheWrite, totalTokens, and cost with the same four fields plus total

Extended (from pi-coding-agent):

• BashExecutionMessage — command, output, exitCode, cancelled, truncated, optional fullOutputPath, optional excludeFromContext (true for !!)
• CustomMessage — customType, content, display, optional details
• BranchSummaryMessage — summary, fromId
• CompactionSummaryMessage — summary, tokensBefore

AgentMessage is the union of all seven.

Entry Types

All entries except the header extend SessionEntryBase { type, id (8-char hex), parentId (null for the first entry), timestamp (ISO string) }.

• session — header, first line, metadata only (no id/parentId): version, id, timestamp, cwd, plus parentSession for sessions created via /fork, /clone, or newSession({ parentSession })
• message — wraps an AgentMessage in message
• model_change — provider, modelId
• thinking_level_change — thinkingLevel
• compaction — summary, tokensBefore, plus optional usage, details, fromHook, firstKeptEntryId (old format), and retainedTail
• branch_summary — summary, fromId, plus optional usage, details, fromHook
• custom — customType, data; extension state, not in LLM context. Renderable in the transcript via pi.registerEntryRenderer(customType, renderer)
• custom_message — customType, content, display, optional details; extension-injected and in LLM context
• label — targetId, label (set label to undefined to clear)
• session_info — name; set via /name, --name/-n, or pi.setSessionName(). Shown in /resume instead of the first message

retainedTail is a materialized AgentMessage[] kept after compaction. Newer harness-generated compactions include it so context rebuilds from that checkpoint without walking entries before the compaction. It is optional only for backward compatibility with sessions that store only firstKeptEntryId.

Context Building

buildContextEntries() walks from the current leaf to the root and produces the active entry list honoring compaction:

1. Collect all entries on the path.
2. If a CompactionEntry is on the path: include the compaction entry first; if retainedTail is present it acts as a self-contained checkpoint and entries after the compaction are included; otherwise include entries from firstKeptEntryId to the compaction, then entries after it.
3. Preserve non-message entries in the selected range so interactive mode can render them.

buildSessionContext() builds the LLM message list on top of that: it extracts the current model and thinking level from the full path, then converts entries — message → stored AgentMessage, compaction → compactionSummary plus retainedTail when present, branch_summary → branchSummary, custom_message → CustomMessage, custom → no context message.

SessionManager API

Static creation: create(cwd, sessionDir?), open(path, sessionDir?), continueRecent(cwd, sessionDir?), inMemory(cwd?), forkFrom(sourcePath, targetCwd, sessionDir?).

Static listing: list(cwd, sessionDir?, onProgress?), listAll(onProgress?).

Session management: newSession({ parentSession? }), setSessionFile(path), createBranchedSession(leafId).

Appending (each returns an entry ID): appendMessage, appendThinkingLevelChange, appendModelChange, appendCompaction(summary, firstKeptEntryId, tokensBefore, details?, fromHook?), appendCustomEntry(customType, data?), appendSessionInfo(name), appendCustomMessageEntry(customType, content, display, details?), appendLabelChange(targetId, label).

Tree navigation: getLeafId, getLeafEntry, getEntry, getBranch(fromId?), getTree, getChildren, getLabel, branch(entryId), resetLeaf(), branchWithSummary(entryId, summary, details?, fromHook?).

Context and info: buildContextEntries, buildSessionContext, getEntries, getHeader, getSessionName, getCwd, getSessionDir, getSessionId, getSessionFile (undefined in memory), isPersisted.

Parsing

Read the file line by line and switch on entry.type; treat entry.version ?? 1 on the header, and ignore unknown types for forward compatibility. For TypeScript definitions inspect node_modules/@earendil-works/pi-coding-agent/dist/ and node_modules/@earendil-works/pi-ai/dist/.