docs/concepts/session.md
OpenClaw routes every inbound message to a session based on where it came from: DMs, group chats, cron jobs, etc. All session state is owned by the gateway; UI clients query the gateway for session data.
| Source | Behavior |
|---|---|
| Direct messages | Shared session by default |
| Group chats | Isolated per group |
| Rooms/channels | Isolated per room |
| Cron jobs | Fresh session per run |
| Webhooks | Isolated per hook |
By default, all DMs share one session for continuity, which is fine for single-user setups.
<Warning> If multiple people can message your agent, enable DM isolation. Without it, all users share the same conversation context, so Alice's private messages would be visible to Bob. </Warning>{
session: {
dmScope: "per-channel-peer", // isolate by channel + sender
},
}
session.dmScope options:
| Value | Behavior |
|---|---|
main (default) | All DMs share one session |
per-peer | Isolate by sender, across channels |
per-channel-peer | Isolate by channel + sender (recommended) |
per-account-channel-peer | Isolate by account + channel + sender |
Dock commands move the current direct-chat session's reply route to another linked channel without starting a new session. See Channel docking for examples, config, and troubleshooting.
Verify your setup with openclaw security audit.
Sessions are reused until they expire under session.reset:
mode: "daily") - new session at a configured local
hour (session.reset.atHour, default 4, 0-23) on the gateway host. Daily
freshness is based on when the current sessionId started, not on later
metadata writes.mode: "idle") - new session after session.reset.idleMinutes
of inactivity. Idle freshness is based on the last real user/channel
interaction, so heartbeat, cron, and exec system events do not keep the
session alive./new or /reset in chat. /new <model> also
switches the model.When both daily and idle resets are configured, whichever expires first wins. Heartbeat, cron, exec, and other system-event turns may write session metadata, but those writes do not extend daily or idle reset freshness. When a reset rolls the session, queued system-event notices for the old session are discarded so stale background updates are not prepended to the first prompt in the new session.
Sessions with an active provider-owned CLI session are not cut by the implicit
daily default. Use /reset or configure session.reset explicitly when those
sessions should expire on a timer.
Override the default per chat type or per channel:
{
session: {
reset: { mode: "daily", atHour: 4 },
resetByType: {
group: { mode: "idle", idleMinutes: 120 },
thread: { mode: "daily", atHour: 6 },
},
resetByChannel: {
discord: { mode: "idle", idleMinutes: 10080 },
},
},
}
resetByType supports direct (legacy alias dm), group, and thread.
Legacy top-level session.idleMinutes still works as a compatibility alias for
an idle-mode default when no session.reset/resetByType block is set.
~/.openclaw/agents/<agentId>/sessions/sessions.json~/.openclaw/agents/<agentId>/sessions/<sessionId>.jsonlsessions.json keeps separate lifecycle timestamps:
sessionStartedAt: when the current sessionId began; daily reset uses this.lastInteractionAt: last user/channel interaction that extends idle lifetime.updatedAt: last store-row mutation; useful for listing and pruning, but not
authoritative for daily/idle reset freshness.Older rows without sessionStartedAt are resolved from the transcript JSONL
session header when available. If an older row also lacks lastInteractionAt,
idle freshness falls back to that session start time, not to later bookkeeping
writes.
OpenClaw bounds session storage over time via session.maintenance, defaults
shown:
{
session: {
maintenance: {
mode: "enforce", // "enforce" applies cleanup; "warn" only reports
pruneAfter: "30d",
maxEntries: 500,
},
},
}
For production-sized maxEntries limits, Gateway runtime writes use a small
high-water buffer and clean back down to the configured cap in batches.
Session store reads do not prune or cap entries during Gateway startup, so
startup and isolated cron sessions do not pay for a full store cleanup.
openclaw sessions cleanup --enforce applies the cap immediately.
Gateway model-run probe sessions are short-lived by default. Rows matching
agent:*:explicit:model-run-<uuid> use fixed 24h retention, but cleanup is
pressure-gated: it only removes stale probe rows when session-entry
maintenance/cap pressure is reached, and runs before the broader stale-entry
age cutoff and entry cap. Normal direct, group, thread, cron, hook, heartbeat,
ACP, and sub-agent sessions do not inherit this 24h retention.
Maintenance preserves durable external conversation pointers, including group sessions and thread-scoped chat sessions, while still allowing synthetic cron, hook, heartbeat, ACP, and sub-agent entries to age out.
If you previously used DM isolation and later returned session.dmScope to
main, preview stale peer-keyed DM rows with
openclaw sessions cleanup --dry-run --fix-dm-scope. Applying the same flag
retires those old direct-DM rows and keeps their transcripts as deleted
archives.
Preview any maintenance run with openclaw sessions cleanup --dry-run.
| Command | Shows |
|---|---|
openclaw status | Session store path and recent activity |
openclaw sessions --json | All sessions (filter with --active <minutes>) |
/status in chat | Context usage, model, and toggles |
/context list | What is in the system prompt |