Sessmgr — Named Session Manager
Give your OpenClaw sessions memorable names and pick them up exactly where you left off. No more hunting through cryptic session IDs.
At a Glance
/sessmgr <action> [args]
Actions:
name <name> [description] Name the current session
list Show all named sessions
reload <name> Switch to a named session
new <name> Start a fresh named session
rename <old> <new> Rename a session
save <name> Touch a session's last-used time
delete <name> Remove a name (keeps transcript)
Natural language works too — "name this session project-alpha", "switch to my-dev-session", etc.
Why Named Sessions?
- Remember what you were doing — "auth-redesign" beats
199f3a3c-882a-4cec-9f86-693bca7b9fa1
- Pick up exactly where you left off —
/sessmgr reload project-alpha restores context
- Multiple concurrent threads — name each conversation thread, switch between them instantly
- Never lose context — deleting a name preserves the transcript; you can always recover
Actions
name <name> [description]
What it does: Tags the current session with a memorable name.
/sessmgr name auth-redesign OAuth flow refactor
Natural language: "name this session auth-redesign" / "call this session my blog draft"
Details:
- If the name already belongs to this session → updates the description
- If the name belongs to a different session → error (use
rename to reclaim it)
- Description is optional but recommended — "OAuth flow refactor" beats nothing
Output on success:
Named session 'auth-redesign' -> 199f3a3c-882a-4cec-9f86-693bca7b9fa1
Description: OAuth flow refactor
list
What it does: Shows all named sessions with metadata.
/sessmgr list
Natural language: "list my sessions" / "show all named sessions"
Output:
Name Session ID Created Last Used Description
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
auth-redesign 199f3a3c-882a-4cec-9f86-693bca7b9fa1 2026-04-19T11:08:49+00:00 2026-04-19T14:22:00+00:00 OAuth flow refactor
dev-work a1b2c3d4-e5f6-7890-abcd-ef1234567890 2026-04-18T09:30:00+00:00 2026-04-18T16:45:00+00:00 Backend API investigation
Tips:
- Active session is marked implicitly by having the most recent
lastUsed that matches your current session ID
- Sessions are sorted alphabetically
reload <name>
What it does: Switches to a named session by printing RELOAD_SESSION:<sessionId>.
/sessmgr reload auth-redesign
Natural language: "switch to auth-redesign" / "go to session dev-work" / "load project-alpha"
Output on success:
RELOAD_SESSION:199f3a3c-882a-4cec-9f86-693bca7b9fa1
If the name doesn't exist:
Error: no session named 'auth-redesign'. To start a new session with this name, use /sessmgr new auth-redesign
⚠️ Channel limitation: Reloading only works within the same channel. Webchat sessions reload in webchat, Telegram in Telegram, etc. Cross-channel switching is not supported.
new <name>
What it does: Confirms the name is available, then prints NEW_SESSION:<name> to signal intent to start fresh.
/sessmgr new project-alpha
Natural language: "start a new session called project-alpha" / "create a new session named staging"
Output on success:
NEW_SESSION:project-alpha
If the name already exists:
Error: a session named 'project-alpha' already exists. Use /sessmgr reload project-alpha to return to it.
rename <old-name> <new-name>
What it does: Changes the name of an existing session without touching the transcript.
/sessmgr rename dev-work backend-research
Natural language: "rename dev to staging" / "change session name from old-session to new-session"
Output on success:
Renamed 'dev-work' -> 'backend-research'.
Validation:
new-name must be unique (no existing session with that name)
- Both names must be valid: letters, numbers, hyphens, underscores only
- Transcript file is never modified — only the name mapping changes
save <name>
What it does: Updates the lastUsed timestamp without leaving the current session. Useful for marking a session as "alive" without switching.
/sessmgr save auth-redesign
Natural language: "save session auth-redesign" / "touch the timestamp for my dev session"
Output:
Saved session 'auth-redesign' (updated lastUsed).
delete <name>
What it does: Removes the name mapping. The transcript file (.jsonl) is never deleted — only the human-readable name is removed.
/sessmgr delete old-session
Natural language: "delete session old-session" / "remove the name old-session"
Output:
Deleted session name 'old-session' (session file preserved).
Recovery: If you delete a name by accident, the session transcript still exists at ~/.openclaw/agents/main/sessions/<sessionId>.jsonl. You can find it by checking sessions.json and re-name it with /sessmgr name.
Data Storage
| File | Purpose |
|---|
~/.openclaw/agents/main/sessions/names.json | Name → sessionId mapping with metadata |
~/.openclaw/agents/main/sessions/<sessionId>.jsonl | The actual session transcript (never deleted) |
names.json entry structure:
{
"sessionId": "199f3a3c-882a-4cec-9f86-693bca7b9fa1",
"created": "2026-04-19T11:08:49.440540+00:00",
"lastUsed": "2026-04-19T14:22:00.000000+00:00",
"description": "OAuth flow refactor"
}
Validation Rules
| Rule | Details |
|---|
| Allowed characters | Letters (a-z, A-Z), digits (0-9), hyphens (-), underscores (_) |
| Max length | 64 characters |
| Case | Preserved — Auth-Redesign and auth-redesign are different names |
| Reserved names | None, but avoid names that look like actions (name, list, new, etc.) to prevent ambiguity |
Error Reference
| Situation | Message |
|---|
| Name doesn't exist (reload) | Error: no session named '<name>'. To start a new session with this name, use /sessmgr new <name> |
| Name already taken (new) | Error: a session named '<name>' already exists. Use /sessmgr reload <name> to return to it. |
| Name belongs to another session | Error: name '<name>' is already assigned to a different session. |
| Invalid characters | Error: name must be alphanumeric, hyphens, or underscores only. |
| Can't determine current session | Error: could not determine current session ID. |
| New name already exists (rename) | Error: name '<new-name>' already exists. |
| Name doesn't exist (save/delete/rename) | Error: no session named '<name>'. |
Tips & Tricks
Multiple projects simultaneously:
/sessmgr name frontend-rework
# work on frontend...
/sessmgr name backend-api
# work on backend...
/sessmgr reload frontend-rework # pick up exactly where you left off
Meaningful descriptions:
/sessmgr name auth-redesign "Fixing OAuth callback, third attempt"
Check before starting new:
/sessmgr list
# see if 'staging' already exists before /sessmgr new staging
Session cleanup without losing history:
/sessmgr delete old-session # removes the name
# transcript still at: ~/.openclaw/agents/main/sessions/<sessionId>.jsonl