Session History Enhanced

Session history system for OpenClaw — persistent, browsable, resumable chat sessions with SQLite index, archive/restore, migration, paginated UI, and chat dropdown integration. Use when: (1) adding session archival/indexing to OpenClaw, (2) implementing session browsing/search in the dashboard, (3) adding session resume/rename/delete, (4) archiving active sessions from the dashboard, (5) adding pagination to session lists, or (6) integrating recent sessions into the chat dropdown.

Session History

Transforms OpenClaw's single-slot session model into a multi-session history system with SQLite indexing, archive/restore, and full dashboard UI.

Architecture

text

~/.openclaw/agents/{agentId}/sessions/
├── sessions.json           # routing table (unchanged)
├── history.db              # SQLite index (auto-created)
├── {activeSessionId}.jsonl # active transcript
└── archive/
    └── {sessionId}.jsonl   # archived transcripts

Lifecycle:

• On /new or session reset → old transcript moves to archive/, metadata indexed in SQLite
• On archive (from UI) → session deactivated, transcript archived, indexed, removed from store
• On resume → transcript moves back from archive/, SQLite status flips to active
• Migration auto-runs on first access: indexes all orphaned .jsonl files

File Map

Backend (new files)

File	Reference	Purpose
src/config/sessions/history-db.ts	references/backend-history-db.ts.txt	SQLite CRUD operations
src/config/sessions/history-migration.ts	references/backend-history-migration.ts.txt	One-time migration + initHistoryDbWithMigration
src/gateway/session-archive.ts	references/backend-session-archive.ts.txt	Archive/restore logic

Backend (modified files)

File	Reference	Purpose
src/gateway/protocol/schema/sessions.ts	references/backend-protocol-schemas.ts.txt	TypeBox schemas for new RPCs
src/gateway/server-methods/sessions.ts	references/backend-rpc-handlers.ts.txt	5 RPC handler implementations

Frontend (modified files)

File	Reference	Purpose
ui/src/ui/controllers/sessions.ts	references/frontend-controllers-sessions.ts.txt	Full controller with archived session CRUD + pagination
ui/src/ui/views/sessions.ts	references/frontend-views-sessions.ts.txt	Full view with Session History section, Archive button, pagination
ui/src/ui/app-view-state.ts	references/frontend-state-changes.txt	State + app.ts + app-render.ts + app-chat.ts + app-settings.ts + app-render.helpers.ts wiring

Installation

See references/INSTALL.md for step-by-step instructions.

RPC Endpoints

Method	Params	Purpose
sessions.archive	key	Archive active session — deactivates, moves transcript, indexes in SQLite, removes from store
sessions.archived	agentId?, limit?, offset?, search?, status?	List archived sessions with pagination and search
sessions.resume	sessionId, agentId?	Restore archived session to active
sessions.rename	sessionId, displayName, agentId?	Update session display name
sessions.deleteArchived	sessionId, agentId?, deleteTranscript?	Delete archived session + optional transcript

UI Features

Sessions Page

• Active Sessions grid — with Archive button (hidden for Main Session), History, Delete
• Session History section — archived sessions with search, Resume/Rename/Delete buttons
• Pagination — both sections have 10/20/25 page-size dropdown + Prev/Next

Chat Dropdown

• Filters out cron/subagent/openai sessions (only user-facing sessions shown)
• "Recent Sessions" <optgroup> with 10 most recent archived sessions
• "📋 View All Sessions" link navigates to Sessions tab
• Selecting an archived session auto-resumes it

Key Design Decisions

• SQLite over JSON: Supports search, pagination, and indexing without loading everything into memory
• Server-side pagination for archives: Pass limit/offset to sessions.archived RPC
• Client-side pagination for live sessions: Slice the already-loaded array
• sessionId-based dropdown values: Archived sessions all share the same sessionKey (agent:main:main), so the dropdown uses __archived__:{sessionId} as the option value
• sessions.archive reuses sessions.delete param schema: Both need just { key }

Common Pitfalls

1. RPC handler signature: Must use ({ params, respond }) destructuring, not (request, respond)
2. assertValidParams: Takes 4 args: (params, validator, "method.name", respond)
3. Sessions directory: Use resolveSessionTranscriptsDirForAgent(agentId) — NOT resolveGatewaySessionStoreTarget(config)
4. Pagination on every load: All loadArchivedSessions calls must pass limit and offset
5. Page reset: Changing page size or search query must reset page to 1
6. Archived session dropdown filtering: Filter by sessionId, not sessionKey (all archived sessions share the same sessionKey)