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Managing Goose Sessions

A session is a single, continuous interaction between you and Goose, providing a space to ask questions and prompt action. In this guide, we'll cover how to start, exit, and resume a session.

Start Session

After choosing an LLM provider, you'll see the session interface ready for use. Type your questions, tasks, or instructions directly into the input field, and Goose will immediately get to work. You can start a new session in the same directory or in a different directory.

To start a session in the same window:

  1. Click the button in the top-left to open the sidebar
  2. Click Home in the sidebar
  3. Send your first prompt from the chat box

To start a session in a new window:

  1. Click the button in the top-left
  2. In the new Goose window, send your first prompt from the chat box
tip

On macOS, you can drag and drop a folder onto the Goose icon in the dock to open a new session in that directory.

You can also use keyboard shortcuts to start a new session or bring focus to open Goose windows.

ActionmacOSWindows/Linux
New Session in Current DirectoryCmd+NCtrl+N
New Session in Different DirectoryCmd+OCtrl+O
Focus Goose WindowCmd+Option+Shift+GCtrl+Alt+Shift+G
info

If this is your first session, Goose will prompt you for an API key to access an LLM (Large Language Model) of your choice. For more information on setting up your API key, see the Installation Guide. Here is the list of supported LLMs.

Name Session

Within the Desktop app, sessions are automatically named based on the context of your initial prompt.

Exit Session

Note that sessions are automatically saved when you exit.

To exit a session, simply close the application.

Search Sessions

Search allows you to find specific content within sessions or find specific sessions.

You can use keyboard shortcuts and search bar buttons to search sessions in Goose Desktop.

ActionmacOSWindows/Linux
Open SearchCmd+FCtrl+F
Next MatchCmd+G or Ctrl+G or
Previous MatchShift+Cmd+G or Shift+Ctrl+G or
Use Selection for FindCmd+En/a
Toggle Case-SensitivityAaAa
Close SearchEsc or XEsc or X

The following scenarios are supported:

Search Within Current Session

To find specific content within your current session:

  1. Use Cmd+F to open the search bar
  2. Enter your search term
  3. Use shortcuts and search bar buttons to navigate the results

Search For Session By Name or Path

To search all your sessions by name or working directory path:

  1. Click the button in the top-left to open the sidebar
  2. Click History in the sidebar
  3. Use Cmd+F to open the search bar
  4. Enter your search term
  5. Use keyboard shortcuts and search bar buttons to navigate the results (Cmd+E not supported)

This is a metadata-only search. It doesn't search conversation content. Note that searching by file name is supported (e.g. 20250727_130002.jsonl), but this property isn't displayed in the UI.

Search Within Historical Session

To find specific content within a historical session:

  1. Click the button in the top-left to open the sidebar
  2. Click History in the sidebar
  3. Click a specific session tile from the list to view its content
  4. Use Cmd+F to open the search bar
  5. Enter your search term
  6. Use keyboard shortcuts and search bar buttons to navigate the results
No Regex or operator support

Using regular expressions or search operators in search text isn't supported.

Resume Session

  1. Click the button in the top-left to open the sidebar
  2. Click History in the sidebar
  3. Click the session you'd like to resume. Goose provides search features to help you find the session.
  4. Choose how to resume:
    • Click Resume to continue in the current window
    • Click New Window to open in a new window
tip

You can also quickly resume one of your three most recent sessions by clicking it in the Recent chats section on the Home page.

Resume Session Across Interfaces

You can resume a CLI session in Desktop.

All saved sessions are listed in the Desktop app, even CLI sessions. To resume a CLI session within the Desktop:

  1. Click the button in the top-left to open the sidebar
  2. Click History in the sidebar
  3. Click the session you'd like to resume
  4. Choose how to resume:
    • Click Resume to continue in the current window
    • Click New Window to open in a new window

Project-Based Sessions

Project-based sessions are only available through the CLI.

Remove Sessions

Removing sessions is only available through the CLI.

Export Sessions

Export sessions to Markdown to share with your team, create documentation, archive conversations, or review them in a readable format.

Session export is currently only available through the CLI.

Voice Dictation

Speak to Goose directly instead of typing your prompts.

To enable voice dictation:

  1. Click the button in the top-left to open the sidebar
  2. Click Settings in the sidebar
  3. Click Chat
  4. Under Voice Dictation, toggle Enable Voice Dictation on
  5. Choose between OpenAI Whisper or ElevenLabs as your dictation provider
  6. Enter your API key for the provider you chose

To use voice dictation:

  1. Return to the chat interface (click Chat in the sidebar)
  2. Click the microphone on the right of the chat box and begin speaking

The first time you use voice dictation, Goose will request access to your microphone. While recording, you'll see a live waveform of your audio in the input field, a timer, and the current size of your recording. Click the microphone button again to finish recording.

If you don't see the microphone, check the models you have configured. ElevenLabs can be used as a dictation provider alongside any LLM, but OpenAI Whisper requires that you have an OpenAI model configured in Goose, even if using another LLM provider for chat.

Important Notes

  • You can record up to 10 minutes or 25MB of audio.
  • The audio is processed by your chosen provider (OpenAI or ElevenLabs).
  • Voice input is appended to any existing text in the text input field, so you can combine typing and speaking your prompts.
  • Recordings are not stored locally after transcription.

Share Files in Session

Share files with Goose in several ways:

  1. Drag and Drop: Simply drag files from your computer's file explorer/finder and drop them anywhere in the chat window. The file paths will be automatically added to your message.

  2. File Browser: Click the button at the bottom of the app to open your system's file browser and select files.

  3. Manual Path: Type or paste the file path directly into the chat input.

  4. Quick File Search: Use the @ shortcut key to quickly find and include files.