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Session Management

A session is a single, continuous interaction between you and Goose, providing a space to ask questions and prompt action. This guide covers how to manage the session lifecycle.

Start Session

First-time setup

In your first session, Goose prompts you to set up an LLM (Large Language Model) provider.

When you open Goose, you'll see the session interface ready for use. Just type—or speak—your questions, requests, or instructions directly into the input field, and Goose will immediately get to work.

When you're ready to work on a new task, you can start a new session in the same directory or a different one. This directory is where Goose reads and writes files by default.

To start a session in the same Goose 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 Goose 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

Name Session

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

You can rename sessions after they're created:

  1. Click the button in the top-left to open the sidebar
  2. Click History in the sidebar
  3. Hover over the session you'd like to rename
  4. Click the button that appears on the session card
  5. Enter the new session name
  6. Click Save

Session names can also help you manage multiple Goose windows. When you're in the Goose chat interface, session names appear in the Window menu and in the Dock (macOS) or taskbar (Windows) menu, making it easy to identify and switch between different Goose sessions.

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.

tip

You can rename sessions to give them descriptive names that you'll remember later.

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

Resume 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.