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.

goose Desktop

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.

Same Directory

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

Different Directory

1. Click the directory switcher at the bottom of the app
2. Navigate to the new directory or create a new folder
3. Click Open to open a new Goose window for the selected directory
4. 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.

Action	macOS	Windows/Linux
New Session in Current Directory	Cmd+N	Ctrl+N
New Session in Different Directory	Cmd+O	Ctrl+O
Focus Goose Window	Cmd+Option+Shift+G	Ctrl+Alt+Shift+G
Toggle Sidebar	Cmd+B	Ctrl+B

goose CLI

From your terminal, navigate to the directory from which you'd like to start, and run the session command:

goose session 

If you want to interact with Goose in a web-based chat interface, start a session with the web command:

goose web --open

Name Session

goose Desktop

In the Desktop app, session tiles display auto-generated descriptions based on the context of your initial prompt.

You can edit session descriptions 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. In the "Edit Session Description" modal that opens:
   • Enter your new session description (up to 200 characters)
   • Press Enter to save or Escape to cancel
   • Or click the Save or Cancel buttons
6. A success toast notification will confirm the change

tip

Session descriptions help you manage multiple Goose windows. When you're in the Goose chat interface, session descriptions 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.

goose CLI

By default, Goose names your session using the current timestamp in the format YYYYMMDD_HHMMSS. If you'd like to provide a specific name, this is where you'd do so. For example to name your session react-migration, you would run:

goose session -n react-migration

You'll know your session has started when your terminal looks similar to the following:

starting session | provider: openai model: gpt-4o
logging to ~/.local/share/goose/sessions/react-migration.json1

Exit Session

Note that sessions are automatically saved when you exit.

goose Desktop

To exit a session, simply close the application.

goose CLI

To exit a session, type exit. Alternatively, you exit the session by holding down Ctrl+C.

Your session will be stored locally in ~/.local/share/goose/sessions.

Search Sessions

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

goose Desktop

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

Action	macOS	Windows/Linux
Open Search	Cmd+F	Ctrl+F
Next Match	Cmd+G or ↓	Ctrl+G or ↓
Previous Match	Shift+Cmd+G or ↑	Shift+Ctrl+G or ↑
Use Selection for Find	Cmd+E	n/a
Toggle Case-Sensitivity	Aa	Aa
Close Search	Esc or X	Esc 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.

goose CLI

Search functionality is provided by your terminal interface. Use the appropriate shortcut for your environment:

Terminal	Operating System	Shortcut
iTerm2	macOS	Cmd+F
Terminal.app	macOS	Cmd+F
Windows Terminal	Windows	Ctrl+F
Linux Terminal	Linux	Ctrl+F

info

Your specific terminal emulator may use a different keyboard shortcut. Check your terminal's documentation or settings for the search command.

The Goose CLI supports listing session history but doesn't provide search functionality. As a workaround, you can use your terminal's search capabilities (including regex support) to search for specific content within sessions or find specific sessions.

Examples for macOS:

# Search session IDs (filenames)
ls ~/.local/share/goose/sessions/ | grep "full or partial session id"

# List sessions modified in last 7 days
find ~/.local/share/goose/sessions/ -mtime -7 -name "*.jsonl"

# Show first line (metadata) of each session file
for f in ~/.local/share/goose/sessions/*.jsonl; do
    head -n1 "$f" | grep "your search term" && echo "Found in: $(basename "$f" .jsonl)"
done

# Find search term in session content
rg "your search term" ~/.local/share/goose/sessions/

# Search and show session IDs that contain search term
for f in ~/.local/share/goose/sessions/*.jsonl; do
    if grep -q "your search term" "$f"; then
    echo "Found in session: $(basename "$f" .jsonl)"
    fi
done

Resume Session

goose 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. 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.

goose CLI

To resume your latest session, you can run the following command:

 goose session -r

To resume a specific session, run the following command:

goose session -r --name <name>

For example, to resume the session named react-migration, you would run:

goose session -r --name react-migration

tip

While you can resume sessions using the commands above, we recommend creating new sessions for new tasks to reduce the chance of doom spiraling.

Resume Session Across Interfaces

You can resume a CLI session in Desktop.

goose 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

goose CLI

Currently, you cannot resume a Desktop session within the CLI.

Resume Project-Based Sessions

goose Desktop

Project-based sessions are only available through the CLI.

goose CLI

You can use the project and projects commands to start or resume sessions from a project, which is a tracked working directory with session metadata. For a complete guide to using Projects, see Managing Projects Guide.

Delete Sessions

goose Desktop

You can delete sessions directly from the Desktop app:

1. Click the button in the top-left to open the sidebar
2. Click History in the sidebar
3. Find the session you want to delete
4. Hover over the session card to reveal the action buttons
5. Click the button that appears
6. Confirm the deletion in the modal that appears

Permanent deletion

Deleting a session from goose Desktop will also delete it from the CLI. This action cannot be undone.

The session will be immediately removed from your session history and the underlying session file will be deleted from your local storage.

goose CLI

You can remove sessions using CLI commands. For detailed instructions on session removal, see the CLI Commands documentation.

Import Sessions

goose Desktop

Import complete sessions from JSON files to restore, share, or migrate sessions between goose instances. Importing creates a new session with a new ID rather than overwriting existing sessions.

1. Click the button in the top-left to open the sidebar
2. Click History in the sidebar
3. Click the Import Session button in the top-right corner
4. Select a .json session file that was previously exported from goose
5. The session will be imported with a new session ID
6. A success notification will confirm the import

goose CLI

Session import is currently only available through the Desktop app.

Export Sessions

goose Desktop

Export complete sessions as JSON files for backup, sharing, migration, or archival. Exported files preserve all session data including conversation history, metadata, and settings.

1. Click the button in the top-left to open the sidebar
2. Click History in the sidebar
3. Find the session you want to export
4. Hover over the session card to reveal the action buttons
5. Click the button that appears
6. The session will be downloaded as a .json file named after the session description

goose CLI

Export sessions for backup, sharing, migration, or documentation purposes. You can export as JSON files to preserve complete session data including conversation history, metadata, and settings, or as Markdown files to get a formatted, readable version of the conversation.

From your terminal, run the session export subcommand:

goose session export