Session Persistence and Resumption
Save and restore conversation sessions across application restarts.
Prerequisites
Install JBang to run these examples:
# macOS (using Homebrew)
brew install jbangdev/tap/jbang
# Linux/macOS (using curl)
curl -Ls https://sh.jbang.dev | bash -s - app setup
# Windows (using Scoop)
scoop install jbang
Example scenario
You want users to be able to continue a conversation even after closing and reopening your application.
Creating a session with a custom ID
Usage:
jbang PersistingSessions.java
Code:
//DEPS io.github.copilot-community-sdk:copilot-sdk:1.0.9
import com.github.copilot.sdk.*;
import com.github.copilot.sdk.events.*;
import com.github.copilot.sdk.json.*;
public class PersistingSessions {
public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {
try (var client = new CopilotClient()) {
client.start().get();
// Create session with a memorable ID
var session = client.createSession(
new SessionConfig()
.setSessionId("user-123-conversation")
.setModel("gpt-5")
).get();
session.on(AssistantMessageEvent.class, msg ->
System.out.println(msg.getData().getContent())
);
session.sendAndWait(new MessageOptions()
.setPrompt("Let's discuss TypeScript generics")).get();
// Session ID is preserved
System.out.println("Session ID: " + session.getSessionId());
// Close session but keep data on disk
session.close();
}
}
}
Resuming a session
public class ResumeSession {
public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {
try (var client = new CopilotClient()) {
client.start().get();
// Resume the previous session
var session = client.resumeSession("user-123-conversation").get();
session.on(AssistantMessageEvent.class, msg ->
System.out.println(msg.getData().getContent())
);
// Previous context is restored
session.sendAndWait(new MessageOptions()
.setPrompt("What were we discussing?")).get();
session.close();
}
}
}
Listing available sessions
public class ListSessions {
public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {
try (var client = new CopilotClient()) {
client.start().get();
var sessions = client.listSessions().get();
for (var sessionInfo : sessions) {
System.out.println("Session: " + sessionInfo.getSessionId());
}
}
}
}
Deleting a session permanently
public class DeleteSession {
public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {
try (var client = new CopilotClient()) {
client.start().get();
// Remove session and all its data from disk
client.deleteSession("user-123-conversation").get();
System.out.println("Session deleted");
}
}
}
Getting session history
//DEPS io.github.copilot-community-sdk:copilot-sdk:1.0.9
import com.github.copilot.sdk.*;
import com.github.copilot.sdk.events.*;
import com.github.copilot.sdk.json.*;
public class SessionHistory {
public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {
try (var client = new CopilotClient()) {
client.start().get();
var session = client.resumeSession("user-123-conversation").get();
var messages = session.getMessages().get();
for (var event : messages) {
// Print different event types appropriately
if (event instanceof AssistantMessageEvent msg) {
System.out.printf("[assistant] %s%n", msg.getData().getContent());
} else if (event instanceof UserMessageEvent userMsg) {
System.out.printf("[user] %s%n", userMsg.getData().content());
} else {
System.out.printf("[%s]%n", event.getType());
}
}
session.close();
}
}
}
Complete example with session management
//DEPS io.github.copilot-community-sdk:copilot-sdk:1.0.9
import java.util.Scanner;
public class SessionManager {
public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {
try (var client = new CopilotClient();
var scanner = new Scanner(System.in)) {
client.start().get();
System.out.println("Session Manager");
System.out.println("1. Create new session");
System.out.println("2. Resume existing session");
System.out.println("3. List sessions");
System.out.print("Choose an option: ");
int choice = scanner.nextInt();
scanner.nextLine(); // consume newline
CopilotSession session = null;
switch (choice) {
case 1:
System.out.print("Enter session ID: ");
String sessionId = scanner.nextLine();
session = client.createSession(
new SessionConfig()
.setSessionId(sessionId)
.setModel("gpt-5")
).get();
System.out.println("Created session: " + sessionId);
break;
case 2:
System.out.print("Enter session ID to resume: ");
String resumeId = scanner.nextLine();
try {
session = client.resumeSession(resumeId).get();
System.out.println("Resumed session: " + resumeId);
} catch (Exception ex) {
System.err.println("Failed to resume session: " + ex.getMessage());
return;
}
break;
case 3:
var sessions = client.listSessions().get();
System.out.println("\nAvailable sessions:");
for (var s : sessions) {
System.out.println(" - " + s.getSessionId());
}
return;
default:
System.out.println("Invalid choice");
return;
}
if (session != null) {
session.on(AssistantMessageEvent.class, msg ->
System.out.println("\nCopilot: " + msg.getData().getContent())
);
// Interactive conversation loop
System.out.println("\nStart chatting (type 'exit' to quit):");
while (true) {
System.out.print("\nYou: ");
String input = scanner.nextLine();
if (input.equalsIgnoreCase("exit")) {
break;
}
session.send(new MessageOptions().setPrompt(input));
Thread.sleep(2000); // Give time for response
}
session.close();
}
}
}
}
Checking if a session exists
public class CheckSession {
public static boolean sessionExists(CopilotClient client, String sessionId) {
try {
var sessions = client.listSessions().get();
return sessions.stream()
.anyMatch(s -> s.getSessionId().equals(sessionId));
} catch (Exception ex) {
return false;
}
}
public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {
try (var client = new CopilotClient()) {
client.start().get();
String sessionId = "user-123-conversation";
if (sessionExists(client, sessionId)) {
System.out.println("Session exists, resuming...");
var session = client.resumeSession(sessionId).get();
// ... use session ...
session.close();
} else {
System.out.println("Session doesn't exist, creating new one...");
var session = client.createSession(
new SessionConfig().setSessionId(sessionId).setModel("gpt-5")
).get();
// ... use session ...
session.close();
}
}
}
}
Best practices
- Use meaningful session IDs: Include user ID or context in the session ID (e.g., “user-123-chat”, “task-456-review”)
- Handle missing sessions: Check if a session exists before resuming
- Clean up old sessions: Periodically delete sessions that are no longer needed
- Error handling: Always wrap resume operations in try-catch blocks
- Workspace awareness: Sessions are tied to workspace paths, ensure consistency