Have you ever been in the middle of a long coding session with an AI, only to lose everything because of a network glitch, a dead battery, or an accidental terminal close? It’s frustrating to start over from scratch. Fortunately, the Gemini CLI has a feature called Session Management that solves this exact problem. It allows you to “pick up exactly where you left off,” ensuring your work is never lost. Session Management This guide explains how this feature works, how to use it, and how to configure it to keep your history clean. Video Tutorial https://youtu.be/gd8YgIau3Lw?embedable=true https://youtu.be/gd8YgIau3Lw?embedable=true Watch on YouTube: Gemini CLI Tutorial — Session Management Watch on YouTube: Gemini CLI Tutorial — Session Management Watch on YouTube: Gemini CLI Tutorial — Session Management Gemini CLI Tutorial — Session Management Gemini CLI Tutorial — Session Management What is Session Management? Session management is a built-in feature that automatically saves your interactions with the Gemini CLI. Whether you type one prompt or thirty, Gemini bundles them into a “session.” Automatic Saving: You don’t need to press a “save” button. The CLI does it in the background after every interaction.
Project Specific: Sessions are tied to the project folder you are working in. If you switch folders, you switch to that folder’s history.
Complete Context: When you restore a session, you get back everything — your prompts, the AI’s answers, and the full context of the conversation. Automatic Saving: You don’t need to press a “save” button. The CLI does it in the background after every interaction. Automatic Saving: Project Specific: Sessions are tied to the project folder you are working in. If you switch folders, you switch to that folder’s history. Project Specific: Complete Context: When you restore a session, you get back everything — your prompts, the AI’s answers, and the full context of the conversation. Complete Context: How to Resume a Session There are two main ways to restore your work: using the Interactive Mode or the Command Line. Interactive Mode Command Line 1. The Interactive Method (Easiest) If you are already inside the Gemini CLI (after typing gemini), you can simply ask to see your history. gemini Type the command: /resume
A list of your previous sessions will appear.
Select the one you want to continue and hit Enter. Type the command: /resume /resume A list of your previous sessions will appear. Select the one you want to continue and hit Enter. Enter 2. The Command Line Method (Fastest) You can also restore a session immediately when you launch the tool. To see all your past sessions: Run this command in your terminal: To see all your past sessions: gemini --list-sessions gemini --list-sessions This will show a table with an Index number (e.g., 1, 2, 3) and a Hash (a unique ID code) for each session. Index Hash To resume a specific session: Use the --resume flag followed by the index number. For example, to open session #1: To resume a specific session: --resume gemini --resume 1 gemini --resume 1 To resume the most recent session: If you just want to go back to exactly where you were last time, simply run: To resume the most recent session: gemini --resume gemini --resume Configuring History Settings (Advanced) By default, Gemini keeps your sessions saved. However, if you use the tool daily, you might end up with too many old sessions clogging up your list. You can create a Retention Policy to automatically delete old history. This is done by creating a configuration file. Retention Policy Step 1: Create the Settings File Navigate to your project folder (or your home directory for global settings) and look for a hidden folder named .gemini. Inside it, create or edit a file named settings.json. .gemini settings.json File Path: .gemini/settings.json File Path: .gemini/settings.json File Path: .gemini/settings.json Step 2: Add the Retention Rules Copy and paste the following code into your settings.json file. This fills the gap mentioned in the video by providing the exact code needed: settings.json {
  "general": {
    "sessionRetention": {
      "enabled": true,
      "maxAge": "30d",
      "maxCount": 50
    }
  }
} {
  "general": {
    "sessionRetention": {
      "enabled": true,
      "maxAge": "30d",
      "maxCount": 50
    }
  }
} What do these settings do? What do these settings do? “enabled”: true — Turns on the automatic cleanup feature.
“maxAge”: “30d” — Tells Gemini to delete any session older than 30 days.
“maxCount”: 50 — Tells Gemini to keep only the last 50 sessions. “enabled”: true — Turns on the automatic cleanup feature. “enabled”: true “maxAge”: “30d” — Tells Gemini to delete any session older than 30 days. “maxAge”: “30d” “maxCount”: 50 — Tells Gemini to keep only the last 50 sessions. “maxCount”: 50 Summary The Session Management feature makes the Gemini CLI much more reliable for real work. You no longer have to worry about losing long context windows or complex instructions.

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Gemini CLI Tutorial: How to Resume Your Work

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