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Session history not discoverable - no persistent sidebar, Ctrl+S conflicts with editor #35426
Description
Problem
Finding previous chat sessions is unnecessarily difficult. Every time I restart opencode, I land on a fresh chat interface with no visible indication that past sessions exist.
Issues found:
-
No persistent session history sidebar - There is no always-visible panel showing past sessions. The only way to access history is through a modal dialog, which is not discoverable.
-
Ctrl+S keybinding conflicts with editor - The source code maps Ctrl+S to both "send message" (when editor is focused) and "switch session" (when editor is unfocused). Since the editor is focused by default, users have to know to press Esc first, then Ctrl+S. This is unintuitive.
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README documentation is wrong - The README claims Ctrl+A opens the session switcher, but the source code (internal/tui/tui.go) binds Ctrl+S, not Ctrl+A. There is no Ctrl+A binding anywhere in the codebase.
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Session dialog only shows 10 items - Even when the dialog opens, it limits display to 10 sessions. With 40+ sessions, scrolling through them is tedious.
Suggested improvements:
- Add a persistent sidebar or panel on the home screen listing recent sessions
- Change the "switch session" keybinding to avoid conflict with the editor's send action (e.g., Ctrl+R for recent, or Ctrl+Shift+S)
- Fix the README to document the correct keybinding
- Consider adding a search/filter feature to the session dialog
Environment
- OS: Windows 10/11
- opencode version: 1.17.9
- Terminal: PowerShell / CMD
Activity
github-actions commentedon Jul 5, 2026
This issue might be a duplicate of existing issues. Please check:
For keybind-related issues, please also check our pinned keybinds documentation: #4997
jazzyalex commentedon Jul 15, 2026
The data behind this is fine — every session is in
~/.local/share/opencode/opencode.db(older ones as JSON understorage/session); it's the in-TUI modal that's the bottleneck.opencode session list --format jsonis the scriptable route if you just want to dump them.For a persistent, searchable view I build Agent Sessions, a free MIT macOS app that reads that history into a full-text-searchable list with readable transcripts and one-click resume into your terminal. Disclosure: I'm the author, macOS-only — https://github.com/jazzyalex/agent-sessions.
wsaaaqqq commentedon Jul 22, 2026
The discoverability issue resonated. For the specific pain of finding old sessions (especially across projects), I built a small TUI tool:
https://github.com/wsaaaqqq/oos
It searches all OpenCode sessions at once -- type a keyword, see matches from every project instantly, Enter to jump back in. No need to remember which project it was in.
Not a full sidebar solution, but solves the "where was that conversation" problem today. Happy to take feedback.
github-actions commentedon Sep 22, 2026
To stay organized issues are automatically closed after 60 days of no activity. If the issue is still relevant please open a new one.