sessionStart and sessionEnd hooks fire per-prompt instead of per-session in interactive mode

Describe the bug

In interactive mode, sessionStart and sessionEnd hooks are triggered for each prompt/response cycle, not when the interactive session actually starts and ends. According to the documentation, these hooks should execute "when a new agent session begins" and "when the agent session completes or is terminated."

Affected version

0.0.383

Steps to reproduce the behavior

Create hooks.json with sessionStart and sessionEnd hooks that log to a file
Start Copilot CLI in interactive mode: copilot
Submit a prompt (e.g., "Display the current time")
Check the log file - observe sessionStart and sessionEnd entries
Submit another prompt within the same interactive session
Check the log file again - observe additional sessionStart and sessionEnd entries

Expected behavior

sessionStart should fire once when the interactive session begins (copilot command executed)
sessionEnd should fire once when the interactive session ends (user exits with /exit or Ctrl+D)
For per-prompt logging, userPromptSubmitted hook should be used instead

Additional context

Operating system: Linux
CPU architecture: x86_64
Shell: zsh

{
    "version": 1,
    "hooks": {
        "sessionStart": [{"type": "command", "bash": ".github/hooks/scripts/session-start.sh"}],
        "sessionEnd": [{"type": "command", "bash": ".github/hooks/scripts/session-end.sh"}]
    }
}

Solution Available: Session Lifecycle Plugin

I've built a plugin that provides proper session start/end tracking!

Plugin: session-lifecycle

Live now: https://github.com/barrersoftware/copilot-plugins-registry/tree/master/plugins/session-lifecycle

What it does:

✅ Tracks ACTUAL session boundaries (not per-prompt)
✅ onActualSessionStart fires once when session truly starts
✅ onActualSessionEnd fires once when session truly ends
✅ Message counting across entire session
✅ Session-scoped data storage

How to use

import { PluginClient } from '@barrersoftware/copilot-plugins';

const client = new PluginClient();
await client.start();
const session = await client.createSession();

// Install plugin
await session.sendAndWait({ message: '/plugins install session-lifecycle' });

// Session start fires ONCE (not per prompt)
// Session end fires ONCE (when session actually ends)

Example Output

🔵 ═══ ACTUAL SESSION START ═══
   Session ID: abc123
   Started: 2026-01-17T08:00:00.000Z

... (many prompts)...

🔴 ═══ ACTUAL SESSION END ═══
   Duration: 325.42s
   Messages sent: 47
   Ended: 2026-01-17T08:05:25.420Z

For Developers

You can extend the plugin for custom session logic:

class MySessionPlugin extends SessionLifecyclePlugin {
  async onActualSessionStart(context) {
    await initializeDatabase();
    this.setSessionData('user', 'daniel');
  }

  async onActualSessionEnd(context, durationMs) {
    const user = this.getSessionData('user');
    await saveSessionReport(user, durationMs);
  }
}

Why a plugin?

This is a workaround while the GitHub team works on fixing the hook behavior in the CLI. The plugin:

Provides proper session tracking NOW
Useful for analytics, metrics, and session-based logic
Will become obsolete if/when GitHub fixes the native hooks (that's OK!)

Testing

Would love feedback! Perfect for anyone building session analytics or needing proper lifecycle tracking.

Package: @barrersoftware/copilot-plugins
Registry: https://github.com/barrersoftware/copilot-plugins-registry

How on earth is this still not resolved?

@stephentoub

Hey @stephentoub @andyfeller any timeline on this getting resolved?

This should be fixed in the next copilot CLI build.

fix(desktop): solve #3330 — copilot CLI v1.0.22+ notifications broken

lar:///operator-surface.names.invariants

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sessionStart and sessionEnd hooks fire per-prompt instead of per-session in interactive mode #991

Describe the bug

Affected version

Steps to reproduce the behavior

Expected behavior

Additional context

Solution Available: Session Lifecycle Plugin

Plugin: session-lifecycle

How to use

Example Output

For Developers

Why a plugin?

Testing

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sessionStart and sessionEnd hooks fire per-prompt instead of per-session in interactive mode #991

Description

Describe the bug

Affected version

Steps to reproduce the behavior

Expected behavior

Additional context

Activity

ssfdre38 commented on Jan 17, 2026

Solution Available: Session Lifecycle Plugin

Plugin: session-lifecycle

How to use

Example Output

For Developers

Why a plugin?

Testing

VildMedPap commented on Mar 31, 2026

demorgi commented on Apr 7, 2026

stephentoub commented on Apr 8, 2026

Metadata

Metadata

Assignees

Labels

Type

Projects

Milestone

Relationships

Development

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