Skip to main content

Sessions

A Session represents a continuous period of active work on a project.

Sessions give CTX a temporal boundary around project activity, allowing tasks, logs, and decisions to be understood in the context of a specific period of execution.

A session is not a terminal session, IDE session, login session, or authentication session. It is simply a record of when work on a project started and when that period of work ended.

Why Sessions Exist​

Development work is rarely continuous.

You may work on a project for two hours, leave it for a day, and return later to continue the same task. Without sessions, CTX can record what happened but cannot reliably distinguish between different periods of active work.

Sessions provide that temporal context. CTX can therefore distinguish work from different periods while preserving the overall project context.

For example:

Monday
09:30 ─────────── 11:15
      Session 1

Tuesday
14:00 ───────────────── 17:20
      Session 2

Both sessions belong to the same project, but they represent different periods of execution.

Session Lifecycle​

A session follows a simple lifecycle:

Starting a Session​

When a session starts, CTX:

  • Creates a new session record.
  • Records the session start time.
  • Marks the session as ACTIVE.
  • Makes the session the project's active session.

Ending a Session​

When a session ends, CTX:

  • Records the session end time.
  • Marks the session as INACTIVE.
  • Removes it as the project's active session.
  • Preserves the session as part of the project's history.

An ended session is not deleted.

Sessions and Tasks​

Sessions and tasks represent different dimensions of project execution. A session represents a period of work. A task represents the work being performed. A session can continue across multiple tasks. Similarly, a task can be completed across multiple sessions.

A session does not own a task, and a task does not own a session. Instead, they provide different kinds of context about the work. In simple terms, a session answers "When did I work?", while a task answers "What am I working on?".

Sessions and Logs​

Logs capture events, observations, and activity that occur during project execution.

When a session is active, a log can be associated with that session.

The session therefore acts as a temporal boundary around the events that occurred during a period of work.

This makes a session more than a timer. It provides context for interpreting the events recorded within that period.

note

Session notes describe the session. Logs describe events that occur during the session.

Sessions and Decisions​

Important project decisions can also be associated with work taking place during a session.

CTX can preserve both what happened and the decisions made while the work was underway.

Combined with tasks and logs, session context can provide a more complete representation of project execution.

Session History​

Ending a session does not remove it from the project. Instead, the session becomes part of the project's historical record. Historical sessions can be used to:

  • Review previous periods of work.
  • Understand how project activity progressed over time.
  • Query past execution context.
  • Export project history.
  • Analyze work patterns.
  • Provide input to CTX's snapshot system.

A project may therefore contain many sessions:

Session 1    Monday      1h 45m
Session 2    Tuesday     3h 20m
Session 3    Thursday      52m
Session 4    Friday      2h 10m

Each session represents an independent period of active work while remaining part of the same project's execution history. The accumulated session history provides a foundation for understanding project activity over time.

Summary​

Sessions provide CTX with a temporal model for project activity.

A session:

  • Represents a continuous period of active work.
  • Belongs to a project.
  • Can be ACTIVE or INACTIVE.
  • Records when work started and, when applicable, when it ended.
  • May contain notes describing the work.
  • Provides context for tasks, logs, and decisions.
  • Remains available after it ends as part of project history.
  • Allows CTX to distinguish between separate periods of work on the same project.