Session Management

Session enables persistent storage and recovery of Agent state, allowing conversations to maintain continuity across application runs.

Core Features

Persistent Storage: Save Agent, Memory, and other component states
Simple API: Call saveTo() / loadFrom() directly on Agent
Multiple Backends: Supports JSON files, in-memory, and custom storage
Flexible Identification: Use simple string session IDs or custom SessionKey

Quick Start

import io.agentscope.core.session.JsonSession;
import io.agentscope.core.session.Session;
import java.nio.file.Path;

// 1. Create components
InMemoryMemory memory = new InMemoryMemory();
ReActAgent agent = ReActAgent.builder()
    .name("Assistant")
    .model(model)
    .memory(memory)
    .build();

// 2. Create Session and load existing session
Path sessionPath = Path.of(System.getProperty("user.home"), ".agentscope", "sessions");
Session session = new JsonSession(sessionPath);
agent.loadIfExists(session, "userId");

// 3. Use Agent
Msg response = agent.call(userMsg).block();

// 4. Save session
agent.saveTo(session, "userId");

Session Implementations

AgentScope provides two Session implementations:

Implementation	Persistence	Use Case
`JsonSession`	File system	Production, cross-restart persistence
`InMemorySession`	Memory	Testing, single-process temporary storage

JsonSession (Recommended)

Stores state as JSON files on the filesystem.

import io.agentscope.core.session.JsonSession;

// Create JsonSession
Path sessionPath = Path.of("/path/to/sessions");
Session session = new JsonSession(sessionPath);

// Save session
agent.saveTo(session, "user123");

// Load session (silently skip if doesn't exist)
agent.loadIfExists(session, "user123");

// Load session (throw exception if doesn't exist)
agent.loadFrom(session, "user123");

Features:

Directory format: One directory per session {sessionId}/
Single states: {key}.json files
List states: {key}.jsonl files (JSONL format, incremental append)
UTF-8 encoding, automatic directory creation

⚠️ Security Note: JsonSession uses the sessionId directly as the session directory name. If sessionId comes from untrusted sources (e.g., HTTP cookies or query parameters), an attacker could inject path traversal characters like .. or path separators to read/write files outside the intended session directory. Always validate and sanitize sessionId before use - only allow safe characters (alphanumeric, underscore, hyphen) and reject values containing path separators or .. sequences.

InMemorySession

Stores state in memory, suitable for testing and single-process temporary scenarios.

import io.agentscope.core.session.InMemorySession;

// Create in-memory session (typically used as singleton)
InMemorySession session = new InMemorySession();

// Save
agent.saveTo(session, "user123");

// Load
agent.loadIfExists(session, "user123");

// Management features
session.listSessionKeys();  // Get all session keys

Notes:

State is lost when application restarts
Not suitable for distributed environments
Memory usage grows with session count

Agent State Management API

Save Operations

// Save session state
agent.saveTo(session, "sessionId");

Load Operations

// Load session (silently skip if doesn't exist, returns false)
boolean loaded = agent.loadIfExists(session, "sessionId");

// Load session (throw exception if doesn't exist)
agent.loadFrom(session, "sessionId");

Session Management Operations

import io.agentscope.core.state.SimpleSessionKey;

// Check if session exists
boolean exists = session.exists(SimpleSessionKey.of("sessionId"));

// Delete session
session.delete(SimpleSessionKey.of("sessionId"));

// List all sessions
Set<SessionKey> keys = session.listSessionKeys();

Complete Example

import io.agentscope.core.ReActAgent;
import io.agentscope.core.memory.InMemoryMemory;
import io.agentscope.core.message.Msg;
import io.agentscope.core.message.MsgRole;
import io.agentscope.core.message.TextBlock;
import io.agentscope.core.session.JsonSession;
import io.agentscope.core.session.Session;
import java.nio.file.Path;

public class SessionExample {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        // Create components
        InMemoryMemory memory = new InMemoryMemory();
        ReActAgent agent = ReActAgent.builder()
            .name("Assistant")
            .model(model)
            .memory(memory)
            .build();

        // Set up session
        String sessionId = "user_session_001";
        Path sessionPath = Path.of(System.getProperty("user.home"), ".agentscope", "sessions");
        Session session = new JsonSession(sessionPath);

        // Load existing session (if exists)
        if (agent.loadIfExists(session, sessionId)) {
            System.out.println("Loaded session: " + sessionId);
        } else {
            System.out.println("New session: " + sessionId);
        }

        // Use Agent
        Msg userMsg = Msg.builder()
            .role(MsgRole.USER)
            .content(TextBlock.builder().text("Hello!").build())
            .build();
        Msg response = agent.call(userMsg).block();

        // Save session
        agent.saveTo(session, sessionId);
        System.out.println("Session saved");
    }
}

Custom Session

Implement the Session interface to create custom storage stores:

import io.agentscope.core.session.Session;
import io.agentscope.core.state.SessionKey;
import io.agentscope.core.state.State;
import java.util.List;
import java.util.Optional;
import java.util.Set;

public class DatabaseSession implements Session {
    @Override
    public void save(SessionKey sessionKey, String key, State value) {
        // Save single state to database
    }

    @Override
    public void save(SessionKey sessionKey, String key, List<? extends State> values) {
        // Save state list to database
    }

    @Override
    public <T extends State> Optional<T> get(SessionKey sessionKey, String key, Class<T> type) {
        // Get single state from database
        return Optional.empty();
    }

    @Override
    public <T extends State> List<T> getList(SessionKey sessionKey, String key, Class<T> itemType) {
        // Get state list from database
        return List.of();
    }

    @Override
    public boolean exists(SessionKey sessionKey) {
        // Check if session exists
        return false;
    }

    @Override
    public void delete(SessionKey sessionKey) {
        // Delete session
    }

    @Override
    public Set<SessionKey> listSessionKeys() {
        // List all sessions
        return Set.of();
    }

    @Override
    public void close() {
        // Close connection
    }
}

// Usage
Session session = new DatabaseSession(dbConnection);
agent.saveTo(session, "user123");

Data Format and Migration

Old vs New Data Format Comparison

The new Session API uses a completely different storage format that is incompatible with the old SessionManager approach:

Feature	Old Format (SessionManager)	New Format (saveTo/loadFrom)
Storage Structure	Single JSON file	Directory + multiple files
File Path	`sessions/{sessionId}.json`	`sessions/{sessionId}/` directory
State Storage	Nested Map structure	Independent typed files
List Data	JSON array	JSONL format (incremental append)

Old Format Example

sessions/
└── user123.json          # Single JSON file containing all state

File content:

{
  "agent": {
    "name": "Assistant",
    "iteration": 5
  },
  "memory": {
    "messages": [
      {"role": "user", "content": "Hello"},
      {"role": "assistant", "content": "Hi!"}
    ]
  }
}

New Format Example

sessions/
└── user123/              # One directory per session
    ├── memory_messages.jsonl    # Message list (JSONL format)
    └── plan_notebook.json       # Plan state (JSON format)

memory_messages.jsonl content (one message per line):

{"role":"USER","name":"user","content":[{"type":"text","text":"Hello"}]}
{"role":"ASSISTANT","name":"Assistant","content":[{"type":"text","text":"Hi!"}]}

Data Migration

Due to format incompatibility, old data cannot be directly read by the new API. If migration is needed, follow these steps:

Option 1: Start Fresh (Recommended)

If old data is not important, simply delete old session files and use the new API to create new sessions:

# Delete old session files
rm -rf ~/.agentscope/sessions/*.json

Option 2: Manual Migration

If you need to preserve historical conversation data, write a migration script:

import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.ObjectMapper;
import io.agentscope.core.memory.InMemoryMemory;
import io.agentscope.core.message.Msg;
import io.agentscope.core.session.JsonSession;
import java.nio.file.Files;
import java.nio.file.Path;
import java.util.List;
import java.util.Map;

public class SessionMigration {
    public static void migrate(Path oldSessionFile, Path newSessionDir) throws Exception {
        ObjectMapper mapper = new ObjectMapper();

        // 1. Read old format data
        String json = Files.readString(oldSessionFile);
        Map<String, Object> oldData = mapper.readValue(json, Map.class);

        // 2. Extract message history
        Map<String, Object> memoryData = (Map<String, Object>) oldData.get("memory");
        List<Map<String, Object>> messages = (List<Map<String, Object>>) memoryData.get("messages");

        // 3. Create new Memory and populate data
        InMemoryMemory memory = new InMemoryMemory();
        for (Map<String, Object> msgData : messages) {
            // Build Msg object based on old data structure
            Msg msg = convertToMsg(msgData);
            memory.addMessage(msg);
        }

        // 4. Save using new API
        JsonSession session = new JsonSession(newSessionDir);
        String sessionId = oldSessionFile.getFileName().toString().replace(".json", "");
        memory.saveTo(session, sessionId);

        System.out.println("Migration complete: " + sessionId);
    }

    private static Msg convertToMsg(Map<String, Object> msgData) {
        // Implement conversion logic based on actual old data structure
        // ...
    }
}

Option 3: Dual Version Parallel

During transition, keep old code for reading historical data while using new API for new sessions:

// Check if old format data exists
Path oldFile = sessionPath.resolve(sessionId + ".json");
Path newDir = sessionPath.resolve(sessionId);

if (Files.exists(newDir)) {
    // Load using new API
    agent.loadIfExists(session, sessionId);
} else if (Files.exists(oldFile)) {
    // Old format exists, perform migration
    migrateOldSession(oldFile, sessionPath);
    agent.loadIfExists(session, sessionId);
}

Database Backend Migration

MySQL Table Structure Change

The new API uses a different table structure. If you previously used MysqlSession, you need to migrate the table structure: Old Table Structure:

CREATE TABLE agentscope_sessions (
    session_id VARCHAR(255) PRIMARY KEY,
    state_data JSON NOT NULL,
    created_at TIMESTAMP,
    updated_at TIMESTAMP
);

New Table Structure:

CREATE TABLE agentscope_sessions (
    session_id VARCHAR(255) NOT NULL,
    state_key VARCHAR(255) NOT NULL,
    item_index INT NOT NULL DEFAULT 0,
    state_data LONGTEXT NOT NULL,
    created_at TIMESTAMP DEFAULT CURRENT_TIMESTAMP,
    updated_at TIMESTAMP DEFAULT CURRENT_TIMESTAMP ON UPDATE CURRENT_TIMESTAMP,
    PRIMARY KEY (session_id, state_key, item_index)
) DEFAULT CHARACTER SET utf8mb4 COLLATE utf8mb4_unicode_ci;

The item_index column enables true incremental list storage:

Single states: stored with item_index = 0
List states: each item stored in a separate row with item_index = 0, 1, 2, ...

Migration Steps:

Backup old data:

CREATE TABLE agentscope_sessions_backup AS SELECT * FROM agentscope_sessions;

Drop old table:

DROP TABLE agentscope_sessions;

Recreate (use createIfNotExist=true for automatic creation):

MysqlSession session = new MysqlSession(dataSource, true);

Or manually execute the new table structure SQL above.

Redis Storage Structure Change

The new API uses a different Redis key structure: Old Structure:

agentscope:session:{sessionId}  -> JSON string (all states)

New Structure:

agentscope:session:{sessionId}:{stateKey}       -> JSON string (single state)
agentscope:session:{sessionId}:{stateKey}:list  -> Redis List (list state)
agentscope:session:{sessionId}:_keys            -> Redis Set (state index)

Migration Steps:

Clear old data (if not needed):

redis-cli KEYS "agentscope:session:*" | xargs redis-cli DEL

New data will automatically use the new structure.

More Resources

Complete Example: SessionExample.java
State Documentation: state.md
Agent Configuration: agent-config.md

Quick Start

Features

Multi Agent

Harness

Core Features

Quick Start

Session Implementations

JsonSession (Recommended)

InMemorySession

Agent State Management API

Save Operations

Load Operations

Session Management Operations

Complete Example

Custom Session

Data Format and Migration

Old vs New Data Format Comparison

Old Format Example

New Format Example

Data Migration

Option 1: Start Fresh (Recommended)

Option 2: Manual Migration

Option 3: Dual Version Parallel

Database Backend Migration

MySQL Table Structure Change

Redis Storage Structure Change

More Resources

​Core Features

​Quick Start

​Session Implementations

​JsonSession (Recommended)

​InMemorySession

​Agent State Management API

​Save Operations

​Load Operations

​Session Management Operations

​Complete Example

​Custom Session

​Data Format and Migration

​Old vs New Data Format Comparison

​Old Format Example

​New Format Example

​Data Migration

​Option 1: Start Fresh (Recommended)

​Option 2: Manual Migration

​Option 3: Dual Version Parallel

​Database Backend Migration

​MySQL Table Structure Change

​Redis Storage Structure Change

​More Resources

Core Features

Quick Start

Session Implementations

JsonSession (Recommended)

InMemorySession

Agent State Management API

Save Operations

Load Operations

Session Management Operations

Complete Example

Custom Session

Data Format and Migration

Old vs New Data Format Comparison

Old Format Example

New Format Example

Data Migration

Option 1: Start Fresh (Recommended)

Option 2: Manual Migration

Option 3: Dual Version Parallel

Database Backend Migration

MySQL Table Structure Change

Redis Storage Structure Change

More Resources