Sessions: main and feature

Which session a write lands in, and why an unconnected terminal records nothing.

rememd supports two session modes with different semantics.

The difference is what rememd connect was pointed at, and nothing else. rememd does not create branches, folders or terminals - it binds the one you are already in.

Main sessions

Connected to a product or focus area, with no feature.

When to use:

  • Exploring or investigating
  • Small fixes that don't warrant a feature
  • Conversations before a feature crystalizes
  • Reviews, refactors, unblocking work

Behavior:

  • A session row is created, so timeline events have somewhere to go
  • Writes that name no feature stay at product level
  • Bound to a focus area, the session is that area's own - a second terminal on a different area of the same product gets its own row rather than sharing this one

Product level vs focus-area level. Both are main sessions; the area narrows what the untargeted reads and writes mean:

ProductFocus area
get_backlogevery item, grouped by areathat area's items (focus_area_hint: "all" widens)
list_featuresevery featurethat area's features
add_backlog_itemunfocused unless you name an areascoped to the area
create_featurefirst area, unless you name onecreated in the area
get_focus_area_contextneeds focus_area_hintanswers about this area

The agent's hint: if you ask "what should I work on?" in a main session and there is a backlog item that needs work, the agent will suggest promoting it to a feature.

Feature sessions

Connected to a feature.

Behavior:

  • Session linked to featureId in the index
  • Tasks, issues, notes, plans and logs all attach to the feature
  • get_feature_context with no arguments answers about this feature

Working two features at once

Two ways, and they differ in what moves:

  • A second terminal. rememd connect there. Each terminal has its own binding and they do not interfere. This is the normal case, and several at once is expected.
  • attach_to_feature. Writes scope to the attached feature while this terminal stays connected to what it was. detach_from_feature parks it, keeping the session.

Handing work between them goes through the feature, never through the other session: write it where the other terminal will read it, and let get_feature_context deliver it. Sessions receive logs; features receive intent.

Watching a session

Every connected terminal appears in the rail down the left of the menu bar panel, and the menu bar icon carries a green dot while anything is live. Click a session to see its timeline: notes, plans, tasks and context loads as they happen.

The session itself is your own terminal - rememd does not own the process, so closing the panel changes nothing about what is running.