Session management
A session is one continuous Axiomate conversation. It keeps user requests, AI responses, files that were read, tool results, and some runtime state. Later prompts use this context to continue the task.
Sessions and workspaces
A workspace is the project folder where Axiomate starts. A session is tied to the workspace it was created from: it records the workspace, the files read in that workspace, commands that ran there, and the task progress from that conversation.
One workspace can have multiple sessions. For example, debugging an issue in a project can be one session, while returning to the same project later to build a feature can be another session.
Exiting Axiomate does not delete previous sessions. When Axiomate is opened again from the same workspace, it starts a new conversation by default instead of automatically continuing the last one. Use /resume to find and reopen a previous session when needed.
Context window
Before each response, the model receives a context payload. Context is the information sent with the request: system instructions, tool descriptions, conversation history, file content, and command results.
The context window is the amount of content the model can receive at once. As a session continues, history and tool results gradually take up context space; when less space remains, new requests can carry less supporting information.
To keep longer tasks moving, Axiomate can compact context when needed. Commands are also available to start fresh, clear history, or resume older sessions.
What compaction means
Compaction does not delete project files, and it does not erase all records. It summarizes long conversation history and results into a shorter summary, keeps the information needed to continue, preserves key conclusions and retrieval clues, and frees context space.
Axiomate may automatically compact long sessions. Automatic compaction keeps the session usable instead of letting context grow without limit.
Common commands
| Command | What it does | When to use it |
|---|---|---|
/clear / /new | Clears the current conversation history and frees context. /new is an alias of /clear. | Start a new conversation in the current workspace, or begin an unrelated task. |
/resume | Resumes a previous conversation. | Continue an older conversation after reopening Axiomate, or return to a previous work context. |
/compact | Clears long conversation history and keeps a summary in context. The summary preserves progress, key conclusions, and retrieval clues so AI can find important related content later when needed. | The current task should continue, but the session is getting long. |
/context | Shows current context usage. | Use it for a quick size check; see the /context section in Usage information for details. |
Which command to choose
- Continue an older conversation after reopening Axiomate: use
/resume. - Start a new conversation in the current workspace: use
/clearor/new. - Continue the current task but reduce context size: use
/compact. - Only inspect current context size: use
/context; see Usage information for details.