Operation decision matrix
Use this matrix to choose an operation by intent.
“Identity” means persistent journal identity. None of these conversation-management operations is a workspace rollback. Work already performed by tools remains a separate filesystem concern.
| Your need | Operation | Main effect | Boundary to remember |
|---|---|---|---|
| Find another conversation while OMP is open | /resume | Picker, then runtime switch if selected | Escape keeps the current session; inspect identity after questionable status. |
| Reopen a specific native conversation | Terminal --resume <id-or-path> | Opens the selected history | IDs and direct paths have different failure and missing-cwd behavior. |
| Choose at startup | Terminal --resume | Startup picker | Cancellation exits startup; empty folder does not auto-select all projects. |
| Return to this terminal’s applicable prior history | Terminal --continue | Breadcrumb, recent fallback, or new empty session | Not always newest; fresh boundaries and relocation rules matter. No /continue. |
| Explore an alternative from the active conversation | /fork | New identity, parent metadata, retained conversation and journal entries | Same workspace; ordinary queues retained; artifact copy best-effort. |
| Create an alternative from saved history at launch | Terminal --fork <id-or-path> | New identity rooted at launch cwd | No parent-process queues; incompatible with --no-session. |
| Refresh local provider-facing state, keep conversation | /fresh | Local handles cleared; provider-facing ID rotates | Journal and ordinary queues remain; no real-provider repair guarantee. |
| Drop live/model context, keep this persistent session | /clear | Messages/queues cleared; reset boundary appended | Old history, artifacts, exports, and workspace remain. |
| Start a different empty conversation identity | /new | New identity/path and reset conversation | Prior journal retained; new file may be lazy; not a settings factory reset. |
| Understand local deletion behavior | /drop, warning only | Best-effort previous-journal/artifact deletion, then new session | Do not exercise here; no secure-erasure guarantee or confirmation in this path. |
| Inspect current live context as text | /dump | Clipboard/plain text plus best-effort sidecar | Can disclose raw current prompt/tool/context data and leave a temporary file. |
| Export current session-manager history with current metadata | Slash /export | Local HTML; TUI requests OS opening | No-space slash path; nested history included; no share-redaction pass. |
| Export a valid saved journal without a running agent | Terminal --export | File-based HTML and printed output path | No reconstructed live prompt/tool inventory; validate input and output paths. |
| Authorize external disclosure | /share, reference only | Default encrypted snapshot or custom-handler effect | Route, redaction, truncation, complete-link possession, and late completion all matter. |
For export’s valid-input and missing-path distinctions, return to local HTML export. For upload decisions, use Sharing is a separate disclosure decision, not a reset command.
Sessions, resets, and reviewable history · Source chapter: continuity/operation-decision-matrix. Original evidence remains scoped to its recorded snapshot.