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A session is where Code does its work on one repository. It records every turn as a timeline: what you asked, which files the agent read, what it edited, which commands it ran, and the plan it wrote when you asked for one. You can stop a turn at any point and follow up with another.

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Anatomy of a session

In the CLI the same session appears as a terminal timeline with tool rows — the tool name, a short argument summary, and the result indented beneath it. See The TUI.

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Start a session

1

Sign in and open Code

Exact /code is the public product page for a guest; the working UI is for members.
2

Connect GitHub if the work needs a repository

Connect GitHub from Code Home, the repository picker, or Settings → Integrations.
3

Pick the repository

Cortex starts and attaches a Cloud guest for it, then prepares the environment. If no runtime is attached when the first command would run, the harness starts one — an unattached runtime is never the first step you see.
4

Describe the change and watch the timeline

Reads, edits, and commands appear as they happen. Stop cancels the live turn if it is heading the wrong way.

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Follow-ups

A session is a conversation with a repository, so follow-ups carry context: now add the test, undo the last change, explain why you chose that library. Each follow-up can pick a different mode.

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Stop and cancel

Stop in the header cancels the live turn. The timeline records that the turn stopped; the work already written to the repository stays, so read the diff before your next turn. In the CLI, Esc interrupts and the timeline shows × Stopped.

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What is in the session and what is not

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Web, desktop, CLI

The CLI reuses the same Code session id for a workspace, so turns from the terminal continue the same coding session.

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