Polygraph records the context around each session: agent traces, session descriptions, repos, branches, pull requests, linked sessions, GitHub issues, Linear issues, and more.
That context stays attached to the session. You don't need to re-explain the same work when you switch machines, hand a session to someone else, or start a follow-up task.
What sessions remember
Section titled “What sessions remember”A session is more than a chat transcript. It records the work the agents did and the artifacts they created or touched.
- Session metadata, including repos, branches, status, and pull requests
- Agent timelines, including prompts, decisions, tool calls, commands, and files touched
- Session descriptions and per-repo summaries
- Linked references, including issues, Linear tickets, pull requests, and related sessions
More than traces
Section titled “More than traces”Some systems preserve handoff documents or agent traces. Polygraph preserves the working state around the session: repos, branches, linked pull requests and issues, session summaries, and the agent timeline.
That makes resuming or referencing a session interactive. When you reference a session, you can interact with it, inspect related repos, follow pull requests and issues, and run commands with the old context available. You are not limited to reading what happened. You can use the saved context as a starting point for new work. It is less like reading a note and more like using a time machine to return to the state where the work happened.
Resume a session
Section titled “Resume a session”Resume a session when you want to continue the same work. You can resume a session you created or a session someone else handed to you. You don't need the same machine, operating system, or AI agent.
polygraph session resume <session-id>You can omit the ID and select a session from the list:
polygraph session resumeWhen you resume, Polygraph reconstructs the session state as closely as possible: repos, branches, agent traces, and the relevant agent context.
Reference another session
Section titled “Reference another session”Resuming continues the same session. Referencing uses a prior session as context for a new piece of work.
Use a reference when the original work is done, but its context still matters. For example, if an issue is discovered weeks after a migration, start a new session and reference the original migration session. The new agent can inspect the prior plan, decisions, comments, pull requests, and repo state without re-deriving them from scratch.
To reference a session, attach it through MCP resources if your agent supports them. You can also mention the session ID directly:
Include the context of session <session-id> and figure out why this issue occurs.Referencing extracts the relevant information for the new task:
- For a high-level question, the session summary may be enough.
- For a detailed investigation, Polygraph can inspect pull request descriptions, agent logs, and code.
Polygraph records referenced sessions in the new session timeline. To link sessions explicitly, use polygraph session link.
Resume or reference
Section titled “Resume or reference”| Goal | Use |
|---|---|
| Continue the same work with the same session state | polygraph session resume |
| Hand off in-progress work to another person | polygraph session resume |
| Start new work that needs context from an old session | polygraph session link |
| Keep a record of why a follow-up task exists | polygraph session link |