Reloading a Session
The ↻ button in the chat header gives the agent a clean process without losing your place — the same way a browser's refresh button reloads a page. It does two things depending on how you click it:
- Reload (plain click) keeps your conversation.
- Restart (Shift-click) starts over with a fresh, empty session.
It works alongside the other browser-style controls: + opens a new tab (a brand-new conversation), and the history button browses past sessions.
Reload (click)
Click the ↻ button to reload. Agent Console:
- Restarts the agent process and reloads its MCP servers (a fresh, clean harness)
- Resumes the same conversation, so the transcript stays exactly where it was
- Keeps everything on screen — nothing is cleared
This is the everyday control. Reach for it when a tool connection went bad or you just want the agent to start fresh without throwing away the chat.
While the reload runs, the ↻ icon spins and a "Reloading session…" notice appears, so you always know it's working. A "Session reloaded" notice confirms when it's done.
TIP
Resuming the same conversation needs an agent that supports session resume. If your agent can't resume, Agent Console keeps the transcript visible and starts a fresh session underneath — only the live agent loses context; your conversation stays on screen.
Restart (Shift-click)
Hold Shift and click the ↻ button to restart. This restarts the agent and starts a brand-new session, clearing the transcript — the equivalent of a browser's hard refresh. If you have auto-export turned on, the current chat is exported first.
Use Restart when you want a truly clean slate but want to stay in the same tab.
From the command palette
Two commands do the same thing without the mouse, so you can bind your own hotkeys under Settings → Hotkeys:
| Command | What it does |
|---|---|
| Reload session | Resume the same conversation under a fresh agent process |
| Restart session (fresh) | Fresh session, transcript cleared |
Reload vs. new chat
- Reload (↻) keeps you in the same conversation; Shift-click (Restart) starts over in place.
- New chat (+) opens a separate tab with its own fresh conversation, leaving the current one untouched.