OpenClaw WebChat /new Behavior vs Session Label/History Indexing

Summary

On a stock OpenClaw install (2026.2.21-2), WebChat "New Session" (or sending /new) keeps only one session row (agent:main:main) in sessions.list, archives prior transcript files to .jsonl.reset.*, and appears to drop user label metadata from the active session entry.

This makes chat history appear "lost" in UI, even though transcript files are present on disk.

Environment

• OS: Ubuntu server
• OpenClaw: 2026.2.21-2
• Gateway service: openclaw-gateway.service (user unit, enabled+active)
• Gateway exec path: /home/jarvis/.nvm/versions/node/v24.13.0/bin/node .../openclaw/dist/index.js gateway --port 16372

Observed Behavior

1. Label current session from WebChat.
2. Click New Session (UI) or send /new.
3. Session label disappears.
4. Session list still shows one key (agent:main:main), often perceived as main:main:main in UI.
5. Old messages are not listed as separate sessions in UI.
6. On disk, many archived transcript files exist (*.jsonl.reset.*) under agent session dirs.

Expected Behavior (user expectation)

• Either:
  • /new preserves label in the active entry when rotating sessionId, or
  • UI/session model clearly surfaces archived resets/history as prior sessions.
• Avoid apparent "history loss" when transcripts are still present on disk.

Hard Evidence

1) Live gateway sessions.list returns single indexed session

Observed response:

• count: 1
• sessions[0].key: "agent:main:main"
• sessions[0].sessionId: "bd4b2023-7648-406e-8e22-1bbda20c2dce"

2) Session files exist, including many reset archives

Under ~/.openclaw/agents/main/sessions:

• total files: 39
• live .jsonl: 11
• reset archives .jsonl.reset.*: 23

3) Main session index has only one key and empty label

From ~/.openclaw/agents/main/sessions/sessions.json:

• main_keys=1
• key: agent:main:main
• main_label= (empty)

4) UI New Session action sends /new

• dist/control-ui/assets/index-Cx1_w3YP.js:7665 contains:
  • onNewSession:()=>e.handleSendChat("/new",{restoreDraft:!0})

5) Session key canonicalization collapses direct chats to main bucket

• dist/sessions-BpJAqQ8e.js:590-603
  • comment says non-group direct chats collapse to canonical direct bucket
  • canonical key resolves to agent:main:<mainKey> (default main key)

6) sessions.list reads session store (index), not transcript archive inventory

• dist/gateway-cli-Cq5z-VKf.js:7173-7183
  • sessions.list -> loadCombinedSessionStoreForGateway(cfg) -> listSessionsFromStore(...)

7) sessions.reset path preserves label

• dist/gateway-cli-Cq5z-VKf.js:7337-7350
  • reset entry explicitly includes label: entry?.label

8) Chat /new flow rebuilds session entry and archives prior transcript

• dist/reply-B2UJINPw.js:71090-71115
  • session entry reconstructed with many fields but no explicit label
• dist/reply-B2UJINPw.js:71183-71188
  • previous transcript archived with reason "reset"

Potential Root Cause

There appears to be an inconsistency between:

• gateway RPC reset path (sessions.reset) that preserves label, and
• chat command /new path (used by WebChat New Session) that rebuilds entry and may not preserve label.

Combined with store-based listing, this yields:

• one visible session key,
• archived files on disk,
• no visible historical sessions in the UI list,
• perceived label loss.

Questions for Maintainers

1. Is /new intended to keep one key (agent:main:main) and only rotate sessionId?
2. Should /new preserve existing label like sessions.reset does?
3. Is the UI expected to expose reset archives/history, or is single-row behavior by design?
4. If by design, can docs/UI messaging clarify this to avoid apparent data-loss confusion?

Local Integrity Notes

• Install was restored to stock via official updater (openclaw update --yes --tag 2026.2.21-2).
• No local code patch retained in installed dist after restore.
• Chat transcript files are present on disk (history not physically lost).