Find an Old OpenClaw Conversation Without Starting Over

OpenClaw can search the words you and your agent typed in earlier chats, according to the official OpenClaw session search page. Each chat is called a session: one conversation thread, like a single chat in a messaging app. A match takes you back to the exact message, so you pick up the same discussion and skip explaining the problem again.

This guide follows the session search page and source code for the OpenClaw release that OneClickClaw installs on your server.

What session search does

Session search looks through the saved text of old chats for the exact words you give it, the session search page says. Each match comes back with the chat it belongs to, the time, who spoke, and a short excerpt of the message.

The page says search covers what you wrote and what the agent replied. Tool output, the agent's internal reasoning and images stay outside the search. New messages become searchable the moment they are saved, the page says, so a chat from a minute ago is already findable.

The session search page also says excerpts are redacted before they reach the agent. Redacted means sensitive values, such as passwords or access keys, are masked in the snippet.

OpenClaw has a second feature called memory search, which reads the agent's stored notes and can find things by meaning. The session search page splits the two jobs: session search for words that were actually typed, memory search for the agent's notes and broader recall.

How many results you get

The OpenClaw source code for this release sets the agent's search to return ten matches by default, and up to 25 when you ask for more. The same code trims each excerpt to 300 characters. The session search page says more matches than the limit is normal, and a more specific phrase gives a shorter list.

Where to search

The session search page names three places to search:

• The command palette in the Control UI. The Control UI is the browser screen where you manage OpenClaw, and the command palette is its quick search box.
• The Threads page in the same Control UI, which lists your chats.
• Your agent itself, which has a built-in tool for searching past chats.

According to the page, the Control UI searches your whole saved history on the server, so older chats beyond the visible list are included.

Step by step: find a phrase you know

Step 1. Start a practice chat and type an unusual phrase, such as a made-up project name. Ask the agent one follow-up question so the chat has a few lines.

Step 2. Open the command palette or the Threads page in the Control UI and type the phrase. The session search page says the Control UI lets you type the last word partly, so "session communi" finds "session communication", while the earlier words stay complete.

Step 3. If you see many matches, add another word from the message, or use the filters on your screen to narrow the search to one agent or one chat.

Step 4. Open the matching chat from the results and find your phrase in it.

Step 5. Ask the agent to do the same: "Search our past chats for [your phrase] and open the conversation where it came up." The session search page says the agent's search matches whole words exactly, so use the words as you typed them. The page also says the agent can reopen the matched spot in the old chat, including messages from before the chat was reset, which means cleared to start fresh.

Step 6. Check that the excerpt contains your phrase. If the agent shows text that only means something similar, it probably came from memory search, which the session search page describes as recall by meaning; ask it to search the chat transcripts, the saved word-for-word record of each chat.

When a chat is missing from the results

The session search page describes three situations.

Indexing in progress. The index is the lookup list that makes search fast. Older chats, for example ones brought over from an earlier setup, are added to it in the background, starting with the next search. While that runs, the page says the reply carries a note that indexing is in progress and results may be incomplete. Wait a moment and search again.

Archived chats. Chats moved to archive storage return to search once you open that chat and restore its history, the page says.

Incognito chats. Private incognito chats are kept out of search by design, according to the page.

Who can see which chats

Search follows the same visibility setting as chat history, the session search page says. Visibility decides which chats an agent may look into. The OpenClaw configuration page for this release lists four levels: every chat on the server, all chats of one agent, the current chat plus the helper agents it started, or the current chat only.

The configuration page says the starting level is every chat on the server. If several people share one OpenClaw server, choose a narrower level so each person's agent searches its own chats.

Quick answers

Why did I get ten results? According to the OpenClaw source code, ten is the default. Ask the agent for more matches, up to 25.

Does session search read my project files? The session search page says it reads the user and assistant text of chats. Files stay with the file tools your agent already has.

Is this the same as dreaming? The OpenClaw dreaming page describes dreaming as a background process that moves important short-term notes into long-term memory. Session search reads the words in the chats themselves.

Related guides

• OpenClaw dreaming: what it does and how to switch it off
• How OpenClaw's builders run their own agents: one agent, many sessions
• How to lock down an OpenClaw install
• Run OpenClaw 24/7: keep your agent online all the time

Sources

• OpenClaw session search page, for the release OneClickClaw installs
• OpenClaw session search tool source code, same release
• OpenClaw session visibility settings, same release
• OpenClaw dreaming page, same release