Session Origins and Branches
In MindMux, a session is more than a chat thread. It is a unit of work with its own runtime choice, expert, message history, context state, and origin relationship.
What a session carries
A session usually carries at least these dimensions:
- a title
- a runtime and profile choice
- an expert
- message history
- source context such as related brain pages
- origin metadata, such as which session or message it came from
Why sessions matter
Sessions let users preserve the context of a line of thought without flattening everything into one giant conversation. That makes it possible to:
- continue unfinished work
- revisit earlier reasoning
- split off new threads cleanly
- keep different modes of work separate
Session Origins
MindMux records how a session came into existence. This mainly helps the app restore context, show source hints, and let users return to the original discussion when needed.
Common origins include:
- manually creating a new session
- resuming an existing session
- forking a new session from a specific reply
- opening a new-topic session suggested by the agent
Forking preserves a relationship to the parent session, but the child becomes its own independent session. It is not just a filtered view of the parent.
Fork vs New-Topic Session
Fork
Use a fork when you want to continue from a specific reply in the current discussion and preserve the connection to that exact branch point.
A fork copies the context before the fork point. It fits "another route through the same problem", such as comparing an alternative, asking from an earlier answer, or switching runtimes to verify a direction.
New-Topic Session (Spawn)
When a genuinely separate topic emerges, the agent may suggest opening it in its own session. That new session does not copy the full transcript. It carries a focused brief, related brain pages, runtime choice, and expert choice.
From a user's point of view, this is closer to "open a separate thread for this side topic" than a concept they need to manage directly.
When to use which
Use resume when:
- the topic is still the same
- you want continuity with minimal ceremony
Use fork when:
- a discussion has split into alternatives
- you want to preserve the exact branch point
- you are still working on the same problem, but want another route
Use a new-topic session when:
- a new workstream should stand on its own
- the current session should remain focused
- the new topic needs a short brief, not the full transcript
Session state
MindMux persists session metadata and message logs so the app can:
- cold-load past discussions
- rebuild view state on restart
- keep context continuity across sessions
The brain remains the durable knowledge layer, but session history is still important because it contains the working path that may later become distilled knowledge.
Sessions and the brain
A good way to think about the relationship is:
- sessions are where knowledge is negotiated
- the brain is where knowledge is stabilized
Some sessions may stay exploratory. Others should end by updating pages, root docs, or tasks.
Practical rule
If a single session is trying to hold multiple unrelated objectives, it is usually time to fork or accept the agent's suggestion to open a new-topic session rather than keep stretching one thread indefinitely.