# Running a Session

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## Start one

Go to **Assistant** and click **New session**.

Give it a **title**, pick the **repositories** you want the agent to look at and the **branch** for each, then choose the **agent** and **model** it should think with. Claude Code on Opus 4.8 is a good default; Codex is there if you prefer it.

Click **Start session**.

Your first question can take a few minutes to come back while the agent gets set up. After that, replies are quick.

## Ask it things

The conversation sits in the middle, your other sessions on the left, and the **spec** on the right once there is one.

Replies stream in as they're written. When the agent goes off to look through your code, the steps it takes collapse into a summary you can expand if you're curious — the answer itself is always shown in full.

You can only send one message at a time: while the agent is working, sending is paused until it's finished. You can keep typing meanwhile.

Close the tab whenever you like. Come back and the conversation is still there.

## Sessions end on their own

A session closes after **30 minutes without activity**, or **4 hours** in total — whichever comes first. Turning the spec into a Task also closes it.

When that happens the conversation becomes read-only. Everything stays readable, and any spec it produced can still be turned into a Task.

Sessions can't be reopened, so start a new one if you need to keep going.

> Sessions and Tasks draw on the same LLM account, and a session holds its place for as long as it's open. Convert it or leave it once you have what you need.

## If something goes wrong

**The agent stops mid-conversation.** You'll see a message explaining why — usually credits, a rate limit, or an authentication problem with your LLM key. The session ends and you'll need to start a new one once it's sorted.

**A message won't send.** Your text is kept, so just try again.

**Replies stop appearing.** The connection recovers on its own and catches up — no need to reload.

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Source: https://deployment.io/docs/assistant/running-a-session/