# The window and the session list

> How the Buff Code window is laid out: Home, the session column with pinning, groups and archive, the session state in a word, search by title and conversation.

The Buff Code window has two parts. On the left is the **column**: the app’s sections, open sessions
and the list of all sessions. On the right is whatever is selected: Home, a session, automations or workflows.

_Illustration: Home: projects on the left, today’s sessions on the right, session search at the top._

## The column

From top to bottom:

| What | What for |
| --- | --- |
| **Home**, **Automations**, **Workflows** | the app’s sections: [automations](/en/docs/buff-code/work/automations) — scheduled tasks, [workflows](/en/docs/buff-code/work/workflows) — subagents working in phases |
| **New session** | an empty session in the current project |
| open sessions | tabs: what is open now; the cross closes the tab, the session stays in the list |
| **All sessions** | all project sessions: pinned, groups, then by day — today, yesterday, earlier |
| **Search by title** | filters the list; under the title matches there is an “In the conversation” section |

The column is visible with the vertical tab layout — it is on by default. Horizontal
tabs at the top are chosen in “Settings → Appearance → Tabs”.

### Session state

Under a row’s title there is the project directory and, if the session needs something from a person, its **state
in a word**. What needs you comes first:

| State | What it means |
| --- | --- |
| **Waiting for permission** | the agent asks whether it may run a command or make an edit |
| **Waiting for an answer** | the agent asked a question with answer options |
| **Running** | the agent is working |
| **Error** | the turn broke off with an error |
| **Unread** | an answer arrived that you have not opened yet |

A permission request from a subagent counts towards its main session: the list shows which of your
sessions is waiting.

### Pinning, groups, archive

A row’s menu opens with the right mouse button:

| Item | What it does |
| --- | --- |
| **Pin** | the session moves to the “Pinned” section above the rest |
| **Rename** | your own title instead of the one the agent made up |
| **To group «…»** | put it into an existing group |
| **To a new group…** | create a group — name and colour — and put it there |
| **Archive** | remove it from all lists, including Home |

_Illustration: The session menu in the column. A “Discounts” group already exists — the session goes into it with one item._

- The group header’s menu — “Edit group” (name and colour) and “Delete group — sessions
  stay”: the sessions return to the by-day list.
- **Archive instead of deletion.** The session does not change: it goes to the collapsed “Archive · N” section at the bottom
  of the column and comes back from there with “Restore from archive”.
- Pinning, groups and the archive are the same for the window and the console: what is pinned in the window is pinned in
  `buff` too.

## Home

- **Projects** — the folders you have worked with. The folder icon next to the heading opens a new one.
  On first launch the window creates a “Default Project” — you can start with it without choosing a folder.
- **Sessions** — by day, each with its project. A thin line to the left of a row means the session
  is open in a tab.
- **Search sessions** at the top searches by title. **New session** — in the selected project.

## Searching the conversations

You can find a session not only by its title but also by the text of the conversation: what you asked and what
the agent answered.

- **Ctrl+Alt+F** or the command palette → “Search the conversations” — from anywhere in the window. The results have
  one row per session: an excerpt with the match highlighted, who wrote it (“you” or “answer”) and how many
  more matches the session has. A click opens the session.
- In the column’s **“Search by title”** line the same matches come as an “In the conversation” section under
  the title matches.
- Letter case does not matter. The text of messages and answers is searched; tool output, the model’s thinking
  and subagents’ conversations are not included.

_Illustration: Searching the conversations: an excerpt around the match, who wrote it and how many more matches there are._

## In the console

The console’s session list opens with the `/sessions` command. It has the same marks:

| Key | What it does |
| --- | --- |
| `ctrl+f` | pin or unpin |
| `alt+a` | to the archive or out of it |
| `ctrl+y` | show the archive |

Search in the list covers the conversations too — an “In the conversation” section with an excerpt.