My LLM agents forget conversation history when I restart them, how do I fix this?

Description and use

By using resume commands and enabling cross‑session memory, users can preserve conversation context after restarting the terminal, reducing lost progress.

Problem

LLM agents lose conversation context after restarting, causing users to lose progress and context.

Outcome

By using the resume feature and enabling cross‑session memory where available, users can maintain conversation continuity across restarts, reducing lost context and improving productivity.

Workflow

• 1. Identify the tool you use.
• 2. Use the tool’s resume command (e.g., agent resume, --continue, or the GUI session list).
• 3. If a new session is needed, verify that cross‑session memory is enabled (check settings or documentation).
• 4. If memory is off, enable it via the tool’s settings or command line flag.
• 5. Test by asking a question that only the previous conversation could answer to confirm memory persistence.

Evidence

Claude Code documents five entry points, among them a flag for the most recent session in the current directory and a picker, and states that a resumed session restores the conversation together with the state saved in it.

Source

Claude Code states it outright: each session begins with a fresh context window.

Source

VS Code shipped a memory tool with three scopes stated in a table: user memory persists across sessions and workspaces, repository memory persists across sessions but is workspace scoped, and session memory is cleared when the chat ends.

Source