Terminal sessions

A terminal session is an interactive shell that DataMind Oda opens for itself and keeps alive between steps. Its folder, the variables and functions it has set up and the programs it has left running all stay in place, so the next step continues where the last one stopped.

What a terminal session is

• An interactive shell. Oda opens it in the chat's workspace folder. The shell is bash or PowerShell, depending on the computer.
• Alive between steps. The session keeps its current folder, exported variables and functions, and any program it left running.
• A prompt of its own. A session's prompt reads oda> .
• Oda's own, not yours. Sessions are Oda's shells for the commands it runs. The terminal in your side panel is a separate surface, where you type yourself.
• They do not survive a restart. When Oda restarts, its sessions end, and Oda opens a fresh session when it next needs one.

The shell a session uses and its sandbox settings are covered in Terminal shells and sandboxing.

What Oda can do in a session

• Open. Oda starts a session and receives its id, its type, its process id and its status, plus a short startup message or (no startup output).
• Send. Oda writes text into the session, optionally ending it with Enter, and waits for the session to settle. A send can also run as a background job, so Oda can keep working and collect its output later.
• Read. Oda reads the output the session kept, starting from the beginning, 500 lines at a time by default.
• Signal. Oda can send SIGINT, SIGTERM, SIGKILL, SIGTSTP or SIGHUP to what is running in the session. A SIGKILL aimed at the shell itself is refused; Oda closes the session instead.
• Close. Closing stops the shell and everything running in it, and it is safe to repeat: the result reads closed terminal session <id>, or terminal session <id> was already closing if it was already on its way out.
• List. Oda can list the sessions it holds; when there are none, the answer is (no terminal sessions).

The exact results of each action, including how a background send is collected, are on Terminal tools.

What the wait note means

After a send, the result carries a note that names why the wait ended:

• stdin_read: the session read the input and is waiting for more.
• inferred_idle: the session went quiet, which suggests the command finished.
• timeout: the wait reached its limit before the session settled.
• session_exit: the shell itself ended, rather than a command finishing.

A quiet or timed-out wait does not prove that the command finished.

What keeps a session with one chat

• One owner. A session belongs to the exact chat that opened it. Another chat, or a helper Oda runs for part of the task, is refused even when it knows the session's id.
• One send at a time. A session accepts one send at a time; when Oda has more to send, it waits until the current send settles.
• Ids and names. Oda tells sessions apart by ids such as pty-1 and pty-2; a session can also carry a name such as main or gdb, and two sessions in the same chat cannot share a name.
• Running or exited. At any moment, a session is either running or exited, with the exit code or the signal that ended it.

Questions, answered

Is this the same as the terminal in my side panel?

No. The terminal in the side panel is yours: you open it and type in it, and Oda does not use it. The sessions on this page are Oda's own shells for the commands it runs itself. See Terminals in the side panel.

What is the oda> prompt I saw?

It is the prompt of a terminal session Oda opened. Oda's sessions show oda> , so what you see there is one of Oda's shells rather than a shell you opened yourself.

Why did the wait end with inferred_idle while the command was still running?

inferred_idle only means the session went quiet. Quiet suggests the command finished, but it is not proof: the command can still be running after the wait ends.

What does session_exit mean?

The shell itself ended, which is different from a command finishing. The session is gone, and the result shows its exit code or the signal that ended it. Oda opens a new session when it next needs one.

Can another chat use a session Oda opened here?

No. A session belongs to the exact chat that opened it. Another chat, or a helper Oda runs, is refused even when it knows the session's id.

What happens to a session when Oda restarts?

It ends. Sessions do not survive a restart of Oda, and nothing carries over: the next step opens a fresh session.

Why did a signal to the shell get refused?

Only a SIGKILL aimed at the shell itself is refused; to end a session, Oda closes it instead. Closing stops the shell and everything running in it.

How much output can Oda read at once?

By default a read takes the first 500 lines of the output the session kept, and Oda reads on from there in further pages. The read options are on Terminal tools.

What are pty-1 and pty-2?

They are session ids: Oda numbers its sessions pty-1, pty-2 and so on. A session can also carry a name such as main or gdb; two sessions in one chat cannot share a name.

Why can't Oda send two things to a session at the same time?

Each session accepts a single send at a time. When there is more to send while one is still running, Oda waits for the first send to settle.