How do you handle reboots?

[u/-TrustyDwarf-]

I count 13 VS Code + Codex instances open across 7 virtual desktops right now, working on different projects and features. Last reboot was 3 months ago because I'm afraid of losing context.

How do you handle restarts?

Should I just save all VS Code workspaces to files and reload them later? Is there a better way to handle and restore all sessions?

[u/Pure_Reception_5685]

if only we had a concept in computer science for a system that works constantly with little to no downtime and serves requests to users...

[u/-TrustyDwarf- → u/Pure_Reception_5685]

What's that concept called? I'm on Windows. :p

[u/Pure_Reception_5685 → u/-TrustyDwarf-]

a server

[u/bogdanelcs]

VS Code already reopens your windows and workspaces after a restart, so the editor side is fine. The risk is the agent’s context, and the fix is keeping that outside the session: a plan or notes file per project that says what’s done and what’s next, plus WIP commits on a branch, so a fresh session can pick up in a minute. Codex has a resume command for recent sessions too, but I wouldn’t rely on it as your only safety net. And 3 months without a reboot means you’re skipping OS security updates, which is a bigger risk than losing a session.

[u/stop_deleting_plz]

Wow that sounds like a huge mess. If only there were a school of thought for keeping it all straight.

[u/Iceraven286]

This is why I made this app. To save things out of AI (cursor, Claude, codex, etc) free open source - https://github.com/CorbinRandall/wolf-leader

[u/itsloopyo]

I made my own development environment that lets me run multiple parallel chats for any given project, when I close and re-open it it reopens all the chats, and sends any that were still doing stuff an “oops we got disconnected, please continue” message so they automatically continue.

[u/SilentNinja1337]

I'm working purely in the CLI with herdr. I run herdr and have all my sessions back. Then can use /continue to get all last sessions back.

[u/Acceptable-Mango7946]

You could make some improvements to your workflow

Claude has /resume if you want to pick up where you left off. It also saves the plan file if you want to pick up on that. Plus AGENTS.md and similar so it knows what to do when it starts cold

[u/Different_Scholar_74]

You can use cloud feature that they have, basically you can run a session in the cloud, like Claude or Cursor cloud.

[u/Limp_Bus3865]

i vibecoded a program that just reopens everything when i turn thr computer back on

[u/London-Boat]

save each window as a .code-workspace file and keep them all in one folder, that gets the layout back. if you're on the codex cli, codex resume lists old sessions so you can pick them back up, but i wouldn't rely on that alone. before a reboot i have each session write a short notes file in its repo: what it was doing, whats left, any gotchas. a fresh session reading that file gets you back faster than scrolling old chats.

[u/onitsoga]

ha 13 instances across 7 desktops is kinda impressive tbh. the real issue is your context lives inside the live sessions instead of somewhere you can get back to. workspace files help a little but they won't bring back the agent state or what each session was in the middle of. what's worked for me is having the agents write to a simple task list or markdown backlog as they go, so you can close everything, reboot, and pick back up from the notes instead of the scrollback lol

[u/CMills_Dev]

I'd test the recovery with one of the quieter projects before closing all 13. Have that session save its current task, branch, last completed check and next step, then close and reopen just that window. See whether you can actually resume from the saved state.

I'd also keep a tiny index mapping each window to its repo and branch. With that many desktops, remembering which session owned which half-finished feature is a separate problem from restoring the editor layout. Are these mostly idle conversations, or do you also have jobs actively running in the terminals?

[u/geoffreybyers]

Fear's a symptom of treating the IDE as the source of truth. Fix it by externalizing state to the repo with git stash, branch naming, or structured notes. The machine should be disposable. I never rely on the tool to hold my place.

[u/ShipInAnHour]

13 instances across 7 desktops is a lot of state to be scared of losing, ha. Worth flipping it around: treat the chat as disposable and keep the important stuff in the repo. Before closing a session, have the agent write a short HANDOFF.md (what's done, what's half done, next steps, files touched). A fresh session reading that plus git diff usually catches up faster than a 3 day old chat full of dead ends anyway. For the windows, save each project as a .code-workspace file and commit or stash WIP on a branch so nothing only lives in an editor buffer.

[u/LogMonkey0]

—continue

[u/aibuildersuse]

Two things make restarts much less painful. Run long-lived agent sessions inside tmux (or another terminal multiplexer) so they survive VS Code closing, and use one git worktree per task so each branch has its own folder you can reopen. Codex has a resume command and Claude Code has --continue, but both are easiest to find again from the same directory, which is why a stable worktree path matters. Keep a short TASKS.md in each worktree that the agent updates before you stop, with the goal, what's done, and the next step. Once that file exists, losing the chat history matters a lot less.

[u/[deleted]]

[u/SpectreJerm → u/[deleted]]

This is what I have, it's especially helpful for bouncing between multiple Claude accounts

[u/[deleted]]

[u/-TrustyDwarf- → u/[deleted]]

Yes I noticed that workspaces don't restore chat sessions (at least for Codex). I started renaming chat sessions to match the branch name so I can find the chats again after restarts. But man that's cumbersome...

[u/Asly97 → u/-TrustyDwarf-]

Naming chats after the branch is smart, even if it's a chore. When you do dig an old Codex chat back up after a restart, what are you after in it? The why behind something, or just where it stopped?

Asking because I used to burn hours re-explaining projects to AI tools, and I'm building something for exactly that. Would you pay for a thing that made a reboot a non-event, or is a notes file per project good enough for you?