OpenClaw Multi-Session Workaround

OpenClaw's TUI doesn't support named sessions. Everything piles into one continuous conversation unless you manually /new or /reset. This is fine for casual use, but frustrating when you need separate contexts for different tasks.

lobs is a bash-based session manager that fixes this. Use lobs open <name> to create isolated, named sessions—like "work", "blog", or "music"—each with their own history and context. You can jump back into any session later without losing your place.

Full implementation at github.com/NoelJames/lobs.

The Problem

OpenClaw's TUI (openclaw tui) creates one long-running conversation per terminal window. There's no built-in way to:

• Name a session to know what it's for at a glance
• Switch between multiple contexts without losing history
• Resume a session after closing the terminal

So instead, you end up mixing everything together. Your job application draft, music playlist ideas, and random chat all live in one stream. Or you resort to workarounds that don't quite work.

The Workaround That Didn't Quite Work

Opening multiple terminals works—each openclaw tui instance is isolated:

# Terminal 1 - Job Hunt context
export PS1="(work) $PS1"
openclaw tui

# Terminal 2 - Music context  
export PS1="(music) $PS1"
openclaw tui

But it breaks down quickly:

• Sessions show up as "openclaw-tui" in the Control UI—unlabeled and confusing
• openclaw sessions CLI doesn't show TUI sessions
• Kill the terminal, lose the session—no resuming
• No way to archive or organize

The Better Way: lobs

I built lobs to solve this properly.

What It Does

Named, resumable TUI sessions with dead-simple commands:

lobs list               # See all your sessions
lobs open work          # Create or resume "work"
lobs open music         # Create or resume "music"
lobs archive work       # Set aside a finished session
lobs resume work        # Bring it back later
lobs delete old-project # Clean up

Each session is: - Named — you know what terminal does what - Isolated — work context doesn't leak into music context - Persistent — tracked in ~/.openclaw/lobs/sessions.json

Install

cd ~/Development/lobs_bash
./install.sh  # Installs to /usr/local/bin/lobs

lobs --help
lobs list
lobs open myproject

Why Bash?

Fast. Zero dependencies. Works on any Unix. Completions for bash/zsh/fish out of the box.

Comparison

Summary

Before: Multiple terminals + shell hacks = barely functional.
Now: lobs open <name> = clean, isolated, resumable sessions.

Originally documented 2026-02-05
Updated with lobs 2026-02-06