> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://laminar.sh/docs/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Sessions

Sessions group related traces (multiple requests / turns) under a shared identifier, useful for conversational AI and multi-step workflows.

* Set a session ID at the trace level so all spans in a trace share it.
* Use the Sessions view in the Laminar UI to review all traces in the same session.

Set the session ID early in your request/handler entry point so downstream spans inherit it.

<Note>
  You must set the session ID inside a span context so it can attach to the current trace (for example, inside an <code>@observe</code>d function / <code>observe()</code> call, or by passing <code>sessionId</code> / <code>session\_id</code> via observe options).
</Note>

## What is a Session?

A **trace** usually represents one request / one conversational turn. A **session** groups multiple traces that belong to the same higher-level flow (for example, an entire chat conversation or checkout process).

## Example

<Tabs items={['TypeScript', 'Python']}>
  <Tab title="TypeScript">
    ```typescript theme={null}
    import { observe } from '@lmnr-ai/lmnr';

    // One trace per turn/request; reuse the same sessionId across turns
    export async function handleTurn(conversationId: string, userMessage: string) {
      return observe({ name: 'handleTurn', sessionId: conversationId }, async () => {
        // ... LLM calls / tools ...
      });
    }
    ```

    See also: [`observe(..., { sessionId })`](/sdk/observe#ts-observe) and [`Laminar.setTraceSessionId`](/sdk/trace-methods#ts-laminar-set-trace-session-id)
  </Tab>

  <Tab title="Python">
    ```python theme={null}
    from lmnr import Laminar, observe

    # One trace per turn/request; reuse the same session_id across turns.
    # Note: set_trace_session_id must be called inside a span context (e.g., an @observe'd function).
    @observe()
    def handle_turn(conversation_id: str, user_message: str):
        Laminar.set_trace_session_id(conversation_id)
        # ... LLM calls / tools ...
    ```

    See also: [`@observe()`](/sdk/observe#py-observe) and [`Laminar.set_trace_session_id`](/sdk/trace-methods#py-laminar-set-trace-session-id)
  </Tab>
</Tabs>

## Viewing Sessions in Laminar

1. Navigate to the **Traces** page and select the **Sessions** tab. The table lists every session in the selected time range, with columns for duration, total cost, total tokens, trace count, and user ID.

<Frame caption="Sessions tab: one row per session with aggregate metrics for the whole conversation.">
  <img className="block" src="https://mintcdn.com/laminarai/-q9WJgn2x9iWK3Su/images/sessions.png?fit=max&auto=format&n=-q9WJgn2x9iWK3Su&q=85&s=e5bdfe4776a782b3ea06246223c84748" alt="Sessions table in the Traces page" width="1512" height="982" data-path="images/sessions.png" />
</Frame>

2. Click a row to open the full-page session view. The breadcrumb confirms which session you are looking at, and the header shows the session's duration, token count, and cost. Toggle **Timeline** to see when each trace ran, or use the search box to filter by text, span name, ID, or tags.
3. Each trace appears as a numbered card (`1/5`, `2/5`, ...) with an auto-extracted **Input** block and the final LLM output, so you can scan the conversation end to end without opening individual traces.

<Frame caption="Session page: every trace in the conversation with Input and Output previews.">
  <img className="block" src="https://mintcdn.com/laminarai/-q9WJgn2x9iWK3Su/images/trace-session.png?fit=max&auto=format&n=-q9WJgn2x9iWK3Su&q=85&s=9a06b71f3db6ffbcf274c478f3e359a4" alt="Session detail page showing traces with Input and Output previews" width="1512" height="982" data-path="images/trace-session.png" />
</Frame>

From any trace card, use the dropdown to copy the trace ID or jump into the standalone trace view for span-level debugging.

## Common Patterns

* **Chatbots:** session = `conversation_id`, trace = one user turn.
* **Workflows:** session = `checkout-{userId}`, trace = each step (`validateCart`, `processPayment`, `createOrder`).