auto-session
An automated session manager for Neovim that saves and restores your open files and windows.
What is auto-session?
AutoSession is a Neovim plugin that automatically saves and restores your editing sessions. It solves the problem of losing your workspace by reopening all buffers, windows, and layout exactly as you left them, making it feel like you never closed the editor.
Neovim users who work across multiple projects or directories and want persistent workspaces without manual session management.
Developers choose AutoSession for its hands-off automation, deep integration with Neovim's ecosystem, and extensive customization options through hooks and picker support.
Overview
A small automated session manager for Neovim
Use Cases
Best For
- Neovim users who want automatic session persistence between editor sessions
- Developers working across multiple git branches who need separate session states
- Power users who want to customize session behavior with pre/post hooks
- Teams using Telescope or other pickers to quickly switch between project sessions
- Those who need to save custom data like debugger breakpoints with their sessions
- Users who frequently change directories and want session tracking per working directory
Not Ideal For
- Vim users or those on Neovim versions below 0.10 without using legacy tags
- Developers who prefer minimal configuration and avoid plugins with over 30 options
- Environments with ephemeral workspaces where session persistence adds unnecessary complexity
Pros & Cons
Pros
Automatically saves on exit and restores on startup based on working directory, requiring no manual commands for basic use, as highlighted in the 'How it works' section.
Seamlessly integrates with popular Neovim pickers like Telescope and Fzf-Lua for browsing and loading sessions, with automatic detection and customization options.
Supports separate sessions per git branch and can auto-restore on branch changes, ideal for multi-branch workflows as shown in the Git section.
Offers pre/post hooks for saving, restoring, and deleting sessions, allowing users to execute commands or Lua functions, such as saving DAP breakpoints.
Cons
With dozens of options and the need to set sessionoptions correctly, setup can be overwhelming; the README admits errors in config can disable auto-saving.
Restoration may fail silently or disable features if config has issues, and the plugin requires Neovim >=0.10, limiting compatibility.
Features like cwd_change_handling automatically clear all buffers on directory changes, which can be jarring and might not suit all workflows.
Frequently Asked Questions
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