The Restore Dialog
Since Nash 0.9.4, the restore dialog reads the saved-session history and lets you bring back every window of a save, one window, or a single tab. Nash opens it only when you ask.
Open the dialog
Use any of these:
- Run Restore Saved Session from the command palette.
- Choose Restore Saved Session in the Shell menu.
- Press
ALT+rin the bundled configuration. - Bind your own key to the
ActivateSessionRestoreaction.
Three levels
The dialog opens on the list of saves, then lets you browse the windows of one save and the tabs of one window.
The save list
The title is Restore Saved Session. Saves are listed newest first. Each row
shows when Nash saved the layout (Today, 10:49 AM, Yesterday, 6:12 PM, or a
date), its window and tab counts, and a summary of its tabs.
Press Enter or click a row to see that save's windows. Press SUPER+Enter to
restore all its windows at once, including those marked closed.
The header counts files that could not be read. These do not hide the saves that can be read.
The window list
Choose a save to see its windows. The title is Choose a Window followed by the save time.
Each row shows:
- The window title, or
Window N · <session>when the window has no title. - Counts such as
3 tabsand7 panes. - A
closedlabel when you closed the window before you quit. These rows come after the windows that were still open. - An
Active:line that names the tab the window opens on, with its pane count. - A summary of the tab titles in the window, such as
zsh ×3ornvim ×2. A pane that was running a command shows▶and the command, for example▶ npm run dev. The▶mark tells you which commands Nash runs again.
The tab list
Choose a window to see its tabs. The title is Choose a Tab followed by the window title. The subtitle reads Restore a single saved tab into the current window.
Each row shows the tab name and its pane count, an active label for the tab
that was active, and a summary of its pane titles. A tab with no saved panes
says No saved panes.
Keys and mouse
| Action | Save list | Window list | Tab list |
|---|---|---|---|
| Move the selection | Up / Down, Ctrl+P / N | The same | The same |
| Open or restore | Enter opens the window list | Enter opens the tab list | Enter restores the selected tab |
| Restore windows | SUPER+Enter restores all | SUPER+Enter restores one | SUPER+Enter restores its window |
| Go back or close | Esc or Ctrl+G closes | Esc or Ctrl+G goes back | Esc or Ctrl+G goes back |
| Mouse | Click a row to open its windows | Click a row to open its tabs | Click a row to restore that tab |
| Scroll a long list | Mouse wheel | Mouse wheel | Mouse wheel |
SUPER is the Command key on macOS and the Windows or Super key elsewhere. The
hint bar at the bottom of the dialog always shows the keys for the current
level.
What a restore does
Restore a whole save. Nash restores each saved window in one background task, including windows you closed before quitting.
Restore a whole window. Nash opens a new window. It adds the saved tabs in their saved order, sets the saved window title, makes the saved active tab active, and uses the saved window size.
Restore a single tab. Nash adds the tab to the current window.
For each tab and pane, Nash then:
- Starts a new shell in the saved working directory.
- Rebuilds the splits with the saved proportions. Nash recreates each split from a whole-number percentage, so a pane can differ from its old size by a cell or two.
- Restores the tab name, the tab color, and the tab's Zen Mode state.
- Makes the saved pane active, and restores zoom and folded panes.
- Types the saved command into the pane if it was still running. Read Limits and Troubleshooting before you rely on this.
The dialog closes at once. Nash restores the panes in the background, so a large window can need a moment to fill.
Empty and error states
| What you see | What it means |
|---|---|
| No saved sessions yet | Nash found no saves in the current history directory. |
| Saved sessions could not be loaded | Nash could not list the directory or read any saves. |
The empty state's detail line names the directory and, when available, the error. If some saves are readable, the picker lists them and counts the unreadable files in its header. See Limits and Troubleshooting for the causes and the fixes.