aster-chat-sessions

name	aster-chat-sessions
description	Drive aster chat programmatically and manage sessions and memory: one-shot --print/--json answers, --messages-json for caller-owned history, --continue and --session persistence, --allow-edits gating, and the sessions/memory commands. Use when scripting aster chat, integrating it into an editor or agent, or inspecting saved transcripts.

Chat, sessions, and memory

aster chat talks to the review agent with read/search tools over the repo. In a terminal it opens a TUI; from scripts and agents always use the one-shot forms.

One-shot answers

aster chat -p "why is finding 2 critical?"       # plain text (default when piped)
aster chat --json "summarize the last review"    # {"reply", "edits", "usage"}
aster chat --no-tools -p "explain this error"    # plain LLM turn, no repo tools

--model overrides the model for the turn (else ASTER_MODEL, else aster.yaml).

History and persistence

aster chat --continue -p "and the second one?"   # seed the most recent session's history
aster chat --session <ID> -p "..."               # persist this turn into a session by id
aster chat --messages-json msgs.json -p "..."    # caller-owned history (or `-` for stdin)

--messages-json takes a JSON array of {"role","content"} with roles user | assistant | system. Combined with --session, the session only records the turn (the caller owns history); --session alone also seeds the session's prior history.

Edits

--allow-edits exposes an edit_file tool to the agent, gated by the permissions block in aster.yaml (deny-first globs, protected paths). Leave it off unless the task is explicitly to change files, and diff the working tree afterward.

Inspecting sessions

aster sessions                 # list saved sessions for this repo
aster sessions show <id>       # full transcript
aster sessions --json          # machine-readable (also on `show`)

Durable memory

aster memory                        # list stored memory
aster memory add "we use pnpm"      # append a fact to project memory
aster memory add --title deploy "…" # save a titled block
aster memory --json                 # machine-readable

Memory is per-repo and fed to future chats and reviews; store durable facts (conventions, constraints), not one-off context.