Say where persistence stops: sessions do not survive logout #21

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opened 2026-08-19 23:58:49 +00:00 by dusan · 0 comments

dusan commented

2026-08-19 23:58:49 +00:00

Owner

Context

Sessions outlive their windows because the agent owns the pty. They do not
outlive a logout: the agent is started on demand, without a systemd unit and
without lingering, so the user's session scope is torn down and every session goes
with it. This is documented in docs/spec/session-agent.md:

Known limit: with no systemd unit there is no lingering, so sessions do not
survive logout — the user's session scope is torn down. This is the cost of
on-demand startup and is documented rather than hidden;
loginctl enable-linger is the opt-in.

It is in the README too. It is not anywhere the user can see while using the
program.

The problem

"Persistent" is a per-session setting with a switch in the session editor. A
reasonable reading of that switch is "this session keeps running", and it does —
until logout, when it does not. The place to say so is next to the switch, not in
a file on a git server.

Work

Small, and mostly wording:

the Keep Running Without A Window row in
crates/terminalko/src/editor.rs / ui/session_editor.blp gains a subtitle
saying what it does and does not survive: window closed yes, logout no;
the Session Agent group in preferences (ui/preferences.blp) already explains
that sessions keep running when a window closes. One more sentence about logout
belongs there, with the loginctl enable-linger hint;
decide whether to offer more than a sentence. Running loginctl enable-linger
needs polkit and is a system change, so a button that does it silently is wrong;
a copyable command is honest and enough. If issue #18 (socket activation) lands,
revisit — with a unit installed, lingering actually makes sessions survive
logout, and then the wording changes from "does not" to "unless you enable
lingering".

Acceptance criteria

Both places where persistence is configured say what it survives, in a sentence
a user can act on.
The wording matches reality; if #18 changes reality, this text changes with it.
No new setting, no automatic system changes.
docs/spec/preferences.md and docs/spec/session-agent.md stay consistent with
the new wording.

Notes

This is the smallest issue in the list and the one most likely to save somebody
losing work they thought was safe.

## Context Sessions outlive their windows because the agent owns the pty. They do **not** outlive a logout: the agent is started on demand, without a systemd unit and without lingering, so the user's session scope is torn down and every session goes with it. This is documented in `docs/spec/session-agent.md`: > **Known limit:** with no systemd unit there is no lingering, so sessions do not > survive logout — the user's session scope is torn down. This is the cost of > on-demand startup and is documented rather than hidden; > `loginctl enable-linger` is the opt-in. It is in the README too. It is **not** anywhere the user can see while using the program. ## The problem "Persistent" is a per-session setting with a switch in the session editor. A reasonable reading of that switch is "this session keeps running", and it does — until logout, when it does not. The place to say so is next to the switch, not in a file on a git server. ## Work Small, and mostly wording: * the *Keep Running Without A Window* row in `crates/terminalko/src/editor.rs` / `ui/session_editor.blp` gains a subtitle saying what it does and does not survive: window closed yes, logout no; * the *Session Agent* group in preferences (`ui/preferences.blp`) already explains that sessions keep running when a window closes. One more sentence about logout belongs there, with the `loginctl enable-linger` hint; * decide whether to offer more than a sentence. Running `loginctl enable-linger` needs polkit and is a system change, so a button that does it silently is wrong; a copyable command is honest and enough. If issue #18 (socket activation) lands, revisit — with a unit installed, lingering actually makes sessions survive logout, and then the wording changes from "does not" to "unless you enable lingering". ## Acceptance criteria - Both places where persistence is configured say what it survives, in a sentence a user can act on. - The wording matches reality; if #18 changes reality, this text changes with it. - No new setting, no automatic system changes. - `docs/spec/preferences.md` and `docs/spec/session-agent.md` stay consistent with the new wording. ## Notes - This is the smallest issue in the list and the one most likely to save somebody losing work they thought was safe.

dusan referenced this issue from a commit

2026-08-20 03:46:50 +00:00

docs(ui): say that persistence stops at logout

dusan referenced this issue from a pull request that will close it,

2026-08-20 03:47:19 +00:00

docs(ui): say that persistence stops at logout #23

dusan closed this issue

2026-08-20 03:49:01 +00:00