fix(cli): make /new, /reset, and /clear start real fresh sessions

Create a new session DB row when starting fresh from the CLI, reset the
agent DB flush cursor and todo state, and update session timing/session ID
bookkeeping so follow-up logging stays correct.

Also update slash-command descriptions and add regression tests for /new,
/reset, and /clear.

Supersedes PR #899.
Closes #641.

cli.py

@@ -2183,15 +2183,63 @@ class HermesCLI:
         flush_tool_summary()
         print()
     
-    def reset_conversation(self):
-        """Reset the conversation history."""
+    def new_session(self, silent=False):
+        """Start a fresh session with a new session ID and cleared agent state."""
         if self.agent and self.conversation_history:
             try:
                 self.agent.flush_memories(self.conversation_history)
             except Exception:
                 pass
+
+        old_session_id = self.session_id
+        if self._session_db and old_session_id:
+            try:
+                self._session_db.end_session(old_session_id, "new_session")
+            except Exception:
+                pass
+
+        self.session_start = datetime.now()
+        timestamp_str = self.session_start.strftime("%Y%m%d_%H%M%S")
+        short_uuid = uuid.uuid4().hex[:6]
+        self.session_id = f"{timestamp_str}_{short_uuid}"
         self.conversation_history = []
-        print("(^_^)b Conversation reset!")
+        self._pending_title = None
+        self._resumed = False
+
+        if self.agent:
+            self.agent.session_id = self.session_id
+            self.agent.session_start = self.session_start
+            if hasattr(self.agent, "_last_flushed_db_idx"):
+                self.agent._last_flushed_db_idx = 0
+            if hasattr(self.agent, "_todo_store"):
+                try:
+                    from tools.todo_tool import TodoStore
+                    self.agent._todo_store = TodoStore()
+                except Exception:
+                    pass
+            if hasattr(self.agent, "_invalidate_system_prompt"):
+                self.agent._invalidate_system_prompt()
+
+            if self._session_db:
+                try:
+                    self._session_db.create_session(
+                        session_id=self.session_id,
+                        source="cli",
+                        model=self.model,
+                        model_config={
+                            "max_iterations": self.max_turns,
+                            "reasoning_config": self.reasoning_config,
+                        },
+                    )
+                except Exception:
+                    pass
+
+        if not silent:
+            print("(^_^)v New session started!")
+
+    def reset_conversation(self):
+        """Reset the conversation by starting a new session."""
+        self.new_session()
     
     def save_conversation(self):
         """Save the current conversation to a file."""
@@ -2675,12 +2723,7 @@ class HermesCLI:
         elif cmd_lower == "/config":
             self.show_config()
         elif cmd_lower == "/clear":
-            # Flush memories before clearing
-            if self.agent and self.conversation_history:
-                try:
-                    self.agent.flush_memories(self.conversation_history)
-                except Exception:
-                    pass
+            self.new_session(silent=True)
             # Clear terminal screen.  Inside the TUI, Rich's console.clear()
             # goes through patch_stdout's StdoutProxy which swallows the
             # screen-clear escape sequences.  Use prompt_toolkit's output
@@ -2692,8 +2735,6 @@ class HermesCLI:
                 out.flush()
             else:
                 self.console.clear()
-            # Reset conversation
-            self.conversation_history = []
             # Show fresh banner.  Inside the TUI we must route Rich output
             # through ChatConsole (which uses prompt_toolkit's native ANSI
             # renderer) instead of self.console (which writes raw to stdout
@@ -2796,7 +2837,7 @@ class HermesCLI:
                 else:
                     _cprint("  Session database not available.")
         elif cmd_lower in ("/reset", "/new"):
-            self.reset_conversation()
+            self.new_session()
         elif cmd_lower.startswith("/model"):
             # Use original case so model names like "Anthropic/Claude-Opus-4" are preserved
             parts = cmd_original.split(maxsplit=1)

hermes_cli/commands.py

@@ -16,9 +16,9 @@ from prompt_toolkit.completion import Completer, Completion
 # Commands organized by category for better help display
 COMMANDS_BY_CATEGORY = {
     "Session": {
-        "/new": "Start a new conversation (reset history)",
-        "/reset": "Reset conversation only (keep screen)",
-        "/clear": "Clear screen and reset conversation (fresh start)",
+        "/new": "Start a new session (fresh session ID + history)",
+        "/reset": "Start a new session (alias for /new)",
+        "/clear": "Clear screen and start a new session",
         "/history": "Show conversation history",
         "/save": "Save the current conversation",
         "/retry": "Retry the last message (resend to agent)",

tests/test_cli_new_session.py

@@ -0,0 +1,139 @@
+"""Regression tests for CLI fresh-session commands."""
+
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+import importlib
+import os
+import sys
+from datetime import timedelta
+from unittest.mock import MagicMock, patch
+
+from hermes_state import SessionDB
+from tools.todo_tool import TodoStore
+
+
+class _FakeAgent:
+    def __init__(self, session_id: str, session_start):
+        self.session_id = session_id
+        self.session_start = session_start
+        self.model = "anthropic/claude-opus-4.6"
+        self._last_flushed_db_idx = 7
+        self._todo_store = TodoStore()
+        self._todo_store.write(
+            [{"id": "t1", "content": "unfinished task", "status": "in_progress"}]
+        )
+        self.flush_memories = MagicMock()
+        self._invalidate_system_prompt = MagicMock()
+
+
+def _make_cli(env_overrides=None, config_overrides=None, **kwargs):
+    """Create a HermesCLI instance with minimal mocking."""
+    _clean_config = {
+        "model": {
+            "default": "anthropic/claude-opus-4.6",
+            "base_url": "https://openrouter.ai/api/v1",
+            "provider": "auto",
+        },
+        "display": {"compact": False, "tool_progress": "all"},
+        "agent": {},
+        "terminal": {"env_type": "local"},
+    }
+    if config_overrides:
+        _clean_config.update(config_overrides)
+    clean_env = {"LLM_MODEL": "", "HERMES_MAX_ITERATIONS": ""}
+    if env_overrides:
+        clean_env.update(env_overrides)
+    prompt_toolkit_stubs = {
+        "prompt_toolkit": MagicMock(),
+        "prompt_toolkit.history": MagicMock(),
+        "prompt_toolkit.styles": MagicMock(),
+        "prompt_toolkit.patch_stdout": MagicMock(),
+        "prompt_toolkit.application": MagicMock(),
+        "prompt_toolkit.layout": MagicMock(),
+        "prompt_toolkit.layout.processors": MagicMock(),
+        "prompt_toolkit.filters": MagicMock(),
+        "prompt_toolkit.layout.dimension": MagicMock(),
+        "prompt_toolkit.layout.menus": MagicMock(),
+        "prompt_toolkit.widgets": MagicMock(),
+        "prompt_toolkit.key_binding": MagicMock(),
+        "prompt_toolkit.completion": MagicMock(),
+        "prompt_toolkit.formatted_text": MagicMock(),
+    }
+    with patch.dict(sys.modules, prompt_toolkit_stubs), patch.dict(
+        "os.environ", clean_env, clear=False
+    ):
+        import cli as _cli_mod
+
+        _cli_mod = importlib.reload(_cli_mod)
+        with patch.object(_cli_mod, "get_tool_definitions", return_value=[]), patch.dict(
+            _cli_mod.__dict__, {"CLI_CONFIG": _clean_config}
+        ):
+            return _cli_mod.HermesCLI(**kwargs)
+
+
+def _prepare_cli_with_active_session(tmp_path):
+    cli = _make_cli()
+    cli._session_db = SessionDB(db_path=tmp_path / "state.db")
+    cli._session_db.create_session(session_id=cli.session_id, source="cli", model=cli.model)
+
+    cli.agent = _FakeAgent(cli.session_id, cli.session_start)
+    cli.conversation_history = [{"role": "user", "content": "hello"}]
+
+    old_session_start = cli.session_start - timedelta(seconds=1)
+    cli.session_start = old_session_start
+    cli.agent.session_start = old_session_start
+    return cli
+
+
+def test_new_command_creates_real_fresh_session_and_resets_agent_state(tmp_path):
+    cli = _prepare_cli_with_active_session(tmp_path)
+    old_session_id = cli.session_id
+    old_session_start = cli.session_start
+
+    cli.process_command("/new")
+
+    assert cli.session_id != old_session_id
+
+    old_session = cli._session_db.get_session(old_session_id)
+    assert old_session is not None
+    assert old_session["end_reason"] == "new_session"
+
+    new_session = cli._session_db.get_session(cli.session_id)
+    assert new_session is not None
+
+    cli._session_db.append_message(cli.session_id, role="user", content="next turn")
+
+    assert cli.agent.session_id == cli.session_id
+    assert cli.agent._last_flushed_db_idx == 0
+    assert cli.agent._todo_store.read() == []
+    assert cli.session_start > old_session_start
+    assert cli.agent.session_start == cli.session_start
+    cli.agent.flush_memories.assert_called_once_with([{"role": "user", "content": "hello"}])
+    cli.agent._invalidate_system_prompt.assert_called_once()
+
+
+def test_reset_command_is_alias_for_new_session(tmp_path):
+    cli = _prepare_cli_with_active_session(tmp_path)
+    old_session_id = cli.session_id
+
+    cli.process_command("/reset")
+
+    assert cli.session_id != old_session_id
+    assert cli._session_db.get_session(old_session_id)["end_reason"] == "new_session"
+    assert cli._session_db.get_session(cli.session_id) is not None
+
+
+def test_clear_command_starts_new_session_before_redrawing(tmp_path):
+    cli = _prepare_cli_with_active_session(tmp_path)
+    cli.console = MagicMock()
+    cli.show_banner = MagicMock()
+
+    old_session_id = cli.session_id
+    cli.process_command("/clear")
+
+    assert cli.session_id != old_session_id
+    assert cli._session_db.get_session(old_session_id)["end_reason"] == "new_session"
+    assert cli._session_db.get_session(cli.session_id) is not None
+    cli.console.clear.assert_called_once()
+    cli.show_banner.assert_called_once()
+    assert cli.conversation_history == []