> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.chatlayer.ai/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.chatlayer.ai/~/changes/zWOY8fNiBBrqneKkuGvA/bot-answers/session.md).

# Session

The session is the data that is stored for a particular user. A session can span multiple conversations.

You can configure how long this data is kept in the [data retention](/~/changes/zWOY8fNiBBrqneKkuGvA/bot-answers/settings/data-retention.md) settings.

## Default session data

The following data is available for all sessions. An easy way to preview this data is through the debugger in the 'test your bot' window.

### Read-only session data

```json
{
   "botId":"1457",
   "sessionId":"emulator-f28feb19-9d00-426a-ac65-539d5e1d3a73",
   "version":"DRAFT",
   "channel":"web",
   "user":{
      "firstName":"Guest"
   },
   "preferredLanguage":"en",
   "locale":"en-us",
   "nlp":{
      "expression":"hi",
      "intent":{
         "name":"Greeting",
         "score":1
      },
      "entities":[
         0
      ],
      "intents":[
         {
            "name":"Greeting",
            "score":1
         }
      ],
      "sentiment":{
         "name":"positive",
         "score":0.5183199216644359
   }
   "currentDialogstate":{
      "name":"introduction",
      "id":"25b838ca-0fea-4b97-b91e-31bd8d932cf9",
      "type":"MESSAGE"
   }
   "previousDialogstate":{
      "name":"introduction",
      "id":"25b838ca-0fea-4b97-b91e-31bd8d932cf9",
      "type":"MESSAGE"
   }
}
```

| Property            | Value  | Description                                                                                                            |
| ------------------- | ------ | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| botId               | string | ID of the bot                                                                                                          |
| sessionID           | string | ID of the session                                                                                                      |
| version             | string | version of the session                                                                                                 |
| channel             | string | channel of the session                                                                                                 |
| user                | object | object containing information about the user                                                                           |
| preferredLanguage   | string | preferred language of the user                                                                                         |
| locale              | string | preferred locale of the user (for example for date formatting)                                                         |
| nlp                 | object | object containing data about the latest expression, and which intent and entities were detected, with which confidence |
| nlp.sentiment       | object | shows the sentiment analysis score of an expression                                                                    |
| currentDialogstate  | object | show the name, id and type of the current bot dialog the user is in                                                    |
| previousDialogstate | object | show the name, id and type of the previous bot dialog the user was in                                                  |

### User-changeable session data

The builder of the bot can create and save [variables](/~/changes/zWOY8fNiBBrqneKkuGvA/bot-answers/settings/secure-variables-gdpr.md) to the user session. This data can be created by the bot through a conversation, or retrieved through an API call. Objects, as well as strings and other types of values can be saved to the user session.


---

# Agent Instructions
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## Querying This Documentation
If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question.

Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter, and the optional `goal` query parameter:

```
GET https://docs.chatlayer.ai/~/changes/zWOY8fNiBBrqneKkuGvA/bot-answers/session.md?ask=<question>&goal=<endgoal>
```

`ask` is the immediate question: it should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language.
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