> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://betterdatainc.mintlify.site/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Sessions

> Manage conversation state and cart persistence

Sessions are critical for multi-turn commerce conversations. They allow the LLM to remember what's in the user's cart and maintain context across different platforms.

## Overview

Every interaction with the LLM Gateway is associated with a `sessionId`. This ID is used to retrieve:

* **Cart ID**: The current shopping cart for the user.
* **Context**: Recent interactions, preferences, or user IDs.
* **Merchant ID**: In multi-vendor environments, the current merchant being interacted with.

## Session Storage

By default, the gateway uses an in-memory session manager, which is perfect for development but not suitable for production.

### Redis (Recommended)

For production, use a Redis-based session manager to ensure high availability and shared state across multiple gateway instances.

```typescript theme={null}
const gateway = new LLMGateway({
  session: {
    redis: {
      url: process.env.REDIS_URL,
      token: process.env.REDIS_TOKEN, // Optional for serverless Redis like Upstash
    },
    ttl: 3600 * 24, // 24 hour expiration
  }
});
```

## Creating & Retrieving Sessions

When using the HTTP Adapter, you typically pass the `sessionId` in the header or as part of the tool execution request.

```bash theme={null}
curl -X POST https://api.betterdata.co/v1/execute \
  -H "X-Session-Id: session_123" \
  ...
```

The gateway will automatically look up the session and provide the associated cart to your backend handlers.

## Cross-Platform Transfer

One of the unique features of the LLM Gateway is the ability to transfer sessions across different AI assistants.

1. User starts a conversation in **Claude** and adds items to a cart.
2. The user wants to "Checkout on Mobile".
3. The gateway generates a secure transfer link.
4. The user opens the link on their phone, and the session (including the cart) is restored.

## Best Practices

* **Use UUIDs**: Always use long, unpredictable strings for session IDs.
* **Set TTLs**: Configure appropriate time-to-live values based on your user behavior (e.g., 24 hours for carts).
* **Secure Handling**: Treat session IDs like sensitive data, as they provide access to a user's cart.