BE-13: Session Management Research (Creation & Handling)

[tecnodeveloper]

Description:
Research session system. Chat needs memory. User talks → system remembers → continues conversation. Need clean session handling with MongoDB + backend.

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User Story

Given chatbot needs multi-turn conversation
When user sends multiple messages
Then system should maintain session and context

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Tasks

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Session Basics

1. Understand Session Concept

   • What is a session
   • Why sessions needed for chat
   • Difference: stateless vs stateful

2. Session Types

   • Token-based (JWT)
   • Server-side sessions
   • Database-backed sessions

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Chatbot Requirements

3. Define Session Needs

   • Multi-turn conversation
   • Context tracking
   • User-specific sessions

4. Session Scope

   • One session per chat
   • Multiple sessions per user
   • Session history storage

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Session Design

5. Session Structure (MongoDB)

   • session_id
   • user_id
   • messages (array)
   • created_at
   • updated_at

6. Message Structure

   • role (user / assistant)
   • content
   • timestamp

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Session Lifecycle

7. Session Creation

   • Create new session on chat start
   • Generate unique session_id

8. Session Update

   • Append messages
   • Update timestamps

9. Session Retrieval

   • Fetch by session_id
   • Load chat history

10. Session Expiry

• Define timeout (optional)
• Auto-delete or archive

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Context Management

11. Context Window Handling

• Limit message history
• Trim old messages
• Keep relevant context

12. Topic Change Detection

• Identify topic shifts
• Reset or adjust context

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Backend Flow (Flask/FastAPI)

13. Session API Design

• POST /session/create
• GET /session/{id}
• POST /session/{id}/message

14. Integration with Chat API

• Attach session_id to each request
• Fetch context before model call

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MongoDB Integration

15. Create Sessions Collection

• Collection: sessions
• Index on user_id

16. Test DB Operations

• Create session
• Add messages
• Fetch session

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State Handling (Frontend)

17. Store Session ID

• Save session_id after creation
• Send with each request

18. Manage Chat State

• Store messages locally
• Sync with backend

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Performance Considerations

19. Optimize Queries

• Limit message size
• Use indexing

20. Scalability

• Handle multiple users
• Efficient session retrieval

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Comparison & Decision

21. Compare Approaches

• JWT-only vs DB sessions
• Hybrid approach

22. Select Final Strategy

• Choose best session design
• Document reasoning

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Acceptance Criteria

• Session concept clearly understood
• MongoDB session schema defined
• API design ready
• Context handling strategy defined
• Final session approach selected

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Testing Steps

1. Design session schema
2. Simulate chat flow manually
3. Test DB insert + fetch
4. Validate context trimming
5. Review scalability

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Definition of Done

• Session strategy finalized
• Ready for implementation
• Supports multi-turn chat