qwen-code/docs/cli/welcome-back.md

Welcome Back Feature

The Welcome Back feature helps you seamlessly resume your work by automatically detecting when you return to a project with existing conversation history and offering to continue from where you left off.

Overview

When you start Qwen Code in a project directory that contains a previously generated project summary (.qwen/PROJECT_SUMMARY.md), the Welcome Back dialog will automatically appear, giving you the option to either start fresh or continue your previous conversation.

How It Works

Automatic Detection

The Welcome Back feature automatically detects:

• Project Summary File: Looks for .qwen/PROJECT_SUMMARY.md in your current project directory
• Conversation History: Checks if there's meaningful conversation history to resume
• Settings: Respects your enableWelcomeBack setting (enabled by default)

Welcome Back Dialog

When a project summary is found, you'll see a dialog with:

• Last Updated Time: Shows when the summary was last generated
• Overall Goal: Displays the main objective from your previous session
• Current Plan: Shows task progress with status indicators:
  • [DONE] - Completed tasks
  • [IN PROGRESS] - Currently working on
  • [TODO] - Planned tasks
• Task Statistics: Summary of total tasks, completed, in progress, and pending

Options

You have two choices when the Welcome Back dialog appears:

1. Start new chat session

   • Closes the dialog and begins a fresh conversation
   • No previous context is loaded

2. Continue previous conversation

   • Automatically fills the input with: @.qwen/PROJECT_SUMMARY.md, Based on our previous conversation, Let's continue?
   • Loads the project summary as context for the AI
   • Allows you to seamlessly pick up where you left off

Configuration

Enable/Disable Welcome Back

You can control the Welcome Back feature through settings:

Via Settings Dialog:

1. Run /settings in Qwen Code
2. Find "Enable Welcome Back" in the UI category
3. Toggle the setting on/off

Via Settings File: Add to your .qwen/settings.json:

{
  "enableWelcomeBack": true
}

Settings Locations:

• User settings: ~/.qwen/settings.json (affects all projects)
• Project settings: .qwen/settings.json (project-specific)

Keyboard Shortcuts

• Escape: Close the Welcome Back dialog (defaults to "Start new chat session")

Integration with Other Features

Project Summary Generation

The Welcome Back feature works seamlessly with the /chat summary command:

1. Generate Summary: Use /chat summary to create a project summary
2. Automatic Detection: Next time you start Qwen Code in this project, Welcome Back will detect the summary
3. Resume Work: Choose to continue and the summary will be loaded as context

Quit Confirmation

When exiting with /quit-confirm and choosing "Generate summary and quit":

1. A project summary is automatically created
2. Next session will trigger the Welcome Back dialog
3. You can seamlessly continue your work

File Structure

The Welcome Back feature creates and uses:

your-project/
├── .qwen/
│   └── PROJECT_SUMMARY.md    # Generated project summary
└── .qwen/
    └── settings.json         # Optional project settings

PROJECT_SUMMARY.md Format

The generated summary follows this structure:

# Project Summary

## Overall Goal

<!-- Single, concise sentence describing the high-level objective -->

## Key Knowledge

<!-- Crucial facts, conventions, and constraints -->
<!-- Includes: technology choices, architecture decisions, user preferences -->

## Recent Actions

<!-- Summary of significant recent work and outcomes -->
<!-- Includes: accomplishments, discoveries, recent changes -->

## Current Plan

<!-- The current development roadmap and next steps -->
<!-- Uses status markers: [DONE], [IN PROGRESS], [TODO] -->

---

## Summary Metadata

**Update time**: 2025-01-10T15:30:00.000Z

Best Practices

When to Use Project Summaries

• Long Development Sessions: Generate summaries for complex, multi-day projects
• Team Collaboration: Share project summaries with team members
• Context Switching: Use when working on multiple projects
• Documentation: Keep a record of important decisions and progress

Summary Generation Tips

• Regular Updates: Run /chat summary periodically during long sessions
• Before Major Changes: Generate summaries before significant refactoring
• End of Sessions: Use "Generate summary and quit" when finishing work
• Milestone Completion: Create summaries at project milestones

Troubleshooting

Welcome Back Not Appearing

1. Check Settings: Ensure enableWelcomeBack is set to true
2. Verify Summary File: Confirm .qwen/PROJECT_SUMMARY.md exists
3. File Permissions: Ensure Qwen Code can read the summary file
4. Project Directory: Make sure you're in the correct project directory

Summary Not Loading

1. File Format: Verify the summary file is valid markdown
2. File Size: Check if the file is too large or corrupted
3. Permissions: Ensure read permissions on the summary file

Disable Welcome Back

If you want to disable the feature:

{
  "enableWelcomeBack": false
}

Examples

Typical Workflow

1. Start Working: Begin a new project or feature
2. Generate Summary: After significant progress, run /chat summary
3. End Session: Use Ctrl+C and choose "Generate summary and quit"
4. Return Later: Next time you start Qwen Code in this project
5. Welcome Back: Dialog appears with your previous context
6. Continue: Choose "Continue previous conversation" to resume

Team Collaboration

1. Developer A: Works on feature, generates summary
2. Developer B: Starts Qwen Code in same project
3. Welcome Back: Sees Developer A's progress and context
4. Continue: Can pick up where Developer A left off

This makes the Welcome Back feature particularly valuable for team environments where multiple developers might work on the same project.