OpenHands

Hansard imports local OpenHands conversations and explicitly requested cloud history. OpenHands remains the harness identity; routed models retain their own model-company identity in Stats.

Source IDs

Source	Use it for
openhands	Local SDK conversation folders and legacy application event stores.
openhands-cloud	Explicit cloud history import with an API key.

How the import works

The CLI, SDK, Agent Canvas, and agent server share conversation folders with base_state.json and numbered event files. Hansard preserves those files, normalizes messages and tools, and updates a resumed conversation in place. Legacy application folders with numeric event files are also supported.

Default discovery covers ~/.openhands/conversations, ~/.openhands/agent-canvas/dev_conversations, and legacy sessions/ and users/*/conversations/ under the provider root. HANSARD_OPENHANDS_ROOTS accepts a path-separated list of provider roots. OPENHANDS_PERSISTENCE_DIR, OH_PERSISTENCE_DIR, and OH_CANVAS_SAFE_STATE_DIR are honored.

For an arbitrary SDK directory, copied trajectory, or mounted container store, set OPENHANDS_CONVERSATIONS_DIR or OH_CONVERSATIONS_PATH to the folder containing the conversation directories. Original files remain unchanged.

Cloud conversations use a separate, explicit API import. Their persistent event history remains available when a runtime is paused, while model usage comes from combined snapshots. Hansard keeps cloud and local source labels distinct and preserves the richer local SDK archive when both represent the same conversation.

Import and keep current

Conversation history

hansard import --source openhands --since all
hansard config sources enable openhands

The watcher observes local state, metadata, and event files. A stable snapshot is required; files changed during capture are retried on the next import.

Set OPENHANDS_API_KEY, then run:

hansard import openhands-cloud --since all

Use --session <uuid> for one conversation. OPENHANDS_ORG_ID selects an organization; OPENHANDS_CLOUD_URL selects a self-hosted HTTPS origin. The default is https://app.all-hands.dev.

Only the persistent app API is read. Hansard requires complete pagination, never starts a sandbox, and never forwards the API key to a runtime URL. Matching local SDK archives take precedence over cloud refreshes. Turn on OpenHands Cloud in Settings → Imports → Cloud agents to have the watcher refresh it every six hours.

Memories and instructions

hansard memory backup

Backups include personal memory, project .openhands/memory, the always-on microagents/repo.md instructions, and supported instruction files such as AGENTS.md. Skill folders and knowledge microagents are not memories and are not backed up. The working directory and nearest Git root come from imported local conversations. Nested instruction discovery checks up to 50 directories; symlinks are not followed. Cloud memories are not fetched.

Review the import in the app

1. When the import finishes, open Conversations and selectFilter & sort.
2. Set Source to OpenHands and setTime to the window you imported. UseFolder to narrow the list when you use this harness in several projects.
3. Select a conversation to check its messages, tool calls, files, commits, model, and token usage.

To keep archiving new sessions from a local harness, openSettings → Imports. Automaticfollows every supported harness installed on this computer.Custom lets you turn individual harnesses on or off. Cloud sources and account exports never run from here; each needs its own import command. If a conversation you expect is missing after you reset the filters, run the import command on this page again with --explain-skips where the source supports it.

Review tool arguments, error results, and numbered edit diffs. Check the OpenHands provider and recorded models in Stats, then open Memories to verify captured instructions. Delegated and automated prompts do not count as human activity.

What Hansard preserves

• Prompts, replies, reasoning, injected context, tools, errors, rejections, and edits.
• SDK active branches, recorded fork ancestry, child links, titles, and workspaces.
• Measured response tokens, cache and reasoning splits, and recorded cost estimates.
• Inline images, captured observation files, and raw source files.
• Legacy event JSON and auxiliary state files, including opaque pickle bytes.

SDK usage includes spending on inactive branches. Copied child and fork usage is excluded when the source provides enough identity evidence. Latest model settings do not assign a model to older responses. ACP input/cache semantics are handled separately, and repeated ACP response IDs retain each turn.

Known limitations

• Native verification covers released CLI read, edit, resume, and instruction creation. Current SDK branches/ACP, legacy stores, children, and cloud APIs have fixture coverage. Live delegation, the Agent Canvas/server UI, and authenticated cloud service access have not received separate native trials.
• Cloud returns combined usage snapshots without historical model attribution. Those tokens remain under Unknown model. Returned events lack an active branch pointer. Runtime files, ZIP downloads, and cloud memories are not fetched.
• Plain SDK forks can omit their parent identity. Copied history remains when its owner cannot be established. Missing child stores leave copied usage in the parent. Inconsistent cloud parent/child snapshots require a later retry.
• Legacy pickles are never executed or deserialized. Fields available only inside them cannot supply normalized metadata or usage.
• Remote attachment URLs remain references. Local files outside captured conversation stores are not fetched. Unsupported record shapes are counted and retained in raw preservation.
• Native API credentials, environment configuration, runtime caches, installed binaries, and derived indexes are not separate conversation or memory sources.

Refresh an existing archive

hansard import --source openhands --since all
hansard memory backup

Original sources are required for a parser refresh. SDK sessions with a known local conversations root can be resumed through the viewer’s copied command.

Official references: OpenHands, Software Agent SDK, and CLI source.