diff --git a/extensions/cli/src/session.test.ts b/extensions/cli/src/session.test.ts
index 51bb6456645..b0b13b99193 100644
--- a/extensions/cli/src/session.test.ts
+++ b/extensions/cli/src/session.test.ts
@@ -357,6 +357,31 @@ describe("SessionManager", () => {
       expect(result).toEqual(mockSession);
       expect(getCurrentSession()).toEqual(mockSession);
     });
+
+    it("should load the selected session when CONTINUE_CLI_TEST_SESSION_ID is set", () => {
+      const selectedSession: Session = {
+        sessionId: "selected-session-id",
+        title: "Selected Session",
+        workspaceDirectory: "/test/workspace",
+        history: [],
+      };
+      mockHistoryManager.load.mockReturnValue(selectedSession);
+      process.env.CONTINUE_CLI_TEST_SESSION_ID = "selected-session-id";
+
+      try {
+        const result = loadSession();
+
+        expect(result).toEqual(selectedSession);
+        // It must resolve the session by id, not by most-recent mtime
+        expect(mockHistoryManager.load).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+          "selected-session-id",
+        );
+        expect(mockFs.readdirSync).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+        expect(getCurrentSession()).toEqual(selectedSession);
+      } finally {
+        delete process.env.CONTINUE_CLI_TEST_SESSION_ID;
+      }
+    });
   });
 
   describe("clearSession", () => {
diff --git a/extensions/cli/src/session.ts b/extensions/cli/src/session.ts
index 45f765a08ae..d793f3ce3f8 100644
--- a/extensions/cli/src/session.ts
+++ b/extensions/cli/src/session.ts
@@ -300,6 +300,18 @@ export function saveSession(): void {
  */
 export function loadSession(): Session | null {
   try {
+    // If a specific session has been selected (e.g. via `cn ls`), resume that
+    // one instead of the most recent. The selection is communicated through the
+    // same env var that SessionManager uses to pin the current session id.
+    const selectedSessionId = process.env.CONTINUE_CLI_TEST_SESSION_ID;
+    if (selectedSessionId) {
+      const selectedSession = loadSessionById(selectedSessionId);
+      if (selectedSession) {
+        SessionManager.getInstance().setSession(selectedSession);
+        return selectedSession;
+      }
+    }
+
     // For resume, we need to find the most recent session
     const sessionDir = getSessionDir();
     if (!fs.existsSync(sessionDir)) {