diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 246448d..da5da08 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -89,7 +89,7 @@ The conversation, provider configuration, and local state are stored in:
 
 ### Session history
 
-A session is one saved conversation, belonging to the project it happened in. It is written after every turn using an atomic write, so an interrupted session does not leave a half-written transcript behind. Restarting Woopcode in the same repository resumes the newest one; starting it somewhere else does not, because sessions live under `sessions/<project>/` rather than in one file shared by every repository.
+A session is one saved conversation, belonging to the project it happened in. It is written after every turn using an atomic write, so an interrupted session does not leave a half-written transcript behind. Restarting Woopcode opens a fresh session rather than reopening the last one, because a conversation restored without being asked for is state nothing on screen accounts for. Sessions live under `sessions/<project>/` rather than in one file shared by every repository, so a resume only ever offers you that repository's own.
 
 `/new` starts a fresh session and keeps the old one — `/resume` goes back to it, `/rename` gives it a name, `/branch` copies it to try a second approach, and `woopcode --continue` / `--resume` do the same from the command line. Sessions are deleted 30 days after their last turn; `retentionDays` changes that and `0` keeps them forever.
 
diff --git a/commands/agent.tsx b/commands/agent.tsx
index 84876b7..8661963 100644
--- a/commands/agent.tsx
+++ b/commands/agent.tsx
@@ -45,11 +45,13 @@ export interface RunAgentOptions {
 /**
  * Turns the session flags into what `AgentController.initialize` takes.
  *
- * The two entry points differ in one default and it matters: the TUI continues
- * where you left off, because that is what Woopcode has always done and what
- * the documentation promises, while `-p` starts clean. A headless run used to
- * inherit whatever the interactive session had been doing, which is a surprise
- * for a scripted caller and impossible to opt out of.
+ * Both entry points start clean, and resuming is something you ask for. The TUI
+ * used to continue the newest session in the project on a bare launch, which is
+ * invisible state: nothing on screen says a conversation was restored, and the
+ * home screen — which renders only on an empty timeline — silently stopped
+ * appearing from the second launch onwards. `-p` already worked this way,
+ * because inheriting whatever the interactive session had been doing is a
+ * surprise a scripted caller cannot see coming.
  */
 export function sessionOptionsFrom(
   options: RunAgentOptions,
@@ -66,10 +68,7 @@ export function sessionOptionsFrom(
 
   return {
     ...(resumeRef ? { sessionRef: resumeRef } : {}),
-    continueLatest:
-      !options.new &&
-      !resumeRef &&
-      (options.continue === true || mode === "interactive"),
+    continueLatest: !options.new && !resumeRef && options.continue === true,
     fork: options.forkSession === true,
     ...(options.name ? { name: options.name } : {}),
     persist: options.sessionPersistence !== false,
@@ -85,7 +84,7 @@ export function addSessionOptions(command: Command): Command {
   return command
     .option("-c, --continue", "resume the newest session in this project")
     .option("--resume [session]", "resume a session by name or id")
-    .option("--new", "start a fresh session instead of continuing")
+    .option("--new", "start a fresh session (the interactive default)")
     .option("--fork-session", "with --continue or --resume, branch instead of writing into it")
     .option("-n, --name <name>", "name a new session so it can be resumed by name")
     .option("--no-session-persistence", "with --prompt, do not save the session");
@@ -409,8 +408,10 @@ async function runInteractive(
     store.hydrateTimeline(resumed.messages);
   }
 
-  // A bare `--resume` asks to choose. The newest session is loaded above so
-  // there is something behind the dialog and something to fall back to on Esc.
+  // A bare `--resume` asks to choose. Nothing is loaded behind it — a launch no
+  // longer continues anything on its own — so the dialog opens over the home
+  // screen and Esc leaves you in the fresh session rather than in whichever one
+  // happened to be newest.
   if (session.openPicker) store.openSessionPicker();
 
   const homeScreen = await buildHomeScreen(provider);
diff --git a/docs/getting-started/first-session.md b/docs/getting-started/first-session.md
index bf3ea55..c5f6328 100644
--- a/docs/getting-started/first-session.md
+++ b/docs/getting-started/first-session.md
@@ -99,14 +99,13 @@ A few commands are worth knowing on day one:
 | `/new` | Clear the conversation and start fresh |
 | `/workspace` | Show the repository Woopcode thinks it is in |
 
-Your conversation is saved after every turn, so quitting and restarting resumes
-where you left off. `/new` is how you deliberately drop that history.
-
-:::warning
-There is one history file, not one per repository. Starting Woopcode in a
-different project resumes the same conversation, so run `/new` when you switch
-— otherwise the agent begins with context from somewhere else entirely.
-:::
+Your conversation is saved after every turn, so nothing is lost when you quit.
+Starting Woopcode again opens a fresh session rather than reopening it —
+`woopcode --continue` goes back to the newest one, and `/resume` picks from a
+list. `/new` starts a fresh one without leaving the session you are in.
+
+Sessions belong to the project they happened in, so a repository only ever shows
+you its own. See [Sessions & history](/docs/guides/sessions-and-history).
 
 ## When it does not work
 
diff --git a/docs/guides/sessions-and-history.md b/docs/guides/sessions-and-history.md
index 936078a..c97343f 100644
--- a/docs/guides/sessions-and-history.md
+++ b/docs/guides/sessions-and-history.md
@@ -13,18 +13,19 @@ since: 0.6.0
 # Sessions & history
 
 A session is one saved conversation, belonging to the project it happened in.
-It is written after every turn, so quitting and coming back picks up where you
-left off — in that repository, and not in any other.
+It is written after every turn, so nothing is lost when you quit — but coming
+back to it is something you ask for.
 
 ## Resuming
 
-Starting Woopcode in a project reopens the newest session there. The rest:
+Starting Woopcode opens a fresh session. Going back to an old one:
 
 | Command | What it does |
 | --- | --- |
 | `woopcode --continue` | Reopen the newest session in this project |
 | `woopcode --resume <name-or-id>` | Reopen a particular one |
-| `woopcode --new` | Start fresh instead of continuing |
+| `woopcode --resume` | Pick from a list before starting |
+| `woopcode --new` | Start fresh — what a bare launch already does |
 | `/resume` | Pick from a list, without leaving the session you are in |
 | `/resume <name-or-id>` | Switch straight to one |
 | `/sessions` | List what is saved in this project |
@@ -121,9 +122,9 @@ Sessions are deleted 30 days after their last turn. Change it in
 
 ## Two windows on one conversation
 
-Open Woopcode twice in the same repository and both continue the newest session.
-Each turn writes the whole record, so the second window would overwrite the
-first's work.
+Two windows land on the same conversation when both resume it — `--continue` in
+each, or `/resume` onto one the other already has open. Each turn writes the
+whole record, so the second window would overwrite the first's work.
 
 It does not: a session that changed underneath a window is detected, and that
 window's turn is kept as a branch with its own id, leaving the other window's
diff --git a/docs/introduction/how-a-turn-works.md b/docs/introduction/how-a-turn-works.md
index cfe8342..b76e65b 100644
--- a/docs/introduction/how-a-turn-works.md
+++ b/docs/introduction/how-a-turn-works.md
@@ -81,8 +81,8 @@ approval dialog. See [Keyboard](/docs/reference/keyboard).
 
 ## Afterwards
 
-The conversation is saved, globally rather than per repository — restarting
-Woopcode anywhere resumes from it. See
+The conversation is saved, to the project it happened in. Restarting Woopcode
+opens a fresh session; `--continue` or `/resume` goes back to this one. See
 [Sessions & history](/docs/guides/sessions-and-history).
 
 ## Next
diff --git a/docs/reference/cli.md b/docs/reference/cli.md
index 2a96446..2435dd8 100644
--- a/docs/reference/cli.md
+++ b/docs/reference/cli.md
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ directory.
 | `-m, --model <model>` | Model id for this run only; the saved selection is left alone |
 | `-c, --continue` | Reopen the newest session in this project |
 | `--resume <session>` | Reopen a session by name, id or id prefix |
-| `--new` | Start a fresh session instead of continuing |
+| `--new` | Start a fresh session — what a bare launch already does |
 | `--fork-session` | With `--continue` or `--resume`, branch instead of writing into it |
 | `-n, --name <name>` | Name a new session so it can be resumed by name |
 | `--no-session-persistence` | With `--prompt`, do not save the session |
@@ -57,14 +57,15 @@ woopcode
 
 ### Sessions
 
-A bare launch reopens the newest session in that project. The flags pick a
-different one:
+A bare launch starts a fresh session, keeping whatever was saved before. The
+flags go back to one:
 
 ```bash
-woopcode --continue                 # explicit about the default
+woopcode --continue                 # the newest session in this project
 woopcode --resume auth-refactor     # by name
 woopcode --resume 3f9c1a2b          # by id prefix
-woopcode --new                      # start fresh, keeping the old one
+woopcode --resume                   # pick from a list
+woopcode --new                      # explicit about the default
 woopcode --continue --fork-session  # branch rather than continue in place
 woopcode -n auth-refactor           # name the session as it starts
 ```
diff --git a/packages/tests/config/sessionFlags.test.ts b/packages/tests/config/sessionFlags.test.ts
index 0cd217d..06a4175 100644
--- a/packages/tests/config/sessionFlags.test.ts
+++ b/packages/tests/config/sessionFlags.test.ts
@@ -4,13 +4,15 @@ import { sessionOptionsFrom } from "../../../commands/agent";
 /**
  * The mapping from command-line flags to what the controller resolves.
  *
- * Pure and worth testing on its own: the two entry points differ in one default
- * and getting it backwards is invisible until someone loses a conversation.
+ * Pure and worth testing on its own: getting a default backwards here is
+ * invisible until someone loses a conversation, or until a restored one starts
+ * hiding the home screen.
  */
 describe("sessionOptionsFrom", () => {
-  test("a bare interactive launch continues where you left off", () => {
-    // The documented promise, now scoped to the project you are in.
-    expect(sessionOptionsFrom({}, "interactive").continueLatest).toBe(true);
+  test("a bare interactive launch starts a fresh session", () => {
+    // Continuing on a bare launch is invisible state — nothing says a
+    // conversation was restored, and the home screen quietly stops appearing.
+    expect(sessionOptionsFrom({}, "interactive").continueLatest).toBe(false);
   });
 
   test("a bare headless run starts its own session", () => {
@@ -19,12 +21,17 @@ describe("sessionOptionsFrom", () => {
     expect(sessionOptionsFrom({}, "headless").continueLatest).toBe(false);
   });
 
-  test("--continue asks for it explicitly, headlessly too", () => {
+  test("--continue asks for it explicitly, in both modes", () => {
+    expect(sessionOptionsFrom({ continue: true }, "interactive").continueLatest).toBe(true);
     expect(sessionOptionsFrom({ continue: true }, "headless").continueLatest).toBe(true);
   });
 
-  test("--new overrides the interactive default", () => {
-    expect(sessionOptionsFrom({ new: true }, "interactive").continueLatest).toBe(false);
+  test("--new beats --continue rather than being ignored beside it", () => {
+    // --new is now the default rather than an override, but a script that
+    // passes both is asking for a fresh session and has to get one.
+    expect(
+      sessionOptionsFrom({ new: true, continue: true }, "headless").continueLatest,
+    ).toBe(false);
   });
 
   test("--resume <ref> resolves a reference instead of continuing", () => {