How to set up automatic clearing of conversation history？

[bitifi2019]

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1.How to set up starting a new conversation every time you enter the workflow application?
or
2.How to set up automatic clearing of conversation history？

[dosubot[bot]]

Hi @bitifi2019! I'm Dosu and I’m helping the dify team.

Dify doesn't have a built-in configuration to automatically clear conversation history or start new conversations on each visit—this is by design, as it stores conversation state in localStorage.

Here are the workarounds:

1. Frontend Code Modification (Recommended)
Call the handleNewConversation function when the chat component mounts. Add a useEffect in your main chat component that calls this function on mount. The function is defined in web/app/components/base/chat/embedded-chatbot/hooks.tsx.

2. Unique User IDs (For Iframe Embeddings)
Generate a unique userId for every page load and pass it as the sys.user_id URL parameter (gzip, base64, and URI encoded). Note: this isolates sessions but hides the conversation history list.

3. Clear localStorage
Clear the relevant localStorage keys (like CONVERSATION_ID_INFO) before mounting the chat component.

4. API Method
You can delete all chat history from a session via the API by sending a DELETE request to /console/app/session/<session_id>/messages with proper authentication. This isn't exposed in the UI.

Would you like more details on implementing any of these approaches?

To reply, just mention @dosu.

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[dosubot[bot]]

Here are the specific steps for each approach:

1. Unique User IDs (For Iframe Embeddings)

In your embedding script, pass a unique user_id each time:

window.difyChatbotConfig = {
  token: 'YOUR_TOKEN',
  systemVariables: {
    user_id: 'unique-id-' + Date.now() + '-' + Math.random().toString(36).substr(2, 9)
  }
}

The embed.js script automatically handles the encoding (gzip → base64 → URI encode) when passing system variables. Each unique user_id creates an isolated session.

2. Clear localStorage

The conversation state is stored in a key called conversationIdInfo. To clear it before the chat loads:

// Clear all conversation info
localStorage.removeItem('conversationIdInfo');

// Or clear for a specific app (if you know the appId)
const info = JSON.parse(localStorage.getItem('conversationIdInfo') || '{}');
delete info['YOUR_APP_ID'];
localStorage.setItem('conversationIdInfo', JSON.stringify(info));

---

Regarding ENABLE_CLEAN_MESSAGES

This variable is not for clearing frontend conversation history. It's a backend scheduled task that runs at 4:00 AM to clean expired messages from the database based on retention policies. It's primarily intended for managing storage in cloud/SaaS deployments, not for starting fresh conversations on each visit.

To reply, just mention @dosu.

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[bitifi2019]

@dosu Frontend Code Modification, What are the specific operational steps? Can you describe the procedure?

[dosubot[bot]]

Here are the specific steps for the frontend code modification:

Step 1: Choose the file to modify

Depending on your chat mode:

• Embedded Chatbot: web/app/components/base/chat/embedded-chatbot/index.tsx
• Chat with History: web/app/components/base/chat/chat-with-history/index.tsx

Step 2: Ensure useEffect is imported

At the top of the file, make sure useEffect is imported:

import { FC, useEffect } from 'react'

Step 3: Add the useEffect hook

In the wrapper component, add this code right after the hook call (useEmbeddedChatbot or useChatWithHistory):

// After the useEmbeddedChatbot() or useChatWithHistory() call
// Add this:
useEffect(() => {
  handleNewConversation()
}, []) // Empty array = runs only on mount

The handleNewConversation function will:

• Stop any ongoing chat
• Clear the conversation ID
• Reset inputs to defaults
• Clear the chat message list

Step 4: Rebuild/Restart

Development mode (recommended for testing):

cd web/
pnpm run dev

Changes apply automatically via hot module replacement - no restart needed!

Docker deployment:

docker-compose down
docker-compose up -d --build web

Step 5: Test

1. Clear browser cache and localStorage
2. Open the chat interface
3. Verify it starts with a fresh, empty conversation

This approach has been successfully used by other Dify users.

To reply, just mention @dosu.

---

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[bitifi2019]

@dosu I tried making this change, but it doesn't seem to have taken effect.

[dosubot[bot]]

The issue is likely a race condition. When handleNewConversation is called with an empty dependency array [], it runs before userId and conversationId are properly initialized, causing it to use stale values and fail silently.

Try this modified useEffect instead:

useEffect(() => {
  // Wait for initialization to complete
  if (currentConversationId !== undefined) {
    handleNewConversation()
  }
}, [currentConversationId])

Or if that still doesn't work, add a small delay:

useEffect(() => {
  const timer = setTimeout(() => {
    handleNewConversation()
  }, 100) // Small delay to let state initialize
  
  return () => clearTimeout(timer)
}, [])

Also verify:

1. Did you clear your browser's localStorage after making the change? Dify persists conversation state in localStorage - old data can override the reset
2. If using Docker, did you rebuild the container with docker-compose up -d --build web?
3. Clear browser cache with a hard refresh (Ctrl+Shift+R / Cmd+Shift+R)

Can you share which file you modified and the exact code you added? That would help me pinpoint the issue.

To reply, just mention @dosu.

---

Docs are dead. Just use Dosu.