Installation

The docs site assumes you are working with the SessionDock desktop app running on the same machine as your integration.

Enable the Local API

1. Open SessionDock on macOS or Windows.
2. Go to Settings and enable the Local API.
3. Choose the mode you need: read-only or full-automation.
4. Copy the generated bearer token.

Default local endpoints

• API base URL: http://127.0.0.1:18432/api/v1
• Runtime docs endpoint: http://127.0.0.1:18432/docs
• Runtime OpenAPI endpoint: http://127.0.0.1:18432/openapi.json

Recommended shell environment

export SESSIONDOCK_BASE_URL="http://127.0.0.1:18432/api/v1"
export SESSIONDOCK_TOKEN="paste-your-token-here"

Verify the connection

curl \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $SESSIONDOCK_TOKEN" \
  "$SESSIONDOCK_BASE_URL/health"

If your token and mode are valid, the response should include:

• configured mode
• effective mode
• running state
• base URL
• request count

When to use read-only versus full automation

• Use read-only for dashboards, assistants, search tools, metadata viewers, and preview browsers.
• Use full-automation for create, update, delete, import, open, and focus workflows.

Shell example

curl \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $SESSIONDOCK_TOKEN" \
  "$SESSIONDOCK_BASE_URL/sessions?recent=true&limit=5"

JavaScript example

const response = await fetch(`${process.env.SESSIONDOCK_BASE_URL}/sessions?recent=true&limit=5`, {
  headers: {
    Authorization: `Bearer ${process.env.SESSIONDOCK_TOKEN}`,
  },
});

const payload = await response.json();
console.log(payload.data);

Next steps

Continue with Authentication if you need to understand bearer token handling and the difference between configured mode and effective mode.