> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.instructorphp.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Tell harness durable conversation

## Overview

Durable work is explicit. Initialize a project-local workspace, select a named
conversation, and use the conversation handle for sending turns and inspecting
its canonical history. The harness returns bounded SDK DTOs rather than arena
or canonical storage records.

## Example

```php theme={null}
<?php
require 'examples/boot.php';
require_once dirname(__DIR__).'/Support.php';

use Cognesy\Tell\Tell;
use Cognesy\Tell\TellRequest;

$project = TellHarnessExample::project();

try {
    $tell = Tell::open($project);
    $workspace = $tell->workspace()->initialize();
    $review = $tell->conversation('release-review');

    $result = $review->send(
        TellRequest::prompt('Record one concise release-readiness recommendation.'),
    );
    $history = $review->history(limit: 10);
    $transcript = $review->transcript();
    $context = $review->context();

    echo "=== Workspace ===\n";
    echo "Root: {$workspace->root}\n";
    echo 'Created: '.($workspace->created ? 'yes' : 'no')."\n";
    echo 'Conversation: '.$history->selector['name']."\n";
    echo 'Turns: '.count($history->turns)."\n";
    echo 'Messages: '.count($transcript->messages)."\n";
    $messageCount = $context->details['compiled']['messageCount'] ?? 'unknown';
    echo 'Compiled messages: '.$messageCount."\n";

    assert($result->isDurable(), 'Conversation sends must be durable.');
    assert(
        $result->session() === 'release-review',
        'Expected the selected conversation name.',
    );
    assert(count($history->turns) === 1, 'Expected one published durable turn.');
} finally {
    TellHarnessExample::remove($project);
}
```

## Key Points

* `initialize()` is idempotent and creates a local `.tell/arena` only for this
  project.
* `history()`, `transcript()`, and `context()` are read-only and do not invoke
  inference.
* A named Tell conversation is a durable selector, not an in-memory chat object.