# Multiple sessions

Isolate authentication and state across concurrent sessions with the SurrealDB Kotlin SDK.

A single WebSocket connection can host multiple independent **sessions**, each with its own authentication, namespace, database, and parameters. This is useful for multi-tenant applications where requests act on behalf of different users over one shared connection. The [`SurrealClient`](/docs/reference/kotlin/api/core/surreal-client.md) is itself the root session.

> [!NOTE]
> Multiple sessions require a stateful connection and are only available over the **WebSocket** transport. Check support with [`client.supports(SurrealFeature.Sessions)`](/docs/reference/kotlin/api/core/surreal-client.md#supports).

## API references

<table>
	<thead>
		<tr>
			<th scope="col">Method</th>
			<th scope="col">Description</th>
		</tr>
	</thead>
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<td scope="row" data-label="Method"><a href="/docs/reference/kotlin/api/core/surreal-client.md#new-session"><code>client.newSession()</code></a></td>
			<td scope="row" data-label="Description">Creates a new isolated session</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td scope="row" data-label="Method"><a href="/docs/reference/kotlin/api/core/surreal-client.md#close-session"><code>client.closeSession(session)</code></a></td>
			<td scope="row" data-label="Description">Closes a session</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

## Creating sessions

Each session created with [`.newSession()`](/docs/reference/kotlin/api/core/surreal-client.md#new-session) is a [`SurrealSession`](/docs/reference/kotlin/api/core/session.md) that exposes the same querying and authentication API as the client, but with isolated state.

```kotlin
import kotlinx.serialization.json.buildJsonObject
import kotlinx.serialization.json.put

val tenantA = client.newSession()
val tenantB = client.newSession()

tenantA.signin(buildJsonObject { put("user", "a"); put("pass", "a") })
tenantA.use("acme", "main")

tenantB.signin(buildJsonObject { put("user", "b"); put("pass", "b") })
tenantB.use("globex", "main")

// Each query runs as its own authenticated tenant, isolated from the other.
val aPeople = tenantA.query("SELECT * FROM person")
val bPeople = tenantB.query("SELECT * FROM person")
```

## Closing sessions

Close a session with [`.closeSession()`](/docs/reference/kotlin/api/core/surreal-client.md#close-session) when you no longer need it. This does not close the underlying connection.

```kotlin
client.closeSession(tenantA)
```

## Learn more

- [Session reference](/docs/reference/kotlin/api/core/session.md) for the session API
- [Authentication](/docs/reference/kotlin/concepts/authentication.md) for per-session credentials
- [Transactions](/docs/reference/kotlin/concepts/transactions.md) - transactions run within a session