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

# Get Messages

> Retrieve raw conversation messages (not extracted memories)

The `get_messages()` method retrieves the original conversation messages stored via `add()`. Unlike `get()` which returns extracted memory records, this returns the raw user/assistant message pairs.

## Basic Usage

```python theme={null}
from lyzr import Cognis

cog = Cognis()

messages = cog.get_messages(
    owner_id="user_alice",
    session_id="sess_001",
)
for msg in messages.get("messages", []):
    print(f"[{msg['role']}] {msg['content']}")
```

## Parameters

| Parameter       | Type   | Default | Description                          |
| --------------- | ------ | ------- | ------------------------------------ |
| `owner_id`      | `str`  | None    | User/tenant scope                    |
| `session_id`    | `str`  | None    | Session scope                        |
| `agent_id`      | `str`  | None    | Agent scope                          |
| `limit`         | `int`  | None    | Max messages to return               |
| `latest`        | `bool` | `False` | Return only the most recent messages |
| `cross_session` | `bool` | `False` | Include messages from all sessions   |

## Use Cases

**Conversation replay** — Show a user their previous conversation:

```python theme={null}
messages = cog.get_messages(
    owner_id="user_alice",
    session_id="sess_001",
    limit=50,
)
```

**Latest context** — Get the most recent messages for prompt injection:

```python theme={null}
messages = cog.get_messages(
    owner_id="user_alice",
    session_id="sess_001",
    latest=True,
    limit=10,
)
```

**Cross-session history** — Pull messages from all sessions:

```python theme={null}
messages = cog.get_messages(
    owner_id="user_alice",
    cross_session=True,
    limit=100,
)
```

## Async

```python theme={null}
messages = await cog.aget_messages(owner_id="user_alice", session_id="sess_001")
```

<Note>
  `get_messages()` is hosted-only. In the open-source `lyzr-cognis` package, raw messages are stored in SQLite and accessible via `get_context()` as part of the short-term memory.
</Note>