> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.gymart.org/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.gymart.org/scheduling/session-management.md).

# Session management

Sessions are the backbone of your meet schedule. Each session is a block of time where a group of gymnasts competes together in your venue. You use sessions to organize who competes when, what apparatus they rotate through, and how the day flows from warmup to awards.

## What sessions do

A session serves two purposes:

1. **Gymnast organization.** You add gymnasts through their competition subdivisions and assign them to squads (their starting positions on each apparatus).
2. **Timeline management.** You define the competition schedule -- warmup times, rotation times, breaks, and awards.

{% hint style="info" %}
**Flexible scheduling.** You can combine multiple competition levels and age groups into a single session. Sessions can also overlap in time, which is useful for large meets with multiple gyms or areas running at once.
{% endhint %}

{% hint style="success" %}
**Auto-assignment available.** Gym Art Meets includes a squad generation tool that distributes gymnasts across rotations while respecting team affiliations and skill levels. It handles the hard part so you can focus on fine-tuning.

For details, see: [Squad Generation](/scheduling/squad-generation.md)
{% endhint %}

## Creating a session

1. Go to your meet dashboard and click **Sessions** in the sidebar.
2. Click the **Create session** button.
3. Fill in the session details:
   * **Session Name** -- something descriptive like "Session 2 - Saturday PM"
   * **Description** -- optional notes
   * **Date** -- pick a day within your meet's date range
   * **Timeline** -- choose from a template or build your own (the start time is set by the first timeline section)
4. **Add competitions.** Competitions are subdivisions of age groups from your configured levels. Each level and age group combination creates a competition subdivision. Select the ones that belong in this session, and the gymnasts from those competitions are pulled in automatically.

{% hint style="info" %}
**Where do competitions come from?** They are generated from the levels and age groups you set up in your meet configuration. For details, see: [Competitions, age groups, and subdivisions](/competitions/index.md)
{% endhint %}

## The session list

The Sessions page shows all your sessions in a card-based grid. Each card displays the session name, date and time, rotations, timeline summary, participating clubs, and competition levels.

**What you can do from the list:**

* Click anywhere on a session card's header to open the session dashboard
* Use the shortcut tiles at the bottom of each card to jump directly to Competitions, Rotations, Timeline, or Settings
* To **delete** a session, select it using the checkbox and use the delete button in the filter toolbar

**Filtering options:** search by name, filter by status (upcoming or past), filter by level, or filter by day.

## The session dashboard

The session dashboard is a navigation hub. From here you can reach all parts of the session:

* **Competitions** -- manage which competitions and gymnasts are in the session
* **Rotations** -- organize squads and apparatus assignments
* **Timeline** -- build and adjust the competition schedule
* **Settings** -- update session details, score display options, and more
* **Projector Display** -- control what shows on the venue screen
* **Music** -- manage music cues for the session

Action shortcuts on the dashboard let you generate judge QR codes, export starting positions, and print score entry sheets.

## What's next

* [Manage the gymnast list](/scheduling/session-gymnast-list.md) -- see who is in the session and manage competitions
* [Organize squads](/scheduling/squad-list.md) -- create rotation groups and assign apparatus starting positions
* [Build the timeline](/scheduling/session-timeline.md) -- set detailed competition schedules

## Related

* [Create a session](/scheduling/create-a-session.md)
* [Squad generation](/scheduling/squad-generation.md)
* [Scheduling overview](/scheduling/index.md)