Basic Usage

Opening the Chat Panel

You can open the Agent Console chat panel in two ways:

• Ribbon Icon: Click the robot icon in the left ribbon

• Command Palette: Open the command palette (Cmd/Ctrl + P) and search for "Open chat"

The chat panel opens in the right sidebar.

Sending Messages

1. Type your message in the input field at the bottom
2. Press Enter or click the send button
3. Wait for the agent's response

Sending Images and Files

You can attach images and files to your messages by pasting or dragging and dropping.

1. Paste: Copy a file or image and paste (Cmd/Ctrl + V) in the input field
2. Drag and Drop: Drag files directly onto the input area

Attached files appear as thumbnails or file icons below the text area. Click the × to remove.

TIP

Embedding images requires agent support. Non-image files are always sent as file path references.

See Sending Images and Files for more details.

Switching Agents

To switch agents for the current view:

1. Click the ⋮ (ellipsis) menu in the chat header
2. Under "Switch agent", select the agent you want to use

This is a one-time change for that view only.

TIP

To change the default agent for new chat views, go to Settings → Agent Console → Default agent.

Multiple Chat Views

You can open multiple chat views to run independent conversations simultaneously. Each view has its own agent process and session.

See Tabbed Sessions for details on:

• Opening multiple views
• Broadcast commands
• Focus navigation

Changing Models and Modes

Below the input field, you'll find dropdowns to:

• Change Model: Switch between different AI models (e.g., Sonnet, Haiku for Claude)
• Change Mode: Switch agent modes (e.g., Plan Mode)

TIP

Available models and modes depend on the active agent.

Starting a New Chat

Click the + button in the tab bar to open a new tab with a fresh conversation, or run New chat from the command palette. The previous chat can optionally be exported (see Settings).

Reloading a Session

The header ↻ Reload button reloads the current session under a fresh agent process — the agent restarts and its MCP servers reload, mirroring a browser's refresh. Shift-click to Restart with a fresh, empty session instead. See Reloading a session for Reload vs. Restart.

Stopping Generation

If the agent is generating a response and you want to stop it, click the Stop button that appears during generation.

Reduced Motion

Want a calmer interface? Agent Console follows your system's reduced-motion setting.

Turn it on and three things stop moving: the spinning tab icon, the dots that show the agent is working, and the reload spinner. You can still tell when the agent is busy. The dots simply hold steady in the accent color instead of pulsing.

Where the setting lives:

• macOS — System Settings → Accessibility → Display → Reduce motion. Newer versions list it under Accessibility → Motion.
• Windows — Settings → Accessibility → Visual effects → Animation effects.
• Linux — your desktop environment's animation setting.