Chat
Chat is the project-scoped conversation surface. It is meant for exploration, planning, follow-up, and turning natural language into executable work without leaving the selected project.
What Users Do
Open Chat from the Workspace section of the sidebar. Pick the project first, then use the chat input to ask questions, plan changes, attach files, or orchestrate work.
| UI Capability | What It Enables |
|---|---|
| Project-scoped messages | Keep conversation grounded in the selected project. |
| Model and agent controls | Choose Auto, the default model, or a specific configured agent/model when available. |
| Chat modes | Choose Orchestrate when you want OpenVibely to take action, or Plan when you want safer planning and analysis first. |
| Attachments | Add files as extra context for the conversation. |
| Streaming responses | Watch answers arrive live instead of waiting for a full page refresh. |
| Clear history | Reset the conversation for the selected project when needed. |
Plan And Orchestrate Modes
The chat input includes a mode selector with two options. OpenVibely defaults to Orchestrate when no mode is selected, and the selected mode is remembered per project in the browser.
| Mode | Use It When | Behavior |
|---|---|---|
Orchestrate | You want Chat to help create, inspect, or coordinate real project work. | Enables action-oriented chat tools such as creating and managing tasks, reading project state, and coordinating workflow actions. |
Plan | You want to think through an approach before anything is created or changed. | Keeps the conversation planning-oriented and limits action tools so the assistant can analyze, propose steps, and refine the plan first. |
A good default workflow is to start in Plan for vague or risky work, then switch to Orchestrate when the next task is clear.
When To Use Chat
Use Chat when the task is not fully formed yet. Good examples include asking what changed in a project, breaking a vague goal into tasks, comparing implementation options, or asking OpenVibely to create follow-up work from a discussion.
Use Tasks instead when you already know the exact unit of work and want board state, scheduling, run/cancel controls, worktree review, chaining, or pull request actions.
Typical Flow
1. Select the project in the sidebar.
2. Open Chat.
3. Pick Plan or Orchestrate from the chat input controls.
4. Ask a question or describe the goal.
5. Attach files if they help explain the request.
6. Use the response to continue planning, create tasks, or inspect existing project work.
Related Pages
| Page | Why It Matters |
|---|---|
| Tasks | Chat can lead into executable task work. |
| Attachments | Files can be attached to chat and task context. |
| Agents | Agents define reusable behavior for execution and orchestration. |