AI Chat

Omnilib's AI chat is a conversation interface connected directly to your project. The AI can read your files, run tools, and take action — not just answer questions. Every conversation is project-aware, and a persistent memory layer gives the AI context across sessions.

Opening AI Chat

Press Cmd+Shift+A (Windows: Ctrl+Shift+A) to open the AI chat panel, or click the chat icon in the left sidebar.

Sending Messages

Type in the input field at the bottom of the chat panel:

• Press Enter to send
• Press Shift+Enter to add a line break without sending

When the AI is generating a response, a cancel button appears. Click it to stop generation mid-stream.

Mentioning Files and Folders

Type @ followed by a file or folder name to include it as context:

What does @api/auth.ts do?

Summarize everything in the @papers/ folder

A picker appears as you type — select from matching files and folders. The AI reads the referenced content before responding.

You can also attach files by clicking the attachment button in the input toolbar.

Thinking Bubbles

When the AI reasons through a complex problem, a collapsible thinking bubble appears above the response. Click it to expand and read the reasoning, or collapse it to keep the conversation compact. The elapsed thinking time appears on the bubble label.

Chat Timeline

Each conversation is a scrollable timeline of interleaved elements:

• Your messages — With hover controls to copy or edit
• AI responses — Streaming text rendered in real time
• Tool execution badges — Inline records of every action the AI took

Tool Execution Badges

When the AI uses a tool in Agent mode, a badge appears in the timeline showing:

• The tool name (e.g., "Read file", "Edit file", "Run bash")
• A status indicator (running spinner → success checkmark or error icon)
• An expand button to view an inline diff of changes

Expand a file-write or file-edit badge to see exactly what changed. Click Accept to apply the change or Reject to discard it.

Agent Behaviors

Behaviors shape the AI's focus and tone. Select a behavior from the dropdown in the chat input area:

You can also create custom behaviors with your own system prompt. See Agent Behaviors for details.

Model Selector

Select your AI model from the dropdown in the chat input area. You can configure whether the selector appears in the chat input or only in Settings by going to Settings > AI.

Omnilib connects to three provider types:

• OpenRouter — Free-tier and paid cloud models
• GitHub Copilot — Models fetched dynamically after OAuth connection
• Ollama — Local models running on your machine (desktop only)

See Models for the full list and provider setup.

Editing and Copying Messages

Hover over any of your sent messages to reveal two buttons:

• Edit — Modify the message and resend. The conversation is truncated from that point and the AI regenerates its response.
• Copy — Copy the message text to the clipboard.

Followup Suggestions

After an AI response, the chat input field shows a suggested followup question as placeholder text. Press Tab to accept it and send, or type your own message.

Chat History

Open the chat history modal by clicking the history icon in the chat header. Previous conversations are listed by date and topic. Click any conversation to load it. Starting a new chat does not delete old ones — they remain in history.

File Attachments

Attach files to a message two ways:

• Click the attachment button in the input toolbar and select files
• Type @filename to reference a file from your project

Attached files are included in the message context for that turn.

Keyboard Shortcuts

Related

• AI Modes — Chat, Agent, and Plan mode explained
• Agent Behaviors — Configure AI focus and tone
• Models — Choose and configure AI models
• Floating Assistant — AI chat accessible from anywhere