One box
for everything.
Chat and agent work happen in the same place. What you pick under the message box decides who answers and how.
The chat box
Start a New chat and type. The row under the message box holds the choices for this chat:
| Choice | What it does |
|---|---|
| Who answers | Asyncat's own agent with the model you chose, or Claude Code, Codex or an ACP agent installed on this computer, signed in with your own account. Once a chat has messages, who answers stays fixed, because each one keeps its own memory of the chat. See Coding agents. |
| Model | The model for this chat. Picking one changes this chat only, so two chats can use different models at once. New chats start with the model you picked last. |
| Agent | One of your own agents, with its instructions, files and model, or No agent for Asyncat with its usual instructions. An agent with a model of its own answers with that model. See Projects & agents. |
| Tools | Auto uses agent tools when a project is open or the model supports them. Always use tools runs the agent for every message. Just chat talks to the model directly, without tools. |
| Project | A project's instructions and knowledge, and optionally one of its folders for the agent to work in. With No project, the chat can't use your files. |
| Mode | Plan uses read-only tools only. Action can change files and run commands, and asks before risky steps. Yolo is Action that approves every tool call itself. The mode is hidden when Tools is set to Just chat. |
The + button adds photos and files (files other than images need a project), turns on Voice mode, and sets the reasoning effort for models that reason. Where new chats start, in Plan, Action or the mode you used last, is set in Settings → General.
Temporary chats
For a chat you don't want to keep, press the dashed chat bubble at the top of a new chat. A temporary chat isn't saved, and Asyncat learns nothing from it: no memories and no skill suggestions. The only record is its token counts in Models → Usage.
- It always uses Asyncat's own agent. Claude Code, Codex and ACP agents keep their own history, so they aren't offered.
- A model you pick in it is for that temporary chat only.
- It ends when you leave it, or when you press the bubble again.
Search and pinned chats
Press Cmd/Ctrl+K from anywhere, or Search in the sidebar. Jump to a page, or search projects, notes, chats and memories. Chats are found by their name or by what was said in them. A chat found by its words shows the sentence around them, and opens scrolled to that message.
To keep a chat close, open its menu in the sidebar and choose Pin. It stays at the top under Pinned, and All chats lists pinned chats first. The same menu renames or deletes a chat.
Interactive answers
- Tables in answers sort by any column, filter their rows, and copy as CSV.
- Follow-up buttons at the end of an answer send the next message for you.
- Questions from the agent can come as a small form. Fill it in and press Send.
- Under each answer you can copy it, regenerate it, bookmark it, and rate it with a thumbs up (Good answer) or a thumbs down (Not a good answer).
Answers you rate as good can later teach a local model your style. See Training. When speaking is set up, answers also get a Read aloud player. See Voice & images.
Quick ask
Quick ask is a small window over any app, in your theme. Open it with Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+Space, or click the Asyncat icon in the system tray (on Linux, choose it from the tray menu). Ask, and the answer streams in right there, on your default model. Each conversation is saved as a normal chat.
| Key | In Quick ask |
|---|---|
Enter | Send. Shift+Enter starts a new line. |
Up / Down | Bring back an earlier question. |
Cmd/Ctrl+Enter | Open the chat in Asyncat. |
Cmd/Ctrl+N | Start a new chat. |
Esc | Stop the answer while it is coming, otherwise hide the window. |
Open it again within ten minutes and you carry on the same chat. After that it starts a new one. Change or turn off the shortcut in Settings → Shortcuts.
Global shortcuts may not reach apps on Wayland. Bind a key to Asyncat with --quick-ask in your desktop's keyboard settings instead. Settings → Shortcuts shows the exact command.
Keyboard shortcuts
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+A | Show or hide Asyncat, from any app |
Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+Space | Quick ask, from any app |
Cmd/Ctrl+K | Search |
Cmd/Ctrl+N | New chat |
Cmd/Ctrl+, | Settings |
Cmd/Ctrl+1 | Chat |
Cmd/Ctrl+2 | All chats |
Cmd/Ctrl+3 | Projects |
Cmd/Ctrl+4 | Cats |
Cmd/Ctrl+5 | Models |
Cmd/Ctrl+6 | Tools & Skills |
Cmd/Ctrl+8 | Agents |
Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+R | Restart the backend |
Cmd/Ctrl+R | Reload the window |
You can change these in Settings → Shortcuts. The two that work from any app can also be turned off there.
Bring your chats
Asyncat can import a ChatGPT or Claude data export, so you can pick up where you left off. You'll find it in Settings → Privacy & safety under Your data, and in the first-run setup.
- Ask for a copy of your data. In ChatGPT: Settings → Data controls → Export. In Claude: Settings → Privacy → Export data.
- In Asyncat, press Pick the export and choose the
.zipfile you were emailed. - Check how many chats and messages it found, then press Bring them over.
Chats keep their titles and dates. Ones you brought over before are skipped. When the export holds memories, you can add them too. Since memories aren't always in an export, Paste memories from ChatGPT lets you paste them in, one per line.