Chat with agents
A one-to-one conversation with an agent that only you can see. The agent starts with no issue context and doesn't create issues on its own; when you explicitly ask, it acts with your workspace access.
Chat fits work that hasn't become a clear issue yet: sorting out ideas, checking on the workspace, discussing an approach, asking a question that doesn't belong to any issue, or having an agent finish a small task first.
Chat is a one-to-one conversation between you and an agent, off the issue board. The whole conversation is fully private: nobody else in the workspace, admins included, can see it.
A chat is not bound to any issue. The agent isn't watching your board, doesn't automatically receive an issue's description and comments, and won't turn the conversation into issues on its own. It can still use the Multica CLI to query workspaces, projects, issues, and skills within its permissions, and when you explicitly ask, it acts with your workspace access, for example to create an issue.
A chat can also carry background. Click + at the bottom left of the input and choose Project context to attach a project to the conversation; when the agent runs, it receives that project's description, repositories, and other resources.
Start a conversation
Open Chat in the sidebar.
Click new and pick an agent you have permission to run.
Type a message; you can also attach images or files.
After you send, Multica creates a run for the message, and the reply comes back to the current conversation.
If the runtime is offline, the message waits until it comes back online. Once the agent is archived, or you lose permission to run it, you can't send new messages.
Before the first message, Chat shows up to three suggestions configured for the selected agent. Selecting one only fills the composer with its full prompt; nothing is sent, so you can edit it first. Agents without configured suggestions show general-purpose examples.
After the agent replies, it sometimes offers Follow-up questions below the reply. Clicking one sends it right away.
Handles office and operations chores: checks progress, plans schedules, files issues.
Chat from any page
You don't have to leave the page you're on to chat. Workspace pages have a round chat button in the bottom-right corner (its tooltip reads "Ask Multica"), which opens a floating chat window. The window and the Chat page share the same conversations, so you can pick up a chat from either one.
- Press
⌘J(Ctrl+Jon Windows and Linux) to open or close the floating window; opening it puts the cursor in the message input. The key works while you're typing in that input, too. You can rebind it under Settings → Shortcuts; see Search, shortcuts, and preferences. - Drag the window's edges to resize it, or expand or minimize it. While an agent is replying, the closed chat button pulses gently.
- The Chat page itself doesn't show the button, and
⌘Jdoes nothing there: the page already shows the same conversation.
If you don't want the floating window, turn off Floating chat window under Settings → Preferences → Comments & chat. Chat is then reachable only from the sidebar. The switch applies to the current device only.
Chat vs. issues
| Need | Better fit |
|---|---|
| Quick questions, exploring an approach, or private drafts | Chat |
| A clear assignee, status, priority, and deliverable | Issue |
| Letting teammates see the background and continue the discussion | Issue |
| A quick look at workspace information with no work record needed | Chat |
Direct chats created in Multica can be read only by their creator, not by other members or admins. Put conclusions the team needs to see into an issue, a project description, or a skill.
Multi-turn context
A conversation tries to continue the original session in the AI coding tool, so later messages don't need to repeat earlier content. Multica stores the session ID and routes subsequent runs to a runtime that can access that session.
If the local session no longer exists, the context can't be continued, or the previous error shouldn't be reused, the runtime starts from a fresh session. The conversation's message history is kept either way.
Watch and stop a run
While the agent runs, the UI shows the current phase and tool activity. Expand View details to inspect the run in full.
To interrupt, click the stop button next to the input (shown while the input is empty). Content already returned to the conversation is kept.
If the agent hadn't produced anything yet, the message you just sent is taken back out of the conversation and returned to the input, attachments included, so you can edit and resend it. Stopping sometimes takes a moment to finish; refreshing the page or closing the window in the meantime doesn't lose the message, and it comes back to the input the next time you open that conversation. If the input already holds another draft, the message waits until you clear it.
Send messages while a reply is in progress
You can keep typing while the agent is still replying. Once the input has content, the send button becomes Queue message. Queued messages don't interrupt the current reply; they wait in a queue above the input and are handled in order after the reply ends.
| Action | Result |
|---|---|
| Steer | Moves this message to the front and stops the current reply. What the agent already wrote stays in the conversation, and it handles this message next. |
| Remove (trash icon) | Takes the message out of the queue; it is never sent to the agent. |
| ⋯ → Edit queued message | Puts the message and its attachments back in the input so you can change it and send it again. |
| ⋯ → Clear all | Withdraws every queued message. The current reply keeps going. |
Steer is unavailable until the current reply has actually started (for example, while it still waits for a runtime to pick it up), and after you lose permission to run the agent.
Steer here stops the current reply first. Add to current run in issue comments works differently: it doesn't interrupt the run, and the agent reads the message after its current step and carries on with the original task.
Organize the conversation list
Conversations can be renamed, pinned, archived, and deleted:
- Pin keeps frequently used conversations at the top of the list;
- Archive moves a conversation to Archived and makes it read-only;
- Unarchive lets you send messages again;
- Delete permanently removes the conversation and its messages.
If a conversation is bound to an external channel (such as Slack), archiving breaks the binding; unarchiving does not restore it — bind again.
Deleting a conversation cannot be undone and stops any runs in it that haven't finished. Archive instead when you just don't need it for now.
Next steps
- Assign issues to agents — turn a discussion into trackable work.
- Inbox and subscriptions — follow team activity that needs you.
- Search, shortcuts, and preferences — open chat, search, and move between pages from the keyboard.
- Providers matrix — session and model capabilities per AI coding tool.