Chat
The chat overlay is the daily driver. Press ⌘; from anywhere on your Mac, ask a question, dismiss it, get back to what you were doing. No browser tab, no context switch.
This page covers the chat overlay, multi-window mode, sessions, and every keyboard shortcut.
Opening chat
| What you want | How |
|---|---|
| Open the chat overlay | ⌘; |
| Dismiss the overlay | ⌘; again, or Esc, or click outside |
| Open a new chat window | ⌘ N |
| Open the Management window | ⌘ ⇧ M (or Settings…, ⌘ ,, from the menu bar icon) |
The hotkey is configurable: Settings → General → Global Hotkey if ⌘; collides with another app.
Anatomy of a chat
| Element | What it does |
|---|---|
| Input bar | Type or paste your message. Enter to send, Shift + Enter for a new line. |
| Folder picker | Click to point this chat at a working folder. Gives the agent file/search/git tools scoped to that folder. See Tasks. |
| Sandbox toggle | Gives the agent shell access in an isolated environment — a Linux VM on macOS 26+, a Seatbelt-confined runner on earlier macOS. See Sandbox Internals. |
| Microphone | Click for voice input. Transcription Mode has its own configurable hotkey for typing into any app. |
| Model selector | Switch between local models, Apple Foundation, and any cloud providers you've connected. Reasoning-capable models get a Thinking control here — your choice sticks for the whole task, including tool-calling turns. |
| Agent selector | Switch the active agent. Theme, prompt, and memory swap with it. |
Get things done
When you ask the AI to do something — not just explain something — it writes a plan, calls tools to do the actual work, and shows you a verified summary at the end. You watch the to-do list tick off as it goes; it pauses to ask only when a question genuinely changes the outcome.
While it works, consecutive thinking and tool activity is grouped into a single expandable row — you see one compact "what it's doing" line, and can expand it for the step-by-step detail.
Two power-ups on the input bar give the agent more capability per chat:
- Working folder — point at a folder to get scoped file, search, and git tools
- Sandbox — toggle on for shell access in an isolated environment
You can use either one, or both together: with both on, the agent reads your folder on the host and does all execution in the sandbox — the folder is exposed read-only by default (a per-agent Edit Folder Files permission can allow tracked, undoable edits), and sandboxed code can never touch it directly.
Sessions
Conversations are saved automatically. There's nothing to "save" — you'll find every chat in the sidebar.
The sidebar
Click the history icon (or use the sidebar toggle) to see your sessions, ordered by most recent.
Each session shows:
- A short title — generated by the model once the conversation has substance, so "Fix the CI flake in auth tests" instead of a truncated first message. You can turn model-generated titles off in Chat settings.
- A source badge —
chat(you),plugin,http,schedule, orwatcher— so you can see at a glance what kicked off the conversation - Estimated token usage
The badge filter rail across the top lets you narrow by source. It hides itself when only one source is present.
Pinning, searching, deleting
| Action | How |
|---|---|
| Pin a chat to the top | Right-click → Pin — pinned chats stay above the recency-ordered list |
| Search | Type in the search field at the top of the sidebar |
| Select several chats | ⌘-click to multi-select, then archive or delete them in one action |
| Delete a session | Right-click → Delete |
| Clear current chat | Type /clear in the input bar |
| Wipe everything | Delete sessions from the sidebar, or Settings → General → Factory Reset (removes all app data) |
Wiping is irreversible. Use Settings → Storage → Export plaintext backup first if you want to keep them. Storage details →
Resuming a session
Click any session in the sidebar to load it in the current window. Right-click → Open in New Window to keep your current chat untouched.
Multi-window
Press ⌘ N to open a new chat window. Each window is fully independent:
- Separate conversation
- Separate active agent (with its own theme)
- Separate model selection
- Separate working folder / Sandbox state
Useful patterns:
| Window 1 | Window 2 | Window 3 |
|---|---|---|
Code Assistant on ~/projects/api | Research Helper | Creative Writer |
| Sandbox toggle on for build/test | Browsing the web | Drafting a post |
Pin to top
Click the pin icon in the title bar to keep a window floating above all other apps. Useful for a reference conversation while you code, or watching a long-running agent task.
Window management
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
⌘ N | New window |
⌘ W | Close current window |
| Drag titlebar | Move |
| Drag corner | Resize |
Closing a window doesn't delete the session — you can reopen it from the sidebar of any window.
Voice input
Click the microphone in the input bar to dictate your next message. All transcription is on-device via FluidAudio on the Apple Neural Engine — nothing leaves your Mac.
Two related features that are not in the chat overlay:
- VAD (wake-word) — say a phrase like "Hey Osaurus" or your agent's name to open chat hands-free.
- Transcription Mode — global hotkey that types into any focused text field, anywhere on your Mac.
Markdown, code, copy
Responses are rendered with full Markdown:
- Code blocks with syntax highlighting
- Headings, lists, tables
- Inline code, bold, italics
- Clickable links
Hover over any message to reveal a copy button.
If a response is heading the wrong direction, click Stop to interrupt streaming, edit your prompt, and try again.
Chat settings
Generation settings — system prompt, temperature, max tokens — live in the Management window under Chat. Per-agent overrides live in the agent's settings (Management → Agents). Agents →
Menu bar icon
The Osaurus menu bar icon stays out of your way. Click it to:
- Start/stop the server
- Open the Management window (Settings…,
⌘ ,) - See server status
- Toggle VAD listening on/off
A small dot on the icon means VAD is on:
| Dot | What it means |
|---|---|
| Blue, pulsing | VAD is listening for wake words |
| Orange | VAD is processing audio |
| None | VAD is off |
Complete keyboard shortcut reference
Global
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
⌘; | Toggle chat overlay |
⌘ ⇧ M | Open Management window |
| (custom) | Transcription Mode (set in Voice settings) |
| (custom) | VAD wake phrase (set in Voice settings) |
Chat window
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
⌘ N | New window |
⌘ W | Close current window |
Enter | Send message |
Shift + Enter | New line |
Esc | Dismiss the overlay |
/clear | Clear current conversation (slash command) |
Management window
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
⌘ , | Open application Settings |
⌘ W | Close window |
Text editing
Standard macOS shortcuts (⌘ A, ⌘ C, ⌘ V, ⌘ X, ⌘ Z, ⌘ ⇧ Z) work in every input field.
Customizing hotkeys
⌘; and the Transcription Mode hotkey are remappable. See Settings → General and Voice → Transcription.
Supported modifiers: ⌘ Command, ⌥ Option, ⌃ Control, ⇧ Shift. Combine with any letter, number, or function key.
Related:
- Tasks — what happens when you point a chat at a folder or toggle sandbox
- Agents — specialized assistants per task
- Voice Input — dictation, wake words, global transcription
- Themes — make the overlay yours