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

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 (macOS 26+)	Gives the agent shell access in an isolated Linux VM.
Microphone	Click for voice input. Long-press the global hotkey for Transcription Mode into any app.
Model selector	Switch between local models, Apple Foundation, and any cloud providers you've connected.
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.

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 (macOS 26+) — toggle on for shell access in an isolated Linux VM

Pick one or the other; they're mutually exclusive per chat.

Tasks →

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 auto-generated title (from the first message)
• A source badge — chat (you), plugin, http, schedule, or watcher — 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.

Searching, deleting, clearing

Action	How
Search	Type in the search field at the top of the sidebar
Delete a session	Right-click → Delete
Clear current chat	⌘ K
Wipe everything	Settings → Storage → Clear chat history

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
`⌘ ``	Cycle between Osaurus windows
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.

Full voice guide →

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.

Settings inside the overlay

Click the gear icon in the chat header for the most-used per-session settings:

Setting	What it does
System prompt	Default instructions sent with every message in this session
Temperature	0.0 (focused) → 1.0 (creative)
Max tokens	Cap on the response length
Stream responses	On by default; flip off if you want to wait for the whole response at once

Per-agent versions of these 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 (⌘ ⇧ M)
• 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
`⌘ ``	Cycle between Osaurus windows
Enter	Send message
Shift + Enter	New line
Esc	Dismiss the overlay
⌘ K	Clear current conversation

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.

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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