Chat & Modes

Chat modes

Three buttons at the top of the composer control what the model is allowed to do with your message:

Plan (default) — a plain conversation. The model can read your question and any context you bring in, and answer in prose or code snippets, but it cannot touch your files or run anything. Good for questions, explanations, and discussing an approach before committing to changes.
Edit — the model can read and write files directly (create files, make find/replace edits, batch multiple edits into one file), but has no access to a terminal and can’t run commands. Good for scoped, file-only changes where you don’t want a stray shell command.
Agent — the full autonomous loop: everything Edit mode can do, plus running terminal commands, viewing your git diff, and (if you’ve configured any) calling MCP server tools. See The Agent.

Working with chat

Sessions. The + button in the chat panel starts a new, named chat session; your previous sessions are preserved and you can switch between them. History for each session persists across restarts.
Code blocks. Every code block the model writes gets three buttons: Copy (clipboard), Insert (drops it at your cursor in the active editor), and Apply (applies it as an edit to the file it names, if it names one).
Edit & resend / Regenerate. Hover your own last message to edit its text and resend it. Hover the model’s last reply to regenerate it (ask again with the same prompt).
Slash commands. Typing /explain, /fix, /tests, /comments, or /refactor at the start of a message expands it into a full prompt for that quick action before sending — the same five actions available via right-click on a selection.

Your own slash commands

.xpreiIDE/prompts/*.md files at your workspace root become your own slash commands: review.md becomes /review, expanding exactly like the built-ins. Typed text after the command is appended to the file’s content (/review check for race conditions sends the file plus that extra line). Built-in commands win name collisions. Edits require reopening the chat panel to pick up — no file watcher in this version.

Project rules

.xpreiIDErules — plain text at your workspace root, injected into every chat/edit/agent prompt as extra project-specific instructions.
.xpreiIDE/rules/*.md — modular rule files, one concern per file. Optional frontmatter scopes a rule to matching files:
```
---
globs: *.tsx, src/components/**
---
Use functional React components. Style with Tailwind only.
```
No frontmatter (or no globs: line) means the rule always applies. A rule with globs: applies only when the active editor’s file matches. Merge order: .xpreiIDErules first, then applicable rule files in filename order.