Ask vs Agent modes
Choose plain chat (Ask) or tool-enabled coding assistant (Agent).
The composer mode picker switches between:
| Mode | Behavior |
|---|---|
| Ask | Plain conversation — no MCP tools, no sandbox coding tools |
| Agent | Tools enabled (connections you turn on) + attached-repo coding when a repo is bound |
Cycle modes with Shift+Tab. Preference is persisted as brain.chatMode (default Agent).
When to use Ask
- Summaries, drafting, Q&A without touching external apps
- Avoid accidental tool calls or write approvals
When to use Agent
- Slack / GitHub / Notion / … via connections
- Code changes against an attached repo
Write tools (create/update issues, messages, etc.) may ask for human approval in the stream before executing.