> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.collivo.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# AI Chat Basics: Start, Manage & Navigate Chats

> Start chats, keep them in context, and manage your conversation with the AI.

The chat pane on the right is where you work with the AI. Your **current working folder** helps scope the conversation to the files and context around the task in front of you. Use chat to summarize, draft, analyze, and carry work forward with the AI as a teammate.

## Start a chat

* <Icon icon="message-square-plus" color="#1F7A5A" /> **New Chat** — the button in the chat header starts a fresh conversation in your **current working folder**. If your current working folder is the project root, the new chat starts at the project root.
* <Icon icon="message-square-plus" color="#1F7A5A" /> **Start a chat in a folder** — select a folder in the **Files** pane and choose **Start chat in this folder** (or use the folder's More options menu <Icon icon="ellipsis" color="#1F7A5A" /> → **New chat**). That folder becomes the chat's working folder, so the AI focuses on its contents. This is how you point the AI at one part of the project — see [how the AI's view works](/get-started/concepts#working-folder).

## Change a chat's working folder

To refocus the AI without starting a new chat, drag a folder from the **Files** pane onto the chat. That folder becomes the chat's working folder, and the AI's attention shifts with it.

You can also ask the agent to move the current chat into a folder. Review the destination when Collivo asks for approval: **each move requires its own approval**. After the move succeeds, the Files pane and the chat's working-folder pill show the new folder. If you decline or the move does not complete, check the pill before continuing so you know which folder the chat is using.

## Continue in the same folder, or start fresh

The chat header has two ways to begin another conversation in your current working folder:

* <span style={{ display: "inline-flex", transform: "rotate(180deg) scaleX(-1)", verticalAlign: "text-bottom" }}><Icon icon="split" color="#1F7A5A" /></span> **Continue in new chat** — summarizes the current chat, creates a new chat in the **current working folder**, and adds that summary to the new chat's context. Use it when a conversation has become long, but you want the AI to keep the important decisions, facts, and next steps from the previous chat.
* <Icon icon="message-square-plus" color="#1F7A5A" /> **New chat** — starts a new chat in the **current working folder** with clean context. Use it when you want a fresh conversation, especially for a different question or task.

## Resume a previous chat

Once a folder already has a chat, its inline action changes to <span style={{ display: "inline-flex", verticalAlign: "text-bottom" }}><svg aria-hidden="true" focusable="false" width="1em" height="1em" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="#1F7A5A" strokeWidth="2" strokeLinecap="round" strokeLinejoin="round"><path d="M21 15a2 2 0 0 1-2 2H7l-4 4V5a2 2 0 0 1 2-2h14a2 2 0 0 1 2 2z" /><path d="m8.5 13 3-3-3-3" /><path d="m12.5 13 3-3-3-3" /></svg></span> **Resume previous chat**. Select it to reopen the most recent chat for that folder and pick up where you left off. Starting another new chat in that folder moves into the folder's More options menu <Icon icon="ellipsis" color="#1F7A5A" />.

## Move around a chat

* <Icon icon="history" color="#1F7A5A" /> **History** — lists your chats, each with its folder and time. Toggle **Only this folder** to narrow the list to your current working folder.
* **Message navigator** — the strip of dots along the right edge of the chat, one per message you sent. Hover a dot to preview that message, or click it to jump straight there — handy for scanning a long conversation.
* <Icon icon="rewind" color="#1F7A5A" /> **Chat Recap** — generates an AI summary of the conversation so far, so you or a teammate can catch up quickly.

## Work with a message

Open a message's actions to:

* <Icon icon="copy" color="#1F7A5A" /> **Copy** — copy the message text.
* <Icon icon="pencil" color="#1F7A5A" /> **Edit** (your messages) — revise the prompt and resend it.
* <Icon icon="reply" color="#1F7A5A" /> **Reply** — respond referencing that specific message.
* <Icon icon="trash-2" color="#1F7A5A" /> **Delete** — remove the message.
* <Icon icon="thumbs-up" color="#1F7A5A" /> **Thumbs up** / <Icon icon="thumbs-down" color="#1F7A5A" /> **Thumbs down** (on AI replies) — leave feedback on the answer.

Rename a chat by double-clicking its title in the header. Delete an entire chat with the delete button in the header.

## Ask well

Good prompts point to something real in the project and tell the AI what to do with it. For the full approach, see [Collaborate with AI](/get-started/quickstart#collaborate-with-ai).

<Warning>
  AI answers can be incomplete or incorrect. Review important outputs before you rely on them. See [AI permissions, context, and privacy](/sharing-and-security/ai-privacy-limitations).
</Warning>

## Related articles

* [Quickstart](/get-started/quickstart)
* [Agents](/ai-and-agents/agent-modes)
* [AI permissions, context, and privacy](/sharing-and-security/ai-privacy-limitations)


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