Channels
What are channels?
Channels are how you organize your workspace. Think of them like Slack channels — each one is a separate context with its own instructions, conversations, and purpose.
You might set up channels like:
- #eng — building software, with instructions about your codebase and coding style
- #career — job search, resume review, interview prep
- #strategy — business planning and analysis
- #personal — everything else — travel planning, email drafts, random questions
The agent adapts to each channel’s instructions. In #eng, it might be terse and technical. In #personal, more conversational. Same AI, different modes.
Channel instructions
Each channel has a system message — a block of text that tells the agent how to behave in that context. This is where you put:
- What the channel is for
- How the agent should act (tone, expertise, style)
- Relevant context (codebase location, project details, preferences)
- Specific rules (“always use TypeScript,” “keep responses under 200 words”)
You edit channel instructions in the channel settings panel. The instructions are injected into every conversation in that channel, so the agent always has the right context.
Conversations
Each channel can have multiple conversations. The main conversation persists across sessions — when you come back, the agent remembers what you were working on (within the context window).
You can also fork conversations. Edit a previous message and the conversation branches from that point, keeping the history up to that message but exploring a different path.
When the context window fills up, you can compact the conversation with /compact. The agent summarizes the history and continues with a fresh context, keeping the important parts.
Creating channels
You can ask the agent to create channels for you, or do it through the UI. A new channel starts with a blank system message — add instructions to give it purpose.
Good channel instructions are specific. Instead of “help me with coding,” try something like:
This channel is for engineering work on my React app. The codebase is at ~/projects/my-app. Use TypeScript. Prefer functional components. When I ask you to make changes, read the relevant files first, then make the edit.