Chat, modes & context lanes
ContextMint chat is a governed copilot — not a generic web chat. You choose how much autonomy the model has (mode) and what evidence it may use (context lane).
Opening chat
- Activity bar → ContextMint chat view
- Shortcut: Ctrl+Shift+Alt+L (Windows/Linux; macOS may differ per keymap)
Modes: Ask, Plan, Agent
| Mode | Behavior |
|---|---|
| Ask | Q&A and explanations; no autonomous file edits |
| Plan | Structured plans and todos; still human-gated before apply |
| Agent | Proposes patches and assisted actions; gate 2 preview before writes |
Context lanes: Repo, Work, Hybrid
Open the compose ⋯ menu → Context to select a lane. The choice persists per workspace.
| Lane | Retrieval | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Repo (default) | Knowledge objects when available, then hybrid search (vector + BM25), window expansion, workspace grep, and dependency-graph neighbours | “What does our code do?” — answers only from assembled evidence |
| Work | Session packs + attachments + editor selection — no vector repo search | Planning, stakeholder comms, concepts — job-relevant but not file lookups |
| Hybrid | Full evidence assembly (same as Repo) plus labeled recommendations | “Should we ship X?” — repo evidence plus labeled recommendations |
How evidence is assembled (Repo / Hybrid)
ContextMint works on any indexed workspace — not one repo layout. For structural questions (for example route wiring), the server uses index-time knowledge objects when the registry has a hit. For semantic questions, it runs hybrid search, then expands around hits: file windows, workspace grep, and dependency-graph neighbours. Optional LLM evidence selection is tier-gated and off by default — inference is last resort, not the primary path. See Settings → Evidence assembly.
Provenance chips (answers)
After a response, you may see a small label such as:
- From your codebase — Repo lane with retrieved chunks
- Work notes — Work lane (packs/attachments, not a repo search)
- Repo + recommendations — Hybrid lane
- No repo matches — Repo lane found little indexed context
Work-lane auto-suggest
On Repo lane, if retrieval is weak for a planning-style question, ContextMint may show a banner: “Little repo context matched — retry in Work lane?” Click Use Work lane to re-send the same question without vector search.
Attachments & context files
- Use the attach control to pin files as chips before sending
- Attached paths get full-fidelity chunks in the assembler prompt
- Open editor files are boosted in search and indexed with priority
Image evidence (screenshots)
Paste, drag-drop, or pick PNG, JPEG, or WebP images in the compose bar. Image chips appear beside file chips. Context Lens shows thumbnails and the vision route (local by default) before you send.
- Local Ollama vision is the default — no cloud API key required to attach images
- Repo and Hybrid lanes combine images with retrieved code; Work lane combines images with packs
- Use Run visual audit in Lens for ARGUS structured findings (separate from chat Q&A)
Full guide: Image evidence & ARGUS.
Chat sessions
Start a new session from the session list; history is stored per workspace up to configured limits. Sessions are local to your machine (or your team server in enterprise mode).
Model routing
Compose bar model selector: Auto, Local (Ollama), or Cloud when BYOK is enabled. The routing badge on answers shows which tier ran.
When chat is blocked
Send is blocked only when readiness is offline, starting, or error. Indexing does not block send — answers improve as more files finish indexing.
Deep dive on retrieval: Indexing & readiness. Problems: Troubleshooting → Chat.