The chat screen is the frame around every conversation in DataMind Oda: the header on top, the conversation in the middle, and the message box with its seats at the bottom. This page maps what you see before a chat starts and once work is under way, and how the DataMind Oda desktop app, the VS Code extension and the web app differ; Chat with Oda covers what you do in it.
A new chat
A blank chat opens with the DataMind Oda mark and a greeting:
The greeting is chosen for the moment: lines tied to the day and the time of day come first, and some lines address you by name.
When a line uses a name, it is the first name saved in Settings > General on this computer when there is one; otherwise it is the first name of your signed-in DataMind OS account.
Until you pick a workspace, the greeting explains the folder the chat will work in. The picker sits in the message box; Add, rename or delete a workspace covers choosing.
The message box waits below it, centred. A line under the greeting can also count the chats that are waiting on you; see Activity at a glance.
The header
A blank chat keeps only the controls at the header's ends, including the control that opens the side panel. The chat's title, its actions and the view tabs are left out.
Once the conversation is under way, the header shows the chat's title and its actions, and a row of view tabs sits beneath them.
The tab row appears while more than one view is available. Chat is the conversation itself; Trajectory is a replay of the same chat with its turns, steps, tool calls and timings; views that plugins add join the same row. See The Trajectory tab.
In the desktop app and the VS Code extension, Trajectory appears only while Developer tools is on. In the web app it is always shown.
Oda reopens the chat on the view you last picked. If that view is not available, Chat opens instead.
With Developer tools off, only Trajectory is hidden; if it was the open view, the chat returns to Chat, and turning the switch back on makes it available again.
The chat keeps a single … menu. Features such as Share… add their rows to it instead of drawing a second menu.
Scroll the conversation and a divider appears under the header.
Around the message box
The message box is the card at the bottom of the chat (The message box covers typing in it). Small seats around it come and go as the chat works:
The running signal. While Oda is working, a signal sits in the corner of the header. It is the Activity pill, which counts this chat's running work and what waits for you; see Activity at a glance.
The notice row. Under the header, a centred row can carry a notice or a chip, such as a goal that needs you or a suggested task. It does not push the conversation, and only its cards take a click; see Goals and suggested tasks.
The chips row. Just above the message box, a row of chips appears while there is something to show: the steps chip while Oda works through a checklist, and the goal pill while a goal runs. The steps chip is covered in Activity at a glance; the goal pill in Goals and suggested tasks.
The chat's figures. Under the message box, the chat's counts, speed and token use. See Chat statistics.
The side panel tabs
Open the side panel next to the chat to reach the surfaces beside the conversation:
Browser: the browser you and Oda share, as a side panel tab in the desktop app; in the VS Code extension it opens in the editor area. See The browser in Oda.
Terminal: your own shell, starting in the chat's workspace folder. See The terminal.
Files: the chat's workspace folder as a tree (the panel guide reads Workspace files). Click a file to open it in a preview.
Opening a file gives it a preview tab of its own: Markdown, code, HTML, PDF, Office documents and plain text all have a viewer. See Preview files in Oda.
Activity: the work Oda is running and what it finished. See Activity.
The sidebar also carries your chats and, on the desktop app, a Scheduled section when your administrator allows scheduled tasks for the company. See Schedule recurring tasks.
Cards under a reply
Under the closing message of a turn, cards gather what the work produced:
A changed-files card lists the files the turn changed; open it to review the changes. See Review changed files.
Delivery cards stand for the files Oda handed over, ready to open. See Delivered files.
The cards are part of a standard chat; where this surface is turned off, replies end without them.
Replies can also carry live visuals: chart and kpi blocks render as theme-coloured charts and KPI cards (Charts and KPIs in chat), and mermaid blocks render as diagrams (Diagrams in chat).
Goals and suggested tasks
While a goal is running, a goal pill sits by the message box and shows its progress; when the goal is on hold or blocked, a notice appears at the top of the chat, and the goal's card sits in Activity. See How goals work.
When Oda sees a fitting next step, a suggested task appears as a chip over the transcript and as a card; nothing starts on its own. See Suggested tasks.
The context ring
The context ring sits in the message box's control row, just before the model picker.
It shows how full the chat's context is: a ring with the share of the model's context window in use, and the percentage stops at 100.
Click the ring to open the token breakdown: the tokens the chat has used and the model's context window.
The ring stays hidden until Oda knows both the usage and the model's capacity, so a fresh chat shows no ring.
Resize the conversation
The conversation sits in a column with a drag handle in each side gutter.
Drag a handle to make the column wider or narrower; the edge follows your pointer while you drag.
The handles do not block scrolling: the wheel over a handle still scrolls the conversation, and Ctrl+wheel keeps its usual browser-zoom behaviour.
The feedback dialog; a note can be up to 8,192 bytes.
The Like and Dislike buttons under replies and the /feedback command are left off in the desktop app and the VS Code extension; both appear in the web app. See Feedback.
Share… on a chat row of the sidebar and in the chat header shares a read-only copy of the chat. See Share a chat.
Defaults on each app
Some surfaces are placed or shown differently by default, depending on where you use Oda:
App
Activity
Like and Dislike
Terminal and Files
Trajectory
DataMind Oda desktop app
Pinned
Off
On
With Developer tools
VS Code extension
On demand
Off
Off
With Developer tools
The Oda web app
On demand
On
On
Always
In the VS Code extension the Terminal and Files tabs stay off, since VS Code provides its own terminal and file explorer.
Skills are available in every chat on the desktop app and in the VS Code extension; in the web app, the chat's preset decides which skills appear.
Questions, answered
How does Oda choose the greeting on a new chat?
Oda draws it for the moment: lines tied to the day and the time of day come first, and some lines address you by name.
How does the greeting know my name?
Oda uses the first name saved in Settings > General on this computer when there is one; otherwise it uses the first name of your signed-in DataMind OS account. The name is used for display only.
Why does a new chat show no title, views or actions?
Until the conversation starts, a chat is blank: the header keeps only the controls at its ends, including the side panel control. The title, the actions and the view tabs arrive with the conversation.
Does Oda remember which view I was on?
Yes. The chat reopens on the view you last picked. If that view is not available, Chat opens instead.
Why did my chat return to Chat?
Developer tools hides only the Trajectory view. If Trajectory was open when the switch went off, the chat returns to Chat; turn the switch back on and the view is available again.
When do I see the Trajectory tab?
In the desktop app and the VS Code extension, while Developer tools is on; in the web app it is always shown. See The Trajectory tab.
Why is the context ring missing from a new chat?
The ring appears only once Oda knows both how much of the context the chat has used and how much the model can hold. A fresh chat has neither yet, so the ring stays hidden.
What does the percentage in the context ring show?
How full the model's context is: the share of its context window that the chat is using, up to 100. Click the ring to open the token breakdown of the tokens used and the model's context window.
Can I change how wide the conversation is?
Yes. Drag the handle in either side gutter of the conversation: the column follows your pointer while you drag.
Why is there only one menu at the top of the chat?
The header keeps a single … menu for the chat. Features such as Share… add their rows to it instead of drawing a second menu.
What can I open in the side panel?
Browser, Terminal, Files, file previews and Activity. In VS Code the browser opens in the editor area instead of a panel tab, and the Terminal and Files tabs stay off because VS Code has its own.
What are the cards under Oda's reply?
The files the turn changed and the files Oda delivered. Open the changed-files card to review what changed.