Pin, rename, fork or archive a chat

DataMind Oda keeps your chats in the sidebar, and every chat has a menu for the things you do to the chat itself: pin it, rename it, fork a copy that continues on its own, or archive it. Manage workspaces and chats covers the lists and workspaces around the menu.

Open a chat's menu

• Point at the chat's row and choose its ... button, whose name reads Session actions for <name>; or right-click the row and the same menu opens where you pointed. A blank New Session row has no menu.
• The menu holds, in order: Pin session or Unpin session, Rename, Fork session, and Archive session or Unarchive session. Rows that other features add appear below these, after a separator.
• Pointing at a row also shows a strip with the ... button and an Archive session button (Unarchive session on an archived chat), so you can archive a chat without opening its menu. Choosing a button in the strip does not open the chat.
• Choosing a row closes the menu and runs the action.

Pin or unpin a chat

• Pin session moves the chat into the Pinned section at the top of the sidebar; it appears only there until you unpin it.
• After pinning, the menu reads Unpin session, which takes the chat out of Pinned again.
• Pinning is quiet: no notice appears when it works. If it fails, Oda shows Pin failed. Try again later., and a failed unpin reads Unpin failed. Try again later.
• Pin and archive exclude each other: an archived chat's menu has no pin row.

Rename a chat

1. Open the chat's menu and choose Rename, or double-click the chat's name in the list.
2. The Rename session dialog opens with the current name in the Session name box.
3. Type the new name and choose Rename.

• Spaces at the start and end of the name are trimmed when it is saved; spaces inside it stay as typed.
• Saving the name the chat already has is allowed, and it pins the current title so Oda stops refreshing it. Chat titles covers how Oda names chats on its own.
• Rename is blocked only while the name box is empty or while a save is already running; a running save also locks the box and keeps the dialog open.
• Enter confirms the name, except while an input method is still composing characters.
• If the save fails, the dialog stays open and shows the reason under the name box; editing the name clears it.

Fork a chat

• Fork session copies the chat at its last completed turn, and the copy continues on its own from that point.
• The menu closes before the copy is started. The copy appears next to the chat it came from; under the Manual order it takes its place just before its source.
• If the fork fails, nothing changes and no notice appears.

Archive a chat

• Archive session takes the chat out of the lists. Nothing is deleted: the chat and its log stay on your computer.
• Open the chat's menu and choose Archive session, or choose the archive button in the row's strip.
• A chat with nothing running archives straight away and shows a notice: Session archived. You can undo or filter archived sessions. Choose undo to bring the chat straight back, or filter archived sessions to show the archived chats.
• If the chat still has work running, Oda asks first. The Stop and archive this session? dialog says the chat still has work in progress and lists what confirming will stop under Work that will be stopped: the turn in progress, running subagents, background jobs and scheduled reminders. Choose Stop and archive to stop that work and archive the chat, or cancel to leave everything running. Stopping Oda and queued messages covers what stopping does.
• While it stops and archives, the dialog shows Stopping and archiving…; afterwards the chat shows the notice Session stopped and archived. You can undo or filter archived sessions., with the same two choices.
• An archived chat is greyed out, is marked Archived, and cannot be opened: choosing it shows Archived sessions cannot be opened. Unarchive it to view. While it is archived, its menu keeps Rename, Fork session and Unarchive session. Chat statuses and notices covers the marks and notices a chat row can show.

Unarchive a chat

1. Show the archived chats: choose View options > Show archived or Archived only (Group, order and filter chats).
2. Choose Unarchive session from the chat's menu or its row strip.
3. The chat returns to the list in the place it held before archiving, and can be continued. Oda shows no notice for this.

• Archived chats found through search also offer Unarchive session on their row.

Questions, answered

Why is there no Pin on an archived chat?

A chat is either pinned or archived, not both. An archived chat's menu shows Rename, Fork session and Unarchive session, and no pin row. Once the chat is unarchived, the pin row is back.

Does archiving delete a chat?

No. Archiving takes the chat out of the lists, and it stops the chat's running work only if you confirm that. The chat and its log stay on your computer, and you can unarchive the chat at any time.

Can I undo archiving?

Yes, right after archiving: choose undo in the notice. Later on, show the archived chats and choose Unarchive session from the chat's menu.

Which work does the stop-and-archive dialog list?

Everything the chat still has running: the turn in progress, running subagents, background jobs and scheduled reminders. Nothing stops until you choose Stop and archive.

Can I rename a chat to the name it already has?

Yes. Oda allows it, and it pins the current title so Oda stops refreshing it.

Why can't I save a new chat name?

Rename is blocked only while the name box is empty or while a save is already running. If the save fails, the reason appears under the name box; editing the name clears it.

I chose Fork session, but nothing happened. Why?

A fork that fails changes nothing and shows no notice: no copy is made. If no copy appears next to the source chat, the fork did not happen.

Where does the forked chat appear?

Next to the chat it came from. Under the Manual order it takes its place just before its source.