¶AI Agents

e can run command-line coding agents — Elyra, Claude Code, Codex, or any CLI agent — in a dedicated side panel, so they work on your project right next to your code.

¶Opening the agent panel

• ⌘L toggles the agent panel on the right (it opens at 600px, resizable).
• Every agent runs in an embedded terminal by default. Elyra can optionally use an experimental native chat panel.
• ⌘W (while the panel is focused) closes it; the agent keeps running, so ⌘L reopens the same session.

¶Native chat panel (Elyra, experimental)

By default the agent panel is a terminal for every agent, including Elyra. Elyra can optionally be rendered as a native chat panel instead: turn on Settings → Agents → “Native Elyra chat” (or set "native_agent": true in config.json). It is off by default while the underlying text/input views mature.

When enabled, Elyra runs headless over its structured RPC protocol (elyra --mode rpc) and the conversation is drawn with native views instead of a terminal, so it stays fast and readable no matter how long the transcript gets:

• Streaming replies render as formatted markdown — headings, lists, inline code, fenced code blocks and links.
• Tool-call cards show each tool, a one-line summary of its arguments, its status (running / done / error) and a compact result preview.
• The composer is multi-line and word-wrapped, and grows as you type (then scrolls). Enter sends, Shift+Enter inserts a newline. It is focused automatically when the panel opens.
• Stop aborts the current turn; typing while it runs steers it. New Chat (in the header menu) starts a fresh session.
• Copy buttons sit on every code block and under each reply.

Other agents (Claude Code, Codex) always use the terminal panel. Turn the toggle back off to run Elyra in the terminal too (the default).

¶Switching agents

Click the agent name in the panel header (Elyra ▾) for a menu to:

• switch to another configured agent (the active one is marked ●),
• Restart Agent,
• open Settings… (⌘,).

The header also has ⟳ (restart) and × (close) buttons. Drag the panel's left edge to resize it.

¶Configuration

Agents are configured in your global config.json under the agents key:

{
  "agents": {
    "default": "elyra",
    "list": [
      { "id": "elyra",  "name": "Elyra",       "command": "elyra",  "cwd": "" },
      { "id": "claude", "name": "Claude Code",  "command": "claude", "cwd": "" },
      { "id": "codex",  "name": "Codex",        "command": "codex",  "cwd": "" }
    ]
  }
}

Because the command runs through your login shell, your full environment (PATH, nvm, etc.) is available. Your selection is saved automatically when you switch agents from the menu.

¶Editor co-op

The agent isn't just a terminal — it gets a local Unix socket ($E_EDITOR_SOCK) to collaborate with the editor directly:

• Read context — the current file, cursor, selection, open files, and diagnostics.
• Reuse the language server — definitions, references, hover and symbols from the same server the editor runs.
• Query the database through the editor's connection (consent-gated — you approve each query; the agent never sees your credentials).
• Propose edits you review — the agent sends a new version of a file and you accept or reject each hunk before anything is written. No blind writes.
• Autonomous TDD (⌘⇧T) — run the test suite and let the agent iterate on failures (proposing edits you review) until the tests pass. The panel lists each failing test with its first assertion line; click one to open the file at the failing line. See Test results.
• Timeline (⌘⌥A) — an audit log of everything the agent did over the socket, with a 🤖 marker showing where it's looking.

See Agent Workspace Sync for the full protocol.

¶Editor integration

Two conveniences tie the panel to the editor (toggle Settings → Agents → “Editor integration”, on by default):

• Click file paths in the output — a path, path:line or path:line:col reference in the agent (or terminal) output is clickable and opens that file at the line in the editor.
• Send selection to agent — the Agent: Send Selection to Agent command (command palette) types a one-line reference to your current file and selected lines into the agent, so you can add your question and let it read the exact spot.

You can also drag-select any text in the panel and copy it with ⌘C (click to resume typing).

¶Reviewing what the agent changed

When a session has touched a lot of files, press ⌘⌥V (Review: Session Changes) for a risk-ranked review of the whole changeset — sign off file by file, ask the agent why it made a change, or revert a single file — without pushing a PR first. See Session review.

¶Tips

• Leave cwd empty so the agent operates on whatever project you have open.
• Add your own entries to list to run any CLI agent or script.
• The default agent is Elyra.