# Side conversation

> A side conversation: ask something along the way without derailing the main task. It sees the main session, which does not see it; selections go as quotes.

Sometimes in the middle of work you want to ask about something else: “why don’t the discounts add up?”, “what
does this function do?”. A question in the main session would pull the agent off its task and end up in its
context. That is what the **side conversation** is for.

- It **sees the whole main session** — everything said and done before it was opened.
- The main session **does not see it**: its task and context do not change.
- It opens **in a tab on the right**, next to the main session: you can read both conversations
  at once.

_Illustration: On the right is the side conversation: the agent answered from the main session’s plan, and the main session stayed as it was._

## How to open it

- Type **`/side`** in the main session’s input field and press Enter (the first Enter picks
  the command from the list, the second opens the conversation). You can add the question right away: `/side why
  don’t the discounts add up?`.
- Or in the command palette — “Side conversation”.

Each side conversation is a separate session, “Side conversation N”, but it is not in the general session
list: it lives next to its main session — in a tab of the right panel, and in the terminal —
behind the `/side` command. **“Full screen”** opens it as an ordinary tab.

## How to use it

- Write in the field at the bottom of the tab: Enter sends, Shift+Enter starts a new line.
- If the side conversation’s agent needs permission or an answer to a question, the request appears in
  the tab itself.
- **Selections go to the main conversation.** Select a fragment of an answer, and a “To the main
  conversation” button appears next to it. The fragment goes as a quote into the main session’s input field — you can send it
  to the agent together with the task.

_Illustration: Select a fragment — it goes as a quote into the main session’s input field._

## In the console

`/side [question]` opens a side conversation; the same rules apply: it sees the main session, which
does not see it.