Modes

Every chat has a mode, and the mode tells the agent what the chat is for. A chat in Ask shows its mode as a chip in the message box; Agent shows none.

A mode is an instruction the agent follows, not a lock: in every mode it has the same tools and the same access to your machine. See Safety. Multitask is an option of Agent mode: it splits the work across parallel subagents.

Switch modes

• Press ⇧Tab in the message box. It cycles through Agent, Multitask and Ask.
• Or click + (⌘/) and pick one under Modes.
• Click the × on the mode chip to go back to Agent.

The chat keeps its history when you switch. A switch made while the agent works applies from its next turn. The agent never switches its own chat's mode.

On Home, the Ask pill under the message box switches to Ask, and Tour this workspace sends a request for a tour of the project right away (in a project, not in Scratch). Click a pressed pill again to go back to Agent. Settings › Chat › Show on Home chooses whether Home offers Multitask and Ask; Ask is off by default.

Ask without changes

In Ask, the agent reads and searches your code and runs commands to answer you, without changing files. Switch to Agent when you want the changes made.

Split work with Multitask

In Agent mode, the Multitask toggle in the message box turns it on, as does picking Multitask with ⇧Tab. The agent then hands substantial work to subagents it doesn't wait for, so the chat stays free while they work. Multitask stays on until you turn it off. How the subagents work is on Subagents.

The toggle shows in every message box while Settings › Chat › Composer › Multitask in the composer is on, as it is by default. Turning it off hides the toggle and leaves each chat's mode as it was.

Modes in the CLI

lookout exec and lookout resume take --mode, with agent, ask or multitask:

lookout exec "Explain how the login flow works" --mode ask