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How Chat Works

Continue's Chat feature provides a conversational interface with AI models directly in your IDE sidebar.

Core Functionality​

When you start a chat conversation, Continue:

  1. Gathers Context: Uses any selected code sections and @-mentioned context
  2. Constructs Prompt: Combines your input with relevant context
  3. Sends to Model: Prompts the configured AI model for a response
  4. Streams Response: Returns the AI response in real-time to the sidebar

Context Management​

Automatic Context​

  • Selected code in your editor
  • Current file context when relevant
  • Previous conversation history in the session

Manual Context​

  • @Codebase - Search and include relevant code from your project
  • @Docs - Include documentation context
  • @Files - Reference specific files
  • Custom context providers

Response Handling​

Each code section in the AI response includes action buttons:

  • Apply to current file - Replace selected code
  • Insert at cursor - Add code at cursor position
  • Copy - Copy code to clipboard

Session Management​

  • Use Cmd/Ctrl + L (VS Code) or Cmd/Ctrl + J (JetBrains) to start a new session
  • Clears all previous context for a fresh start
  • Helpful for switching between different tasks

Advanced Features​

Prompt Inspection​

View the exact prompt sent to the AI model in the prompt logs for debugging and optimization.

Context Providers​

Learn more about how context providers work:

Chat is designed to feel like a natural conversation while maintaining full transparency about what context is being used.