Chat Interface

BB's chat interface is your primary workspace for AI collaboration. Master its features to work efficiently with model configuration, collaboration management, and interactive assistance.

Starting Your First Collaboration

When you create a new collaboration, BB presents a helpful starting interface with categorized task examples to inspire your objectives:

New Collaboration Interface — BB's starting interface with categorized task examples and objective guidance

Task Categories

🔍 Research Tasks - Analysis, literature reviews, data exploration
✏️ Content Tasks - Writing, editing, content strategy
📊 Analysis Tasks - Data visualization, metrics analysis
💻 Development Tasks - Coding, refactoring, system design

💡 Pro Tip

Focus on what you want to achieve, not implementation details. BB works best when you describe your objectives clearly.

Collaboration Settings & Model Configuration

Access the Collaboration Settings dialog via the settings icon next to the Send button to configure models, memory storage, context management, and advanced features for each collaboration:

Chat Options Dialog — Chat options with model selection and advanced settings

Key Configuration Options

Model Roles: Configure Orchestrator, Agent, and Admin models individually
Temperature: Control response creativity (0.0 = focused, 1.0 = creative)
Max Tokens: Limit response length per turn
Extended Thinking: Enable step-by-step reasoning for complex problems
Prompt Caching: Reduce token costs for repeated context
Memory Location: Choose where memories are saved (Global/Project/Collaboration)
Context Management: Enable/disable automatic context handling and set trigger levels

Learn about BB's role-based architecture →

Learn about intelligent memory →

Model Selection Interface

Model Selection Dropdown — Search and select from available models for each role

Model Selection Features:

Search models by name
View performance indicators (speed, cost, intelligence)
See context window sizes
Per-collaboration customization

Collaboration Management

BB provides powerful tools to organize and navigate your collaborations efficiently:

Collaboration Selector with Search — Search collaborations and add favorites for quick access

Organization Features

Search: Find collaborations by title or content
Favorites: Star important collaborations for quick access
Auto-titles: BB generates descriptive titles from your objectives
Token tracking: See usage and turn counts at a glance
Timestamps: Track when collaborations were last active

Best Practices:

Create focused collaborations for specific objectives
Use favorites for ongoing projects
Start fresh collaborations to avoid token buildup

Understanding Message History

Chat Message History with Expandable Entries — Message history showing different entry types with expand/collapse functionality

Entry Types & Colors

BB's message history includes several types of entries, each with distinct colors for easy identification:

User Messages (Blue): Your prompts and instructions to BB

Orchestrator (Purple): BB's high-level planning and task coordination

Assistant (Green): BB's detailed responses, analysis, and recommendations

Answers (Dark Green): Final answers and summaries from BB

Tool Operations (Yellow/Orange): Tool inputs showing what BB is doing (file operations, searches, etc.)

Tool Results (Orange): Output and results from tool operations

Agent Tasks (Dark Blue): Delegated sub-tasks handled by specialized agents

Auxiliary (Gray): System messages, metadata, and supporting information

Note: You can control which entry types are visible using the message filtering feature.

🔍 Expandable Entries - Explore Everything!

Every entry in the collaboration history can be expanded or collapsed. While user prompts and AI responses are shown expanded by default, all other entries (tool operations, system messages, etc.) start collapsed to keep the interface clean.

What You Can Expand:

Tool input parameters and settings
Complete tool output and results
System operation details
File modification summaries
Error messages and diagnostics

How to Expand:

Click the entry header to expand/collapse
Space key when entry is focused
Arrow icons show expand/collapse state

💡 Pro Tip: Expanding tool entries helps you understand exactly what BB is doing and learn how different operations work. It's a great way to build your understanding of BB's capabilities!

Message Filtering & Organization

Keep your collaboration view clean and focused with BB's message filtering system. Control which entry types are visible with quick-access filter presets or create custom views tailored to your workflow.

Message Filtering Interface — Filter bar with presets and entry count summary

Filter Presets

Access filter presets from the header above your collaboration. The entry count summary shows how many entries are visible and which types are hidden.

All

Shows every entry type in the collaboration—user messages, BB responses, tool operations, agent tasks, and system messages.

Best for: Debugging, understanding BB's complete workflow, learning how tools work

Collaboration (Default)

Focuses on the dialogue—your messages, BB's responses, and final answers. Hides technical details like tool operations and agent tasks.

Best for: Clean reading experience, focusing on outcomes, reviewing collaboration flow

Main Flow

Shows user messages, orchestrator planning, assistant responses, and answers. Provides insight into BB's decision-making without tool-level detail.

Best for: Understanding BB's reasoning, following the high-level workflow

Tools

Highlights tool operations, results, and agent tasks. Shows what actions BB is taking behind the scenes.

Best for: Monitoring file changes, tracking tool usage, verifying operations

Custom Filtering

Click "+ More" to access granular filtering options. Select exactly which entry types you want to see. Your filter preferences save automatically per collaboration.

Available Entry Types:

See the Message History section above for detailed descriptions of each entry type:

User Messages
Orchestrator
Assistant
Answers
Tool Inputs
Tool Results
Agent Tasks
Auxiliary

Smart Features

Filters save per collaboration
Entry counts update in real-time
Hidden entries show as "(hidden)" in counts
Collapse states reset when filter changes

Keyboard Shortcuts

Use keyboard shortcuts for quick filtering. See the Keyboard Shortcuts section below for the complete list.

File Suggestions & Autocomplete

BB provides intelligent file suggestions across all your data sources with advanced autocomplete featuring multi-datasource support and wildcard patterns:

File Autocomplete Interface — Multi-datasource file suggestions with path context and filtering

Trigger Methods

Tab Key: Press Tab anywhere in your message to show suggestions
Auto-trigger: Start typing a path to see matching files
Data source context: Files are grouped by data source

Advanced Patterns

*.ts - All TypeScript files
docs/**/* - All files in docs subdirectories
src/**/test* - Test files at any depth in src

Navigation & Selection:

Keyboard: ↑/↓ navigate • Enter selects • Escape closes

Best Practice: List files on separate lines for clarity

Prompt History & Reuse

Efficient Prompt Reuse

Access your recent prompts through the clock icon next to the message input. Perfect for iterating on ideas or reusing common instructions.

Recent Prompt History Dropdown — Quick access to recent prompts for reuse and iteration

Key Features

Recent prompts: Last several messages you've sent
Quick selection: Click to reuse or modify previous prompts
Time-saving: Avoid retyping similar requests

Use Cases

Great for refining prompts, trying variations, or building on previous successful interactions.

Model Information & Context Monitoring

Click the "Model Info" button in the header to see detailed information about your current model configuration and context usage:

Detailed Model Information Panel — Comprehensive model stats including context usage, caching impact, and configuration details

Context Tracking

Current token usage vs. limit
Percentage of context window used
Real-time usage monitoring

Caching Benefits

Prompt caching status
Token savings from cache
Cost reduction impact

Configuration

Current model details
Temperature and settings
Extended thinking status

Keyboard Shortcuts & Productivity Tips

Message Controls

Send messageCmd/Ctrl + Enter

New line in messageEnter

File suggestionsTab

Clear messageEsc

Message Navigation

Expand/collapse entrySpace

Navigate entries

↑↓

Navigate file suggestions

↑↓

Message Filtering

Filter Controls

Toggle filter dropdownf

Close filter dropdownEsc

Toggle checkbox (when focused)

SpaceorEnter

Quick Presets (when dropdown open)

Select "All" preset1

Select "Collaboration" preset2

Select "Main Flow" preset3

Select "Tools" preset4

Token Management & Cost Optimization

Context Usage Monitoring

The progress bar shows how much of the model's context window is being used. Monitor this to understand when collaborations are approaching context limits.

Context Usage Progress Bar — Real-time context window usage tracking with percentage indicator

Color Indicators

Green = Normal usage (under 50%)

Yellow = Moderate usage (50%+ context used)

Red = High usage (90%+ context used)

Tiered Pricing Models

For models with tiered pricing, tick marks show where price tiers change, and the label color shifts toward red as you progress through higher cost tiers.

Token Management Tips

Monitor the progress bar in your input area
Keep collaborations focused on single objectives
Start fresh collaborations to reset context
Remove files when no longer needed

Cost Optimization

Enable prompt caching for repeated context
Use collaboration summaries for long sessions
Choose appropriate models for different tasks
Leverage BB's auto top-up for budget control

Pro Tip: The Model Info panel shows detailed caching benefits and context usage. Use it to understand your token efficiency and optimize your workflow.

Getting Started with Advanced Features

Quick Start Checklist

Essential Setup:

Configure your preferred models in Chat Options
Enable prompt caching to reduce costs
Set up auto top-up for uninterrupted usage
Explore the expandable message entries

Productivity Tips:

Use Tab for file suggestions frequently
Star important collaborations as favorites
Use message filtering to focus on dialogue or tools
Reuse prompts from the history dropdown
Monitor token usage with the progress bar