Writing Assistant

The Writing Assistant is an AI-powered chat sidebar that helps you generate, rewrite, or refine content directly alongside your editor.

Before using it, make sure you have at least one AI provider or Ollama configured. See Configuring AI for setup instructions.

Opening the Assistant

• Press Cmd/Ctrl + J to open the Writing Assistant sidebar
• By default, the current note is used as context

Using selected text: Select any portion of text and press Cmd/Ctrl + J (or click "Add to chat" in the Bubble Menu). The selection appears as a character count indicator showing how much text you've selected.

Adding Context with @-Mentions

Use the @ key in the prompt box to reference other notes or folders as context for your query. When you type @, a searchable dropdown appears with your workspace files and folders.

• Notes: Mention a specific note to include its content as context
• Folders: Mention a folder to include all notes within it

Selected mentions appear as inline chips in the prompt box. You can add multiple mentions to combine context from different sources. Mentions are also preserved when editing previous prompts, so you can adjust context without retyping.

Working with Context

• The base context (current note) can be removed if you don't want it influencing responses
• When you change the context selection or switch files mid-chat, a "Context Changed" indicator appears — previous responses that no longer apply are discarded, keeping your conversation relevant
• Each chat session remembers previous exchanges for consistent, context-aware assistance
• Each query displays the model name and timestamp below the prompt

Editing Previous Prompts

Click on any previous prompt in the conversation to edit it. The editor re-opens with your original text and any @-mention chips intact, so you can refine your request without starting over. Press Escape to cancel the edit. The AI generates a new response based on the updated prompt.

Research Mode

The Writing Assistant includes a built-in research mode that responds to your queries with clarifying questions or requests for more information to provide the most accurate answers.

After research is completed, it offers a range of options to help you draft, refine your writing, continue the discussion, or shift the conversation in a new direction.

Web Search (Beta)

The Writing Assistant can include web sources in its responses. This feature is currently available for OpenAI (and openai-compatible) & Claude models.

To toggle web search on or off, click the globe icon in the toolbar below the prompt box.

Using Responses

After receiving an AI response, you have several options:

• Copy — Copy to clipboard
• Insert — Add at your cursor position
• Replace — Swap the originally selected text with the response
• Retry — Get a new version
• Delete — Remove the response from chat

Prompt Box Layout

The prompt box is split into two sections:

• Top section — The text editor where you type your prompt and add @-mentions
• Bottom toolbar — Contains the model selector, web search toggle, and help button, with the send/stop button in the editor area

Custom Slash Commands

Create shortcuts for prompts you use often. Configure custom slash commands in Settings → AI Assistant → Slash Commands. They're saved in .octarine/ai/slash-commands.json in your workspace.