Ask about your codebase

ChatBeginner5 min

Chat works with the repository context already available to CodeZero, so you can investigate the system without manually collecting every relevant file first.

Start with an engineering question

Chat is most useful when the question is about the system rather than about code in the abstract:

Where is this behaviour implemented?
What depends on this component?
Does the same behaviour exist in another repository?
Which files or repositories should I inspect first?

You do not need to attach files by hand, but naming the target sharpens the answer. Refer to the feature, service or repository explicitly when a request spans more than one area. A saved feature map is the strongest starting point, because it scopes the investigation to the files and dependencies that already implement the behaviour.

Review the context behind the answer

An answer is only as useful as the context behind it, so read the references before acting on it. Chat reports the files, components and relationships it drew on, and those references open directly in the editor.

Chat prefers a local working tree when one exists, because it includes the current branch and uncommitted changes. Where no checkout exists, it reads the organisation index instead — so an answer can be grounded in indexed code, in your working tree, or in both.

A Chat answer explaining a failure, showing the run duration and token cost and a follow-up question below it — A Chat answer, its run cost, and a follow-up asking for it in simpler terms.

If an expected repository is missing from the context, confirm it is connected to the same organisation and that indexing has completed, then retry with that repository named explicitly.

Ask what the change would affect

Before requesting a change, ask what it would touch. Because the answer comes from indexed relationships, the impact can reach repositories that are not checked out on your machine.

Useful follow-ups:

What would break if this component changed?
Which callers depend on this behaviour?
Does this flow cross a repository boundary?
Which tests protect the current implementation?

Resolve clarification questions

Describe the change you want. For work that needs planning, CodeZero investigates the existing implementation before changing source files.

If the codebase cannot answer a product or implementation decision, CodeZero asks you directly rather than silently planning around an assumption. Answering those questions is also a precondition for running the work unattended in Coffee Mode.

Review the implementation plan

Once the request is clear, CodeZero creates an implementation plan that can include:

The goal and proposed approach
The repositories the work is expected to touch
The implementation phases
Verification commands or checks

An implementation plan in Tasks awaiting approval, listing warnings, phases and permitted commands — A plan in Tasks with its warnings, phases and the exact commands it allows.

The agent cannot approve its own plan. Review the proposal in Tasks and approve it before execution begins.