Agent chat & communication

Agent chat is where you talk to your agents. Every agent conversation happens here — whether you’re asking a quick question, kicking off a multi-step task, or reviewing what an agent produced.

Conversation types link

Starting a new chat link

Direct chat with an agent link

1. Click an agent in the Agents sidebar.
2. A fresh conversation is displayed to start chatting in.

Starting a group chat link

Group chats let you bring multiple agents and/or members into a single conversation — useful when a task benefits from more than one agent’s expertise, or when you want a human colleague involved alongside an agent.

1. Click the New chat button (pencil icon) at the top of the “Workspaces” options menu.
2. In the To: field, search for and select the agents and members you want to include. Each participant appears as a pill — click the × to remove one.
3. Type your opening message and press Enter to start the conversation.

You can also use @ mentions in any existing conversation to bring an additional agent or member into the thread.

Agents can respond without a mention link

In a group chat that has at least one other member (human or agent) alongside an agent, you don’t always need to @ mention an agent to get a reply. Autohive looks at the conversation and can decide on its own that an agent should chime in — for example, if a message is clearly directed at the agent’s area of expertise even though it isn’t named.

• If the situation is ambiguous, Autohive uses this same judgement to decide whether an agent should respond, and if so, which one.
• Direct chats and explicit @ mentions are unaffected — an @ mentioned agent always responds.
• This behaviour only applies to group chats; a direct one-on-one chat with an agent always replies as normal.

Sending messages link

• Type your message in the input area at the bottom of the chat window.
• Type @ to open the mention suggester and search for agents, human colleagues and files from the Content area.
• Mentions notify the right people (or agents) and provide full context.
• When you mention files, your agents can read them directly from the Content area.
• Press Enter to send, or Shift + Enter for a line break.
• Click the stop icon to cancel a response while the agent is replying.

Mentions link

Type @ to open the mention suggester and select an agent, member, or file. Mentions bring the right person or agent into the conversation and give them full context.

When you mention a file, the agent reads it directly from the Content area.

Attachments link

• Click the paperclip icon, drag and drop files into the chat window, or paste an image or file you’ve copied to your clipboard.
• Pasted images and files are always added as attachments. This is the same as using the paperclip or drag-and-drop — they never appear as inline content in the message text.
• Uploaded files appear as preview cards. Click to view the full content.
• Supported formats include documents, spreadsheets, images, and PDFs.

Reading scanned and image-heavy PDFs link

Agents can read PDFs even when the pages themselves are images rather than selectable text — for example scanned documents, photographed pages, or charts and signatures embedded in non-standard formats. When a PDF (or a page within it) has no usable text layer, Autohive automatically renders the affected pages as images so the agent can still see and describe their content.

• Text-based PDFs continue to be read as text, exactly as before.
• Scanned pages, charts, and signatures that previously could not be extracted are now visible to the agent.
• Damaged, oversized, or otherwise problematic PDF pages are skipped gracefully instead of breaking the rest of the conversation — one bad file won’t derail your chat.

Voice input link

Click the microphone icon in the message input to dictate your message. Autohive transcribes your speech to text — you can review and edit the transcription before sending. Your browser may prompt for microphone access the first time you use this feature

Message formatting link

Autohive supports Markdown in messages:

• **bold**, *italic*, `inline code`
• Fenced code blocks, lists, blockquotes, and links

What agents send back link

Agent responses can contain more than plain text. Here is what you may see in a conversation:

Text responses link

Standard replies with Markdown formatting. Long responses may include a Summary block at the top.

Artifacts link

When an agent produces a document, webpage, chart, or other structured output, it appears in the Artifact viewer — a panel that opens alongside the chat.

The artifact viewer has two modes:

• Preview — renders the output (e.g., shows an HTML page or formatted document)
• Code — shows the raw source

From the artifact viewer you can:

• Switch between versions if the agent has revised the output
• Copy the content to your clipboard
• Download as HTML page or Download as PDF
• Save to Content Area to store it in your workspace
• Share artifact to generate a shareable link (see Sharing an artifact below)

Tool messages link

When an agent uses an integration or built-in tool (e.g., searches Google Drive, sends a Slack message), a tool message appears in the conversation showing which tool was used and what it did. Click to expand the full output.

Integration account choices link

When an agent has multiple accounts available for an integration, click its icon in the chat composer’s bottom action row to change Account setting, then click Apply. This applies to that agent’s subsequent tool calls in the conversation. Choose Follow agent default to use its saved setting again.

With Ask me each time, the agent pauses on an account-choice card the first time it needs the integration. Your selection is remembered for that agent and integration for the rest of the conversation. Use the composer icon to change it or request a new choice.

See Change the account choice for one chat for the full steps and how chat choices take precedence.

Approval requests link

If an agent action has Requires approval enabled, the agent will pause and show an approval prompt before proceeding:

• Click Approve to let the action run.
• Click Deny to block it.

See Agent tools & capabilities to learn how to configure approval requirements.

Clearing a backlog of approvals from the Action Box link

Pending approvals from every conversation and agent in your workspace are collected in the Action Box, a drawer accessible from the sidebar. This gives you one place to review everything currently waiting on a decision, instead of hunting through individual conversations.

When you have several approvals waiting, a bulk toolbar at the top of the Action Box lets you clear the backlog in one action:

• Approve all (N) — approves every pending request currently shown.
• Decline all (N) — declines every pending request currently shown.

Both counts update together, and you can narrow the set before acting by filtering the Action Box by workspace and by agent — each button only acts on the filtered set shown on screen. Clicking either button shows a confirmation dialog before anything is actioned; unlike declining a single request, Decline all does not collect a reason, so nothing is sent back to the agent as feedback.

Managing conversations link

Renaming and deleting link

Right-click or open the three-dot menu on any conversation in the chat history sidebar to Rename or Delete it. Deleting a conversation is permanent.

Branching a conversation link

You can branch off a new conversation from any point in an existing one. Hover over a message and click the Branch option to create a new conversation that starts with all the messages up to that point — including the same agent and files. This is useful for exploring a different direction without losing your original thread.

Sharing a conversation link

Click the Share button in the chat header to generate a shareable link to the current conversation. Options include:

• Who can view — anyone with the link (no Autohive account required)
• Hide member details — share anonymously without showing participant names
• Link expiry — set the link to expire after 24 hours, 7 days, 30 days, or a custom duration

Sharing creates a snapshot of the conversation as it exists at that moment. Any new messages after sharing remain private.

To manage or revoke existing share links, open the Share modal and deactivate any active shares.

Sharing an artifact link

You can share an individual artifact without sharing the entire conversation. Click Share artifact in the artifact viewer to generate a link to that specific artifact.

Artifact share options are the same as conversation shares:

• Hide member details — share anonymously without showing participant names
• Link expiry — never, 24 hours, 7 days, 30 days, or a custom duration

Anyone with the link can view the artifact without an Autohive account.

Chat history link

Use Search (⌘/Ctrl + F) to find messages or files in the current chat.

All conversations are saved automatically. Use the chat history sidebar (desktop) to navigate between past conversations, grouped by time period (Today, Yesterday, Last Week, etc.).

Notifications & presence link

• Unread badges on the sidebar highlight active conversations.
• Presence indicators show who’s online and typing.

Best practices for productive chats link

1. Be specific when you tell your agents exactly what you need and reference files.
2. Use separate chats for different topics to keep things organised.
3. Ask agents to create meeting summaries to capture decisions.
4. Use mentions strategically to bring the right expertise into each conversation.

Troubleshooting link