Agents and chat

Studio does not ship an AI model. You bring your own agent and run it on Studio, in one of two ways:

• In the chat inside Studio. The chat runs Claude Code. You sign in with your own Claude account, or use a key your firm gives you. See Install and open a project and Firm API keys.
• From outside Studio. Claude Code, Cursor or Codex can drive the open project through the control port. See The control port.

This page is about the chat.

Start a conversation

1. Open the Chat tab (⌘1) and click the Message field (⌘L). Its hint reads "Ask the agent for a change".
2. Type what you want, for example "Add a door to the south wall".
3. Press Return to send. ⇧Return adds a new line; ⌘↩ sends from anywhere.

A message typed on Base model starts a new conversation, titled from your message. New Conversation (⌘T) starts an empty one. Next Conversation and Previous Conversation (⌥⌘→, ⌥⌘←) move between tabs, Show Base Model (⌘0) goes back to the base, and Rename Conversation… (⇧⌘R) renames the one on view. On a fresh conversation, the Agent pop-up shows which agent it uses: Claude.

Each conversation works on its own branch, a copy of the model. Nothing it does reaches the base model until you accept it. Several conversations can work at once, each on its own branch. See Review the agent's changes.

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What the agent can see and do

The agent reads the model on its branch: elements, the selection you made, the rule checks, the sheets (it can look at any sheet and check it against the model). It changes the model with edits the model engine checks first; an edit it refuses goes back to the agent with the reason, and the agent tries again. The turn's card then says so, for example "2 patches rejected, then fixed".

The agent in the chat cannot write files on your disk: it cannot export. It takes screenshots to see the model for itself; they are not shown in the chat. To write a file, use Export.

Things it cannot do: move the building on its lot, set the lot, set a rule value, or issue sheets. Those change the base model, and only you (or an agent on the control port) do them.

Choose how the agent's edits apply

The Agent edits button in the chat header switches the project between two modes:

• Relaxed (the default). Every edit applies at once. You see it afterwards in the conversation and can undo it.
• Strict. Before each edit the chat shows a card listing what it does, in plain words ("Moved 3 walls 2'-0" east"), with Apply and Skip. Skip tells the agent "The user skipped this edit", and it carries on with its turn.

The mode is kept with the project and takes effect at the agent's next edit, even mid-turn. Your own edits are not affected.

Stop, edit or retry

• Stop (or ⌘.) ends the running turn.
• Edit on one of your earlier messages rewinds the conversation to it, so you can send it again changed.
• Retry on a turn runs it again.
• Copy copies a message's text.

If Studio closes in the middle of a turn, the conversation says "The app closed during this turn." and your next message picks up the agent's session where it was.

Show the agent a sketch or a photo

The composer takes PNG, JPEG and HEIC images:

1. Paste an image, drop a file on the window, or click Attach image.
2. Each image waits above the field as a thumbnail. Remove image takes it off.
3. Type a message too (Send needs text) and send.

Studio turns a phone photo upright and scales down anything over 1,568 pixels on its long side. The agent is told that a sketch or photo is approximate, so it asks for a scale or a known dimension before it draws.

Limit. HEIC images work on macOS only. On Windows and Linux, send a JPEG or PNG.

Dictate

Use your operating system's dictation in the Message field. On macOS, press Fn twice. The text appears in the field and goes nowhere until you send it.

Note. Dictation: macOS only.

See what a conversation costs

Under the review bar, each conversation shows its tokens and cost so far, for example 2,400 in · 680 out · $0.0246. It adds up every completed turn of that conversation. Another conversation shows its own.

Ask about a failing rule

In the Regulation tab, a failing rule, or one that could not be checked, has Explain. It sends the agent the rule, the measured value, the limit and its source, and opens the chat. The agent is told to answer in plain words, to call provisional limits provisional, to cite the source, never to say the design complies, and not to edit until you ask.

Ask for several layouts

Options… (Y, in Design mode) asks for a program (bedrooms, baths, other rooms, a target area, storeys) and a number of options, at most 8, and shows what that many agent turns would cost at the average of your last turns. It starts one conversation per option and ranks them as they finish. See Design mode.