Chat with Brief in a terminal

After installing the CLI and signing in, run brief chat in an interactive terminal to keep a conversation open while you work. You can start from any directory. For a single question or a script, use brief ask instead.

brief chat
brief chat -c <conversation-id>
brief chat --new
brief chat --browse
brief chat "What should I work on next?"

-c opens a specific conversation. --new starts a fresh one; it cannot be combined with -c. A prompt after brief chat becomes the first turn. Inside chat, /browse opens your conversations and /resume <id> switches to one. After a conversation has started, the terminal prints brief chat -c <id> on exit so you can resume later.

Work in a conversation

Type a message and submit it to Brief. Use /help to see available commands and keys. /new starts a fresh conversation, /model opens model choices, /status shows the conversation, model and worktree, /transcript opens the transcript, and /stop stops the current turn. /expand shows the last tool result; /redraw clears the screen and replays the conversation. /copy copies the last answer; /feedback + or /feedback - <reason> rates it. /quit exits while leaving the conversation resumable. /preset opens workspace prompts when any are configured.

Use brief chat --model <id> to select a model at launch, --folder <uuid> to scope document context to a folder, or --docs <comma-separated-uuids> to include specific documents. Inside chat, /model changes the choice for the next turn. If the command says it needs an interactive terminal, run it in a terminal or use brief ask for a one-shot request.

Use project context

In a Git worktree, chat can attach context from the current branch and changes. It can also use local file tools. Run brief chat --no-context if you do not want the worktree context attached. When the branch has a ticket, chat can automatically review the branch against that ticket once per commit when you open it without a starting prompt. Use --no-gap-read to skip that automatic review. You can attach a file to the first turn with brief chat --attach <path>; repeat the option for multiple files. During chat, use /attach <path> to add one local file to the next message. Type @ followed by a document title to mention a Brief document, or start with @./ to select a file in the worktree. Ordinary terminal chat works outside a worktree, but worktree context and local file tools require one.

Use /context or /context show to inspect the worktree context sent with each turn. /context off stops sending it for this session, and /context on reads it again and restores it. Use /refresh to re-read the branch, changed files, and recent commits. Run /gap to ask Brief to review the branch against the ticket in its name. Run /review-pr to review the current branch's pull request; it needs a branch and reviews the branch diff if no pull request is found.

To work with Brief documents, use /doc read <id|query>, /doc edit <id|query>, /doc new [title], or /doc open <id|query>. A query with multiple matches asks you to choose a document ID. See Documents for more document tasks.

The terminal accepts supported PDF, image, text, and Office file uploads up to 10 MB, with a 5 MB limit for images. Files of other types can be provided as local worktree context when they are inside the worktree, readable, and no larger than 1 MB. A file outside the worktree that cannot be uploaded is refused.

Other people and coding agents can contribute to the same Brief conversation. The terminal updates as their turns arrive. When Brief requests approval for an action, review the request in the terminal. Choose Accept, Reject, or Discuss further (back to the composer). The shortcuts are a, r, and d; arrow keys and Enter also work. /approvals or Shift-Tab returns to a pending request.

To post one turn from a coding agent into a shared conversation, use brief ask --as-agent -c <conversation-id> "What should I check next?". The CLI guide covers one-shot Ask options. If a chat turn fails, use /retry for the last message or /status to inspect the current session; use /browse if you need to find the conversation again.

To ask the coding agent installed on your machine about the current worktree, run brief consult "What changed on this branch?" from that worktree, or use /consult <question> inside terminal chat. These commands need a Git worktree and either Claude Code or the Codex CLI installed. You can choose one for the CLI command with brief consult --harness codex "What changed on this branch?". The agent's answer is posted to the Brief conversation; use brief consult -c <conversation-id> "<question>" to choose a specific conversation.

Use /agents in terminal chat to list known worktrees and agent sessions in this repository. To send a message to another ticket's conversation, use /tell <ticket-id> <message with a reason>. For example, /tell <ticket-id> Please check the migration because the schema changed. The target worktree must already have a Brief conversation. If an agent session there can receive messages, /tell also delivers it to that session; otherwise, the message remains in the conversation.