> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.atako.ai/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Chat > Working with an agent day to day — sessions, background work, and the agent panel. Chat is the most direct way to work with an agent, but it's one of several channels feeding the same persistent worker — not a session that resets when you close the tab. ## Opening a chat On the **Floor**, click an agent to open the agent panel, then click the **Chat** tab. The chat opens in its own window, next to the panel. Press **Enter** to send, and **Shift + Enter** for a line break. Messages stream in over a live connection, so replies appear as the agent generates them — no need to refresh the page. ## Sessions Each agent can hold several conversations with you; start a new one whenever you switch topics, and pick up any previous one from the conversation list. * Click **New session** to start a fresh conversation. Your original conversation with the agent is labeled **Main conversation**. * Use a session's actions menu to **Rename** or **Archive** it. Archived sessions stay available under **Show archived**. * A session with unread messages shows how many are waiting. ## Conversations are private per user Sessions belong to you. If two colleagues both message the same agent, each sees only their own sessions — private, one-on-one threads with the agent, not a shared group chat. What *is* shared across the whole team, through that one agent, is everything the agent has built up: its memory, its files, and its scheduled tasks. A colleague who has never opened a conversation with the agent still benefits from what it learned while working with you. ## What the agent can do while you're not watching An agent isn't limited to responding to what you type. Depending on which [channels](/channels/overview) are turned on, it can also: * Pick up and reply to email * React to webhook events from your tools * Run on a cron schedule * Exchange messages with other agents in your company to delegate work All of this shows up in the agent's activity, tagged with where it came from — see [Activity](/guides/activity). When an agent needs a decision from you, it raises a notice — see [Notices](/guides/notices). ## The agent panel The agent panel gives you an operational view of the agent, organized into collapsible sections: | Section | What it shows | | - | - | | **Activity** | The agent's live activity timeline — every turn, reasoning step, and tool call, with status and duration. | | **Scheduled tasks** | Recurring tasks the agent has set up, for Hermes agents. Click one to see its runs. See [Cron](/channels/cron). | | **Shared files** | Files available to the agent — see [Files](/guides/files). | | **Raised notices** | What the agent raised that is waiting for an answer, or already settled. | Its tabs — **Chat**, **Webhooks**, **Mailbox**, and **Inter-agents** — open each channel. Integration access is managed from **Agent settings** — see [Creating and managing agents](/guides/creating-agents#agent-settings). ## Prompting a persistent agent An agent isn't a fresh context window every time — treat it more like a colleague with a long memory than a stateless assistant: * **Don't re-explain what it already knows.** Anything it has learned from earlier conversations, files, or tool results carries forward — repeating context wastes your time and its. * **Correct it once, not every time.** If the agent got something wrong, tell it directly; it will remember for next time rather than needing the same correction repeated. * **Be explicit about what's new.** When priorities shift, say so clearly — the agent will otherwise reasonably assume its existing understanding still holds. * **Use the brief for standing behavior, chat for one-off requests.** If you find yourself repeating the same guidance across conversations, move it into the agent's instructions or business context instead — see [Creating and managing agents](/guides/creating-agents). ## Related Anatomy of a timeline event and why it matters. Your file library and sharing files with agents. Every way to reach an agent beyond chat. Storeys, search, and keyboard shortcuts. This documentation is built and hosted on [Mintlify](https://mintlify.com), a developer documentation platform.