Modes and Project Scope
Two controls in the composer footer decide what a conversation can do: the mode, and the project scope. Everything else is just what you type.
Modes
The mode is set per conversation and resets when you start a new chat.
| Mode | Hint shown in the UI | Can it change anything? |
|---|---|---|
| Default | General coding assistance | No |
| Diagnose | Work out why something is failing, and explain the cause | No |
| Plan | Break work into steps, without changing anything | No |
| Build | Make changes, with approval at each boundary | Yes, with approval |
A mode changes two things: whether the run may change anything, and how the answer is shaped.
The three read-only modes get 24 read tools. Build adds 29 tools that can change things on top of those.
Default
General coding assistance. Reads what it needs, answers the question, changes nothing. This is where most work happens, and it is the mode a new chat starts in.
Diagnose
Reach for it when something is failing and you do not yet know why. Diagnose establishes the cause before proposing a fix, and says plainly when the evidence is insufficient rather than guessing at a likely-sounding one.
Plan
Reach for it before a change you have not thought through. Plan produces ordered steps with the reason for each, and names what could go wrong. It changes nothing — you read the plan, then decide.
Build
Reach for it when you want the work done. Build works in small steps and stops at anything needing a decision, so you approve at each boundary rather than reading about it afterwards. See Approvals.
Which mode?
| The question I have | Mode |
|---|---|
| "What does this workflow do?" | Default |
| "How do I write this transform?" | Default |
| "Why is this node erroring?" | Diagnose |
| "These messages are being dropped somewhere" | Diagnose |
| "What would it take to split this workflow in two?" | Plan |
| "Give me the steps to add HL7 validation here" | Plan |
| "Add a filter node between these two" | Build |
| "Fix the bug you just found" | Build |
Find the cause in Diagnose, then switch the same conversation to Build and ask for the fix. The conversation keeps what it learned.
Selecting Build is a request, not an entitlement
Choosing Build asks for permission to change things. It does not grant it.
A user who holds no editing permission gets a read-only answer and is told so, in these words:
You do not have permission to make changes, so the assistant will answer without changing anything.
The answer is still useful — it explains what would need to change. It just does not change it. Which editing permissions unlock Build, and what each one allows, is in AI Roles and Permissions.
Build also needs a project in scope. With No project selected it can do exactly two things, covered below.
Project scope
The scope selector sits in the composer footer, between the mode dropdown and the model picker.
Scope tells the assistant which project "this project" means, and it is what lets it search that project's documents.
What the selector lists
- Every project you can open. If you cannot open it, it is not there.
- No project — a real choice, not a missing value.
- A search box, for instances with enough projects that scrolling is tedious.
How scope is set
| Situation | What happens |
|---|---|
| You start a new chat | It is scoped to the project you are working in, taken from the page you opened the panel on |
| You reopen an existing conversation | Its scope is exactly what it was. A conversation never changes its own scope |
| You want a different project | Change it yourself in the selector — deliberately |
The scope is remembered with the conversation.
With No project
The assistant can still explain, plan, and answer general questions. It cannot:
- create or edit workflows, nodes, or files
- search project documents
In Build with no project it can do exactly two things: create a project, and validate Lua. So "create me a project" is a legitimate scopeless request — you do not need to pick a project first to make one.
When the page and the scope disagree
If the page you are on belongs to a different project than the conversation's scope, the page chip is badged another project, and the scope is not moved.
The assistant is told both facts — where you are, and what the conversation is scoped to — and will ask which you meant rather than choosing for you.
Navigating to another project mid-conversation does not re-point the conversation. This is deliberate: a conversation that quietly changed which project it was editing would be a bad surprise. Change the scope yourself, or start a new chat.
Scope the assistant sets itself
There is one exception. If the assistant creates a project and the conversation had no scope, the conversation adopts the new project. Your next message is already pointed at it.
Unknown project
A conversation scoped to a project you can no longer open shows Unknown project. The project was deleted, or your access to it was removed. Pick a different project, or start a new chat.
Verify it worked
- The composer footer shows a mode and a project name.
- A new chat opens on Default, scoped to the project you are in.
- Switching to Build with an editing permission gets you an approval prompt on the first change, not a refusal.
- Asking about a project document returns something from that project — proof the scope is doing its job. See Project documents.
If it didn't work
| Symptom | Cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Build answers read-only: "You do not have permission to make changes…" | Your role holds none of the Build permissions | Ask an administrator for the editing permission the work needs — see AI Roles and Permissions |
| Build answers read-only and mentions no project in scope | The conversation is on No project | Pick a project in the scope selector and ask again |
| The assistant says it has no project in scope | Same cause — it cannot reach workflows, nodes, files, or project documents without one | Pick a project. If you meant to create one, ask it to — that works with no scope |
| The page chip is badged another project | You navigated to a project other than the conversation's scope | Answer the assistant's question, or set the scope to the project you actually mean |
| Scope shows Unknown project | The project was deleted, or your access to it was removed | Pick a project you can open, or start a new chat |
| The mode reset on its own | You started a new chat. The mode is per conversation | Set the mode again on the new chat |
| A project is missing from the selector | You are not a collaborator on it | Ask to be added as a collaborator — no AI setting substitutes for project access |
Next
- Choosing a Model — Auto, cost bands, and when to override
- Approvals — what Build stops for, and how to review it
- Attachments and Context — files, images, and what the assistant already knows
- Conversations — history and what a conversation remembers
- AI Roles and Permissions
- Policy, Budgets and Limits
- Using the AI Assistant