Chat Tool - General Development Chat & Collaborative Thinking

Your thinking partner - bounce ideas, get second opinions, brainstorm collaboratively

The chat tool is your collaborative thinking partner for development conversations. It's designed to help you brainstorm, validate ideas, get second opinions, and explore alternatives in a conversational format.

Thinking Mode

Default is medium (8,192 tokens). Use low for quick questions to save tokens, or high for complex discussions when thoroughness matters.

Example Prompt

Chat with zen and pick the best model for this job. I need to pick between Redis and Memcached for session storage 
and I need an expert opinion for the project I'm working on. Get a good idea of what the project does, pick one of the two options
and then debate with the other models to give me a final verdict

Key Features

Collaborative thinking partner for your analysis and planning
Get second opinions on your designs and approaches
Brainstorm solutions and explore alternatives together
Validate your checklists and implementation plans
General development questions and explanations
Technology comparisons and best practices
Architecture and design discussions
File reference support: "Use gemini to explain this algorithm with context from algorithm.py"
Image support: Include screenshots, diagrams, UI mockups for visual analysis: "Chat with gemini about this error dialog screenshot to understand the user experience issue"
Dynamic collaboration: Gemini can request additional files or context during the conversation if needed for a more thorough response
Web search capability: Analyzes when web searches would be helpful and recommends specific searches for Claude to perform, ensuring access to current documentation and best practices

Tool Parameters

prompt: Your question or discussion topic (required)
model: auto|pro|flash|o3|o3-mini|o4-mini|o4-mini-high|gpt4.1 (default: server default)
files: Optional files for context (absolute paths)
images: Optional images for visual context (absolute paths)
temperature: Response creativity (0-1, default 0.5)
thinking_mode: minimal|low|medium|high|max (default: medium, Gemini only)
use_websearch: Enable web search for documentation and insights (default: true)
continuation_id: Continue previous conversations

Usage Examples

Basic Development Chat:

"Chat with zen about the best approach for user authentication in my React app"

Technology Comparison:

"Use flash to discuss whether PostgreSQL or MongoDB would be better for my e-commerce platform"

Architecture Discussion:

"Chat with pro about microservices vs monolith architecture for my project, consider scalability and team size"

File Context Analysis:

"Use gemini to chat about the current authentication implementation in auth.py and suggest improvements"

Visual Analysis:

"Chat with gemini about this UI mockup screenshot - is the user flow intuitive?"

Best Practices

Be specific about context: Include relevant files or describe your project scope
Ask for trade-offs: Request pros/cons for better decision-making
Use conversation continuation: Build on previous discussions with continuation_id
Leverage visual context: Include diagrams, mockups, or screenshots when discussing UI/UX
Request web searches: Ask for current best practices or recent developments in technologies

When to Use Chat vs Other Tools

Use chat for: Open-ended discussions, brainstorming, getting second opinions, technology comparisons
Use thinkdeep for: Extending specific analysis, challenging assumptions, deeper reasoning
Use analyze for: Understanding existing code structure and patterns
Use debug for: Specific error diagnosis and troubleshooting

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