Interface Modes

  • Desktop app
  • All plans
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What it does

An interface mode chooses how much of the cockpit is on screen. Three modes:

  • Simple: "A project, your agents, one prompt". Agents open on the Conversation view (a chat) instead of the terminal. No Files & Changes panel (nor its side rail), no dock, no dev-command bar, no "Local storage only" banner, no Team tile or "When it runs" chips, a composer reduced to screenshot, dictation and send, an agent header reduced to name, model, menu and close, a footer reduced to the mode chip, the theme switch and the version number.
  • Balanced: "Agents and code review". Simple plus Files & Changes (rail visible, panel closed by default, with the branch, review and commit blocks), the Backlog, Preview, Prompts library and Triggers buttons of the dock, Terminal and Commands in the dev bar, Team, the Activity / Groups switch, the Prompt library, "send later" and queue buttons of the composer, and the Mobile and Usage chips of the footer. Connectors, git actions and the platform tools stay folded.
  • Full: "The whole cockpit", every tool on screen. This is the default for every existing installation and for a fresh install that skips the walkthrough.

Nothing is removed. A mode only folds: every folded element stays reachable through the search (⌘K), the menus, the keyboard shortcuts and Settings, and no feature is turned off. Switching back to Full gives back exactly the screen you had.

Where to find it

  • The Interface: Simple / Balanced / Full chip at the right of the footer, next to the theme switch. It cannot be hidden: it is the way back from every mode.
  • Settings > Interface mode (in the "Appearance & layout" group, always listed whatever the mode).
  • The first-launch walkthrough, Step 5 of 6, "How much cockpit do you want to see?": pre-selected from the experience level you declared (never used AI tools or beginner: Simple, at ease: Balanced, expert or no answer: Full), with a Recommended for you tag.
  • The early exit chat: when you say the app is Too complicated, the window switches to Simple by itself and the chat invites you to try again, with Put my previous screen back to undo (see Early Exit Chat).

How to use it

  1. Click the Interface: … chip in the footer (or open Settings > Interface mode).
  2. The picker shows three cards with a miniature of each layout and the list of what each mode adds over the lighter one ("Simple +", "Balanced +"). Nothing changes on screen while you look at them.
  3. Click Use Simple / Use Balanced / Use Full. The whole window folds or unfolds at once. Cancel leaves the current mode, marked Current.

Configure element by element… at the bottom of the picker opens Settings > Interface elements, where each chip, tab or button has its own checkbox. There, a line folded by the mode is greyed out with Folded by the Simple mode (or Balanced): the checkbox still records your own choice, which the mode never overwrites.

In Simple and Balanced, some Settings tabs are folded out of the left navigation. Show all settings (N folded by the Simple mode) at the bottom of the navigation lists them again for the time the window is open; a search result or a direct link to a folded tab always reveals it.

Settings

  • uiMode (global, Settings > Interface mode, or the footer chip): simple, balanced or full. Unset reads as full. Machine-local, like the theme: it is not synced between computers.
  • uiElements (global, Settings > Interface elements): your own per-element visibility map. The mode is a preset laid under it: an element is shown only when both the mode and your map allow it. See Interface Elements.

Agent tools (MCP)

  • settings_get / settings_set on uiMode: read or change the mode from an agent.

Providers

All providers, no difference: the mode only folds chrome of the AgentsRoom window.

Mobile

Not ported: the phone app is already the minimal interface (one project, its agents, one conversation). The site's live demo, when opened on a phone, runs the real desktop app in Simple mode ("The desktop app, in Simple mode"); the full cockpit is for the computer.

Limits

  • No live preview: hovering a card in the picker changes nothing behind the window; the miniature of each card is the preview, and the change applies on Use … only.
  • No command palette action to switch modes: the footer chip and the Settings tab are the two doors.
  • A few elements refuse to fold while they are the only way out: the Show the input box button while the input box is hidden, the fullscreen and conversation view buttons while that view is active, the dev-command bar while a command tab is open. The agent search comes back by itself once a project has many agents.
  • A beta tester keeps the Beta tab in Settings whatever the mode.
  • The composer without buttons still accepts drag and drop, @mentions and the keyboard queue.
  • Same on macOS, Windows and Linux.

Common questions

  • Did Simple mode delete my backlog / prompts / triggers? No. A mode hides buttons, never data or features. Open them from the search (⌘K), or switch back with the footer chip.
  • I hid an element myself, then chose Full. Why is it still hidden? Full only lifts the mode's preset. Your own choices in Settings > Interface elements stay as you set them.
  • Some Settings tabs are missing. They are folded by the mode: click Show all settings at the bottom of the Settings navigation, or switch to Full.
  • Which mode does a new install get? Full, unless the walkthrough was answered with a beginner or "at ease" level, which pre-selects Simple or Balanced on Step 5. Existing installs are never moved.
  • In Simple mode my agents open on a chat, not on the terminal. Is that normal? Yes, since 2026-10-01: with the Conversation view default left on auto, Simple opens every agent on the Conversation view, permission prompts of Claude Code and Codex included (Allow / Deny card). Balanced and Full keep the terminal. Set Settings > Terminal > Conversation view to Never to keep the terminal in Simple too, or click Terminal in the pane.
  • Can I have Simple on one computer and Full on another? Yes, the mode is stored per machine, like the theme.

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