Electron Desktop Chat Conversations

Find, resume, search, create, and delete saved Matrix chats in Electron Desktop, with guidance on conversation state, errors, and deletion behavior.

Maintained by the Matrix OS team. Product instructions are updated with the supported workflow.

Open Chat in Electron Desktop to find conversations on your selected Matrix computer. Chat uses the available agent harness and model selected in the composer. Saved conversations belong to the computer, so reopening the app does not start a separate history.

Find and resume a chat

Select a chat title to load its saved messages and continue the conversation. The chat list shows recent activity so you can find your latest work.

When history finishes loading, new entries appear together. Updated builds reuse the loaded list when you switch conversations or projects and check for changes in the background.

After restarting, Chat can show the last successful personal conversation list for your signed-in account and selected computer while it synchronizes. Titles and status indicators may briefly reflect that saved snapshot. Opening a conversation still loads its messages from the computer. The snapshot does not contain conversation messages and does not enable offline sending.

A temporary background-check failure keeps the last successful list visible. Reconnect or retry to update it. Switching accounts or computers keeps their lists separate; signing out clears the account's saved list on this device. Older computer runtimes remain compatible, but the first uncached list can take longer to load.

Open Search chats, enter words from a message, and press Enter. Search runs on your Matrix computer against committed message text and returns matching conversations. It is not a complete list of every conversation or an exact phrase search. Close the search field to clear the query and return to the recent chat list.

While Chat is active, press ⌘K on macOS or Ctrl+K on Windows and Linux to open Search chats. Outside Chat, the same shortcut opens the Command Palette. If the palette is already open, it keeps the shortcut until you close it.

Select New chat to open a draft. Choose an available harness and model, optionally add a project, then send your first message to create the saved conversation. Starting another draft does not delete an existing chat.

While Chat is active, ⌘N on macOS or Ctrl+N on Windows and Linux opens a separate draft using the current presentation. A floating Chat opens another floating Chat; a maximized Chat opens a new tab. Your existing conversation and unsent draft remain available.

Your selected computer owns the history

Switching Matrix computers loads that computer's conversations. If a chat is missing, check that you are connected to the computer where you created it. If loading fails, reconnect and reopen Chat before assuming the conversation was deleted.

New chat and Search stay visible while you scroll the conversation list. Search is highlighted while its dialog is open. Pinned stays above Projects. The Projects heading is shown as PROJECTS; folder icons identify the individual projects below it.

Point to a section heading, or move keyboard focus to it, to reveal the arrow beside its label. Select the heading to expand or collapse Pinned, Projects, Needs you, Working, or Done. A collapsed section shows its item count; Needs you keeps an amber badge when something needs your attention. Needs you, Working, and Done remain visible when empty or loading. Heading spacing follows the sidebar design and stays the same in expanded and collapsed sections. Done starts expanded; Electron Desktop remembers your section choices for your signed-in account and selected computer on this device.

Point to a chat row or move keyboard focus into it to reveal Pin / Unpin and …. The row menu offers the available rename, move-to-project, and delete actions. Right-click still opens the context menu, including read-state and copy actions. Long names use the full row width at rest, with an ellipsis when needed. Long names scroll within the row on hover or keyboard focus, making room for the action buttons and keeping the action buttons clear; reduced-motion preferences keep the shortened title. The full name is also available in the title tooltip.

Select a Bot under Agents to return to its saved conversation. Hover or focus its row, then choose …, followed by Details, to open its details. The Agents label opens Your AI team management; the separate arrow expands or collapses the Bot list. Hover or focus the heading to reveal + and open the New agent chooser, with Start from scratch alongside preset Bots. Canceling setup returns to the chooser and preserves its filters. Bot conversations remain separate from ordinary conversation groups.

Create a Bot from scratch

Upcoming Bot creation update

The creation and recovery improvements below require the upcoming update in both Electron Desktop and your selected Matrix computer. Older builds may behave differently or omit Recover Bot.

Choose Start from scratch, then enter Name and Instructions and choose an available Model. A recipe is optional; adding one also requires Expected output. If Create is unavailable, review the missing requirements beside it. Refresh unavailable model or recipe options, or remove an unavailable skill, while keeping your draft.

Successful creation opens the saved Bot's Chat. If saving cannot be confirmed, keep the form open and try again: the retry safely finishes the same Bot. If the Bot was saved but its Chat could not open, retry opening that Bot instead of creating a replacement.

Recover an older Bot

For an eligible older Bot using Matrix AI credits, select the Agents heading to open Your AI team, choose the saved Bot, then select Recover Bot. Save any draft changes or reopen the Bot first; recovery uses its saved settings. Recovery preserves the existing Chat, history and permissions. It does not grant broader access.

If the Bot changed since you opened it, reopen it in Your AI team before recovering. If recovery succeeds but the Chat does not open, retry to open the same Chat. Send a new message after recovery to continue the conversation.

Connect a provider

When the selected computer confirms that no provider is connected, the empty Chat view offers Connect Claude Code and Connect Codex. Claude Code uses the login method available on that computer. Connect Codex opens Agents & providers Settings for the supported account connection flow. Keep your draft while completing the connection.

If connection status is still being checked or is unavailable, Chat keeps the draft and normal empty view; use Check connection to refresh.

When the model picker keeps loading

In updated computer runtimes, large provider catalogs are bounded so the model picker can finish loading. Saved model selections are retained when they are still discovered, even if other models from that provider are omitted. This does not enable a provider that you have switched off or confirm permission to run a model.

If the picker remains on Loading, use Check connection or refresh provider status in Agents & providers. Check System info for the computer's running version when reporting a persistent failure to support. Your saved conversations and provider credentials do not need to be deleted to report this problem.

Check a saved connection in Settings

In updated builds, Agents & providers stays usable while you inspect a connection. Leaving the page open does not repeatedly reload provider status or disable its controls. Use Refresh provider status (↻) to check the selected computer again. Signing in or changing a connection still updates its status through the normal connection flow.

Hermes can show Checking connection when its last local account observation is no longer fresh. Your saved connection remains available for inspection; this status does not mean you have signed out and does not confirm that a model can run. Refresh the status before retrying a connection. Chat continues to check actual access when you send.

Use your ChatGPT connection from another device

In Electron Desktop, a ChatGPT subscription can be Connected on this device while the selected Matrix computer is still connected to a different device. In this state, GPT models are unavailable to Matrix AI even though your account sign-in succeeded.

Open Agents & providers, find your ChatGPT connection under Matrix AI, and choose Use this device when Settings reports the device conflict. This replaces the previous device connection for the selected computer. Requests using the previous connection stop; keep the new device online while Matrix AI chats and Bots use it.

Ordinary background reconnection does not replace another device. If recovery fails, check that you selected the intended computer and retry the action. Successful account sign-in alone does not confirm that the computer can use its models.

Model availability in the background

In updated Electron Desktop builds, Chat keeps the loaded provider and model list for your current sign-in and selected computer. Switching applications, opening the model selector, or leaving and returning to Chat does not restart discovery. The app refreshes availability in the background while you continue choosing a model or composing a message.

The first load after launching the app or changing accounts or computers may still need to check availability. The list is kept in memory for the current app session. Closing and relaunching Electron Desktop starts a fresh check.

Connection and configuration changes trigger a new check. A disconnected or newly unavailable model keeps its name and recovery status; Chat does not silently choose a replacement. A temporary background-check failure preserves the loaded list. Sending still checks current access, model availability, and any required credits on your Matrix computer.

Choose a Skill or command

Type / in the message box to browse the Skills and commands available to your selected agent. Keep typing to filter the list. Select an entry, or use the arrow keys and Enter, to insert it into your draft. Review the draft before sending; choosing an entry does not send a message. Press Escape to dismiss the list.

Availability depends on the selected agent and computer. The list shows a loading state during its initial check, an empty state when that agent offers no Skills or commands, and a no-match message when your filter has no results. In Electron Desktop, once loaded, ordinary background checks keep the existing list available.

Keep a chat unread

Right-click a chat in the list and choose Mark as unread, the first menu item. The unread indicator helps you keep a conversation for later. For an unread chat, the same menu position offers Mark as read.

Use Unread in the chat sidebar to show unread conversations, or All to return to the full list. Completed assistant messages you have not viewed also make a chat unread. Typing your own message or receiving tool activity does not.

Opening a loaded chat in a focused window marks the displayed replies read. If you mark the chat you are currently viewing unread, it stays unread until you leave and reopen it or explicitly choose Mark as read. Background windows do not mark chats read, and a newer reply remains unread if it arrives during a read update.

Read state is saved on the selected Matrix computer and shared between Electron Desktop and the web shell, including Web Desktop, Web Canvas, and Web Mobile. Connect both clients to the same computer to see the same state.

Delete a chat

Point to a row in the chat list, or move keyboard focus into it, then select …. You can also right-click the row.

Review the confirmation

Select Delete, then review the conversation title and permanent-deletion warning. Select Cancel to leave the chat unchanged.

Confirm the deletion

Select Delete chat to permanently remove that conversation and its messages from the selected Matrix computer. The row disappears only after the computer confirms the deletion.

A chat cannot be deleted while it has an active run. Stop the run or wait for it to finish before trying again. If deletion fails, the dialog shows an error; reconnect or refresh the conversation and retry. Closing a chat tab is separate from deleting its saved conversation.

Deletion cannot be undone

Delete permanently removes the selected chat and its messages. Keep any information you need before confirming.

Chat conversations in Electron Desktop