Getting Started
Chatons is a desktop AI workspace built with Electron, React, TypeScript, SQLite, and Pi Coding Agent.
What Chatons Does
- Threaded AI conversations with model selection and thinking-level control
- Project-linked conversations with access to your codebase
- Per-conversation access modes (secure or open)
- Live file-change tracking and inline diffs
- Optional Git worktree isolation per conversation
- Project terminal for running commands
- Built-in automation rules and memory system
- Extensible via user-installed extensions and Pi skills
- Provider management with API key and OAuth authentication
First Launch
On first launch, Chatons shows a short intro slideshow, then walks you through setup:
- Provider setup -- Choose a provider (OpenAI, Mistral, Ollama, etc.), enter your API key or authenticate with OAuth
- Model scope -- Select which models appear in your everyday model picker
- Validation -- Chatons verifies the setup works
After onboarding, you land in the main workspace with sidebar, conversation panel, and composer.
You can re-open onboarding at any time with Cmd+Shift+O (macOS) or Ctrl+Shift+O (Windows/Linux).
Start Here
| You are... | Read this |
|---|---|
| A user | User Guide |
| A developer / contributor | Developer Guide |
| Building an extension | Extensions Overview then Tutorial |
System Requirements
- macOS 11+ (Intel or Apple Silicon)
- Windows 10+ (64-bit)
- Linux (64-bit, tested on Ubuntu 22.04+)
- Internet connection for cloud model providers (local providers like Ollama work offline)
Key Concepts
| Concept | What it means |
|---|---|
| Thread | A conversation. Can be global or linked to a project. |
| Project | A local Git repository imported into Chatons. |
| Scoped models | The subset of models you have starred for quick access. |
| Access mode | secure limits the AI to the project directory. open gives full filesystem access. |
| Worktree | Optional Git branch isolation per conversation thread. |
| Extension | A user-installed add-on with its own UI, storage, and optional LLM tools. |
| Skill | A Pi-managed capability installed via the Pi skills catalog. |
| Automation | A rule that triggers an action when an event occurs (e.g. notify on new conversation). |