--- title: "Use the chat builder" description: "The floating chat window for natural-language workflow construction, attachments, resizing, model overrides, trust modes." slug: guides/building-workflows/using-the-chat-builder section: guides subsection: building-workflows canonical_url: https://cerevisor.com/docs/guides/building-workflows/using-the-chat-builder last_verified: 2026-05-18 last_verified_version: "1.2.0" updated_at: 2026-05-18T15:08:18.053416+00:00 --- The **AI Chat Builder** lets you describe a workflow in plain English. It opens as a floating, draggable, resizable window over the canvas. ## Opening it - **Ctrl/Cmd+L** toggles it open/closed. - Click the **AI Builder** button in the canvas controls (purple gradient button with a star icon). ## What it does You type a message describing what you want, "Build a 3-agent research → writing → publishing pipeline" or "Add a reviewer that critiques the writer's output", and the chat builder applies structured edits to your workflow. Behind the scenes, it emits typed operations (`add agent`, `connect`, `set instructions`, etc.) which Cerevisor applies the same way you'd apply them by clicking. Every edit goes through the same undo stack as your manual edits; Ctrl+Z works. ## The window ### Position Drag the **header bar** of the window (not the buttons) to reposition. Position is clamped to the viewport: the window can't disappear off-screen. ### Resize Drag the **bottom-right corner handle** (cursor becomes `nwse-resize`). Constraints: - Minimum: 320 × 320 px. - Maximum: 960 × 1000 px. - Further clamped to your current Cerevisor window size minus a small margin. ### Minimize Click the minimize button in the header. The window collapses to a 240 × 44 strip. Click again to restore to your last size. ### Reset There's no dedicated reset button. If the window ends up in a weird state, restarting Cerevisor re-clamps it. ## The chat input A standard textarea with these behaviors: - **Enter** submits. - **Shift+Enter** inserts a newline. - The placeholder text suggests what to try. - The input grows vertically as you type, up to a cap. ## Attachments Below the input, two buttons: ### +Skill Opens a skill picker. Pick skills to stage; they appear as chips below the input. When you submit, the staged skills are included as context: the chat builder considers them when proposing edits. Useful when you want it to design a workflow around specific skills you have. ### +File Opens a file picker. Pick any file, markdown, PDF, text, image, code. The chat builder reads it and uses the content as part of the message context. For images: included as a base64 image block (vision-capable models will see them). For PDFs: text-extracted via `pdf-parse`. For markdown/code/text: included as a text block wrapped in `` tags so the model knows it's an attachment, not user prose. Staged attachments show as chips. Click the X on a chip to remove. ## Trust mode A dropdown above the input. Three levels: | Level | Behavior | |---|---| | **Full trust** | Chat builder applies every edit immediately. Fastest, lowest friction. | | **Ask me** | Chat builder previews each edit; you approve or reject before it applies. | | **Restricted** | Chat builder only proposes — no edits are applied. You read the proposals and copy what you want. | Default is **Full trust**. Lower trust if the chat builder keeps making changes you don't want, or you're using it as a brainstorm tool rather than an editor. ## Response mode | Mode | Behavior | |---|---| | **Apply edits** | The chat builder uses its tools (add agent, etc.) — actually edits your workflow. | | **Discuss only** | The chat builder talks about your workflow but doesn't change it. | Useful for "how would I structure this?" conversations where you want advice, not changes. ## Model picker Click the model badge in the header to open the model picker. Lists every model on your chat-builder provider (configured in **Settings → Chat Builder**). The picker shows a source label: - **From workflow override**: this workflow has a specific model set for the chat builder. - **From global override**: the chat-builder config has a model set. - **Provider default**: using whatever model the provider defaults to. - **Unset**: using the chat-builder provider's auto pick. ## Run report When a workflow run completes, the chat panel auto-appends a markdown **Run report** message showing every terminal agent's output. This makes the chat window double as a "what did my workflow produce?" log. The report: - Concatenates every leaf agent's output under per-agent headers. - Truncates at ~12,000 characters with a footer pointing back to the agent card. ## Stalled detection If the chat builder's generation stalls (no progress for several seconds), a **"Generation stalled, Rephrase?"** chip appears below the message. Click it to focus the input and try a different wording. ## Workflow-incomplete hint If your workflow has obvious gaps (no agents, no input configured, missing required fields), a **"Workflow incomplete"** chip appears above the input. Click it to jump to the relevant settings. ## What the chat builder is good at - Sketching the rough shape of a workflow from a description. - Adding agents you'd otherwise add by hand. - Connecting agents you'd otherwise wire manually. - Filling in role descriptions and instructions. - Quick edits ("rename the second agent to 'Senior reviewer'"). ## What it's not good at - Long, multi-step refactors. Do them in pieces. - Setting up MCP servers, providers, or other configuration outside the workflow. - Deciding what your workflow should *do*. It builds the structure you describe; it doesn't pick the goal. ## Provider caveat The chat builder needs a chat API. **Codex CLI** and **Cursor Agent** providers can't drive the chat builder; they have no chat-only mode. If your default provider is one of those, configure a different provider for the chat builder under **Settings → Chat Builder**.