Delegate AI Work to Agent Chat

Rule

Use the agent chat for work that needs AI reasoning, research, generation, or multi-step decisions. Keep app actions deterministic; let the agent orchestrate them so the user can see and steer the work.

Start a visible agent turn

Call sendToAgentChat() from the UI and open the AgentSidebar for user-initiated work:

import { sendToAgentChat } from "@agent-native/core/client/agent-chat";

sendToAgentChat({
  message: userRequest,
  context: JSON.stringify({ documentId }),
  submit: true,
  openSidebar: true,
});

Keep the user's request in message. Put only concise supporting context—such as a selected record id, current view, or bounded excerpt—in context. Use attachments or image fields for files and visuals; do not serialize full records or credentials into a prompt. The agent should read private or large data through the app's authorized actions.

Use submit: true when a clear user action already states the intent. Use submit: false to open the composer with a prefill when the user should review or complete the request. Do not auto-submit a generic generation prompt before the user has supplied the request.

Reserve background: true with openSidebar: false for work the product intentionally runs silently, such as a system-initiated task. A button that asks the user to do AI work should open the sidebar.

Keep the boundary clear

• Use focused actions for provider reads, validation, deterministic transformations, database writes, and other explicit operations.
• Let the agent choose and sequence those actions for AI-shaped workflows.
• Keep a user's freeform prompt in the AgentSidebar composer. Use controls for structured parameters; do not add a second prompt or follow-up textbox.
• Do not call model-provider SDKs, completeText(), or AI SDK generation functions from app UI, actions, or server helpers. Do not make an action a hidden second agent.

Related skills

• actions — define deterministic operations shared by the UI and agent.
• context-awareness — provide navigation and selected-record context.