reyn chat

Start an interactive REPL session attached to an agent. Each user turn is dispatched through the skill_router stdlib skill, which classifies the intent and either replies directly, runs a project / stdlib skill, or delegates to another agent.

Memory recall and write happen automatically inside the router phase — see concepts/memory.

Synopsis

reyn chat [agent_name] [OPTIONS]

agent_name is positional and optional. When omitted, reyn attaches to the auto-created default agent.

Options

Common runtime flags (--model, --output-language, --phase-budget, --llm-timeout, --llm-max-retries) are shared with reyn run and reyn eval. See Common flags.

Chat-specific flags:

Flag	Default	Description
--cui	off	Use plain console output (no TUI). Useful for piping output, debugging, or headless environments.
--no-restore	off	Skip restoring in-flight skill state from disk this run. Useful for debugging or starting a clean session.
--reset	off	Wipe in-flight skill state (snapshots + WAL) before starting. Audit logs in .reyn/events/ are preserved.
--banner	off	Show the ASCII-art startup banner (gradient REYN logo + agent / model info).
--eager-embedding-build	off	Await action embedding index build synchronously on the first turn (pays ~2–5 s once so search_actions is immediately available).
--allow-unsafe-python	off	Enable mode: unsafe Python preprocessor steps. --allow-untrusted-python is a legacy alias.
--grant-file-write	off	Grant file.read/file.write at the resolver layer for this session, scoped to the sandbox write zone. For non-interactive/scripted use — when you know the agent will need to edit the working tree and want to avoid the per-skill permission prompt.
--exclude-tools NAMES	—	Comma-separated tool names to hide from the agent's LLM-visible catalog (e.g. web__search,web__fetch). The tools still exist and still run if the agent calls them by name; they are just not offered to the model's discovery surface this session.
--connect <WS_URL>	off	Connect to a remote reyn web server over WebSocket (e.g. --connect ws://localhost:8080). The positional agent_name selects which agent on the server. Requires pip install reyn[web]. Right panel features that need local file access render in "remote — limited" v1 mode.

Agent workspace

Each agent persists state under .reyn/agents/<name>/:

• profile.yaml — name, role, optional allowed_mcp
• history.jsonl — append-only conversation log (chat + agent-to-agent messages, with chain_id for cross-agent trace)
• events.jsonl — runtime events for reyn events
• memory/ — agent-scoped memory layer (MEMORY.md + body files)
• runs/ — workspaces for spawned skill runs

To resume a previous conversation, attach to the same agent:

reyn chat researcher

The default agent always exists. Create more with reyn agent new.

Slash commands

While a session is active, lines starting with / are intercepted and never routed to an agent.

Command	Effect
/agent edit role <text>	Rewrite the attached agent's persona
/agent new <name>	Create new agent and attach to it
/agents	List loaded agents and which one is currently attached
/answer <id-prefix> <text>	Answer a pending ask_user / permission prompt (id-prefix: any unique prefix of the intervention id)
/attach <name>	Switch the REPL pointer to another agent (the previous one keeps running in the background)
/budget [reset]	Full budget breakdown; /budget reset clears per-process counters (see config/budget)
/cancel <id-prefix>	Cancel a running skill (accepts any unique prefix of the run_id)
/clear-history	Wipe chat history (destructive; clears in-memory + persistent history)
/compact	Compact the conversation history now to free up the context window (see chat-compaction)
/concept <term>	Inline glossary lookup (T1-3)
/copy [N\|list]	Copy an agent reply to the clipboard (1 = newest, 2 = one turn back, …)
/cost	Quick token + USD cost summary for this agent
/exit	Exit the chat (alias: /quit, Ctrl+D)
/help [<cmd>]	Slash command help — list all, or focus on one
/image <path>	Attach an image to the next user message (multimodal input)
/list	List running skills and pending interventions
/memory [list\|view <name>]	Inspect project memory entries (see concepts/memory)
/model [<class>]	Show the session's model class and any override, or set a per-session model-class override with /model <class> (validated against known classes; clears on restart)
/pending [list\|discard <id>\|claim <id>]	List / discard / claim stalled cross-channel ops
/quit	Exit the chat (alias: /exit, Ctrl+D)
/reset confirm	Reset in-flight skill state (snapshots + WAL; audit logs preserved)
/rewind [seq]	Time-travel to an earlier checkpoint — no arg opens the picker menu; seq jumps directly (see Time-travel · How-to)
/session new \| switch <sid> \| list	Open / switch / list conversation sessions for the attached agent (see Sessions)
/skill list	Show active skill runs (id, name, current phase + parent lineage)
/skill discard <run_id>	Abort a specific skill run + cleanup
/skills	List available skills (stdlib, project, local)
/tasks	Unified view of active skill runs. Same as /tasks list
/tasks status <prefix>	Show current phase + elapsed for a specific skill run
/tasks kill <prefix>	Cancel a specific skill run; prefix matches against skill run_ids

/list / /cancel / /answer are foundational — they let multiple skill runs and interventions coexist without blocking the prompt. /agents / /attach / /agent are the multi-agent workflow primitives. /skill is the crash-recovery operator command that surfaces the per-skill-run lifecycle: inspect what is running or abort a stuck run. /tasks is the unified entry point for skill runs — the LLM also points users at /tasks after a skill is spawned. /copy is a conversation-pane utility; /image enables multimodal input.

Multi-agent behavior

If the router decides this turn would be better handled by another agent, it emits a messages_to_agents entry instead of (or in addition to) a skills_to_run entry. The receiving agent processes the request asynchronously; its reply is auto-routed back into the originating chain. See concepts/multi-agent for the full model.

A user-initiated chain emits an interim reply_text (the originating agent's first router turn) followed by a synthesized final reply (after delegate responses arrive). This preserves the "you'll see I'm working on it" UX even across hops.

The /attach slash lets you watch a delegate's progress mid-chain — the previous agent's session.run() keeps consuming its inbox, so coming back later still resolves cleanly.

Permission behavior

reyn chat is interactive: when a sub-skill needs a permission outside the defaults, the prompt blocks until you respond via the intervention queue. Choices can be persisted to .reyn/approvals.yaml (see permissions reference).

Examples

Start a new session against the default agent:

reyn chat

Attach to a named agent:

reyn chat researcher

Use a stronger model just for this conversation:

reyn chat --model strong

See also

• Reference: agent CLI — reyn agent new / list / show / rm
• Reference: topology CLI — reyn topology to declare communication structure
• Reference: multi-agent config — safety.loop.max_agent_hops
• Reference: state-dir — agents/ location
• Concepts: multi-agent
• Concepts: memory