Using the Web Chat
Table of Contents
Every Agento agent comes with a built-in web chat interface. This guide shows you how to use it for testing, quick conversations, and debugging.
Open the Web Chat
- Go to the Agento dashboard
- Click on your agent
- Click the Chat tab (or the chat icon on the agent card)
The web chat opens in a full-screen interface with your agent's conversation history.
Send Messages
Type your message in the input field at the bottom and press Enter (or click the send button). Your agent will process the message and respond in real time.
The web chat supports:
- Plain text — regular conversations
- Markdown — bold, italic, code blocks, and lists in responses
- Code blocks — syntax-highlighted code in agent responses
- Multi-line input — press Shift+Enter for new lines
View Session History
Each conversation with your agent is a session. You can:
- Continue an existing session by selecting it from the sidebar
- Start a new session by clicking the New Chat button
- View past sessions to review previous conversations
Sessions persist across browser refreshes and device changes — your conversation history is stored on the server.
Real-Time Streaming
Agent responses stream in token by token, so you see the response as it's being generated. This gives you immediate feedback and makes conversations feel natural.
If the agent is working on a long response, you'll see a typing indicator until the first tokens arrive.
Debugging Tips
The web chat is a great tool for testing and refining your agent:
- Test system prompts — send edge-case messages to see how your agent handles them
- Check response quality — compare outputs across different AI models
- Verify tool use — if your agent has tools configured, watch how it invokes them
- Monitor latency — notice how quickly responses arrive to gauge model and provider performance
Keyboard Shortcuts
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| Enter | Send message |
| Shift+Enter | New line |
| Esc | Close chat (if in overlay mode) |
Troubleshooting
Chat shows "Agent offline": Your agent must be running to use web chat. Start it from the dashboard.
Messages aren't sending: Check your internet connection. The web chat requires an active connection to the Agento server.
Slow responses: This depends on the AI model and provider. Faster models (Claude Haiku, Gemini Flash) respond in 1-2 seconds. Larger models (Claude Opus, GPT-5.2) may take longer.