Open Chat is a streamlined entry point for starting AI conversations without first creating a project. It provides a single textarea on the Compass landing page — type a question and start chatting immediately. Under the hood, Open Chat uses a dedicated per-user project that is automatically created from the Open Chat project template.
How It Works
Navigate to Compass or click the Open Chat icon (the first item in the sidebar). The page presents a textarea where you describe what you'd like to investigate. Click Start Chat to begin. Compass creates a new session in your Open Chat project and immediately starts the AI conversation — you are taken directly into the session workspace.
Each submission creates a separate session. The AI's behavior, available tools, and system prompt are all determined by the Open Chat template, which is configured by an administrator.
The Open Chat Project
The first time you use Open Chat, Compass automatically creates a personal Open Chat project from the Open Chat template. All subsequent Open Chat sessions are added to this same project. The project is private and owned by you.
To view your previous Open Chat sessions, click the Previous Sessions link on the Open Chat page, or follow the breadcrumb link from any session workspace back to the project. From the project detail page you can review, rename, or continue any past session.
Setup
Open Chat requires an administrator to create a project template named Open Chat. This template defines the system prompt, tools, and other configuration that all Open Chat sessions will use. If the template does not exist, users will see an error message when attempting to use Open Chat.
Access Control
- Architects can use Open Chat to start conversations.
- Authenticated users who are not Architects do not have access to Open Chat.