How do I set the new Posit Assistant to be Ask mode only (disable agent mode)

[travis-leith]

With the apparently superseded Positron Assistant, this is easy, I can just toggle the setting in the bottom left. I do not see a similar mechanism in the new window. I am worried that this has not been considered. I almost never use agent mode as I find it too intrusive. I prefer to ask questions and I will make any code changes myself.

[dhruvisompura]

Hey @travis-leith, I just transferred this request over to the Posit Assistant feedback repo! The Posit Assistant folks will chime in here.

[wch]

Posit Assistant currently doesn't have an Ask mode. We have been considering adding a mode that's not able to make changes to files, but we haven't yet made a decision about it. In the meantime, you can just tell Posit Assistant not to make changes to files, or you can add a AGENTS.md file and add a sentence telling it not to make any changes to files.

[travis-leith]

If it is decided not to support Ask mode, will the usual chat widget remain so that people who want an ask mode can use it?

[wch]

Sorry, the older Positron Assistant chat widget will eventually go away. Its code is based on Microsoft/GitHub Copilot extension for VS Code, and maintaining it takes a significant amount of resources, because the Copilot code has been churning very rapidly.

[travis-leith]

Sounds sensible. In that case allow me to consolidate a pitch for an ask mode: Sometimes I need to flesh out an idea or explore my own thoughts and having someone to "talk" to is very useful. In agent mode, the AI is too eager to make changes, and this happens before I am done exploring the problem/topic or considering alternatives. Ask mode is perfect for this. It would be inconvenient to always have to say "don't make any changes we are just talking" with every interaction of this nature.