# Bot threads

> Keep a bot's general chat for who it is, open a separate thread with /new for each piece of work, and follow each routine run in its own thread.

A bot has one **General chat** and as many **threads** as you want, a bit like threads on Discord.

- The **General chat** is where you shape the bot: tell it what to remember, how to behave and what its job is.
- A **thread** is a separate conversation for one topic or task. The bot keeps its name, role, instructions, reviewed memory and brief, but the thread starts without the General chat history. Long work in a thread doesn't fill up the General chat, and the General chat doesn't leak into the thread.

## Threads improve the bot

Every thread shares the same bot. When you tell the bot something lasting in a thread (a preference, a correction, a fact to remember, a new way to behave), it can update its profile itself:

- **Memory**: the reviewed notes shown in **Actions → Memory**.
- **Instructions and role**: its personality and standing instructions, shown in **Actions → Edit profile**.
- **Working brief**: the facts it keeps about its mission.

The change applies right away to the General chat and to every other thread. You can review or edit these fields at any time. Routine runs, groups and delegated tasks can't change them.

Routines and actions the bot creates, from the General chat or a thread, use the bot's own settings: its model, its reasoning effort and automatic account selection. The bot doesn't ask you which model or account to use. Change the bot's model in its settings, or tell the bot explicitly if one routine should use a different model.

## Routine runs are threads

Each time a routine runs, it gets its own thread, named after the routine. Everything about that run stays there:

- Questions and permission requests the bot asks during the run appear in the run's thread, and you answer them there.
- If the run fails or gets blocked, the bot asks you what to do in that same thread.
- You can keep talking in a run's thread after it finishes, for example to ask for details or a follow-up.
- The report card posted in the General chat has an **Open the run's thread** link.

Notifications follow the same rule: a question from a routine, or its report, opens the run's thread on your computer and on your phone.

A thread waiting for your answer shows a warning icon in the thread menu. On the desktop and vatoide.com, a dot also appears next to the menu while you are elsewhere.

### Routine runs don't pile up

A routine that runs every hour would otherwise add a thread every hour. To keep the list short:

- **One line per routine.** The thread menu, the overview sidebar, the mobile app and vatoide.com show each routine once, as its latest run, with the number of runs, for example **Routine · 17 runs**. A run waiting for your answer keeps its own line.
- **Finished runs archive themselves.** For bots on this computer, a run that succeeds, has no question waiting and where you didn't write anything is archived as soon as it finishes. Its report is already in the General chat. Failed runs, runs waiting for you and runs where you replied stay in the list. Archived runs stay in the full list, under their routine.
- **Nothing to report.** With **Only report what changed** turned on for a routine, a run with nothing new ends with **NOTHING_TO_REPORT**: no report in the chat, and the run is marked **Nothing to report**.

In **Actions → Threads**, the runs of a routine are grouped in one card with the number of runs and of runs with nothing to report. Click the card to unfold its runs, or choose **Archive runs** to archive every finished run of that routine at once.

## Open a thread

In the message field of any bot conversation, type `/`: the composer suggests **/new**. Press Tab or Enter to complete it, then add your message if you want one. On the desktop, the command is then marked above the message field.

| Command | What it does |
| --- | --- |
| `/new` | Opens an empty thread. |
| `/new <message>` | Opens a thread and sends `<message>` as its first message. The thread is named after it. |

You can also open the thread menu under the bot's name at the top of the chat and choose **New thread**.

`/new` works for bots on this computer and bots on Vato Cloud, from the desktop, the mobile app and the vatoide.com companion, where `/new` also appears in the slash command list. The new thread opens as soon as it is created, even if the bot is busy in another conversation.

## Switch between threads

On the desktop, the bot list in the sidebar shows how many threads each bot has. Click that number to unfold the bot's threads under its name, then click a thread to open it. Routine runs appear there only while they wait for your answer; find the others in the thread menu. The bot you are viewing unfolds automatically, and a dot marks threads waiting for your answer. Click the bot's name to go back to its **General chat**.

You can also click the name under the bot's name at the top of the chat (**General chat** or the current thread's title). The menu lists the **General chat**, then your threads and routine runs, most recent first. On mobile, tap the bot's name. The vatoide.com companion has the same menu under the bot's name.

## Archive, mute or delete a thread

Every thread has the same actions wherever you see it:

| Action | What it does |
| --- | --- |
| **Archive** | Removes the thread from the thread menu and the sidebar. It stays in the full list; **Unarchive** puts it back. |
| **Mute notifications** | The thread keeps working, but its questions and reports no longer notify you on your computer or phone. |
| **Delete** | Deletes the thread and its messages for good. For a thread with messages, the first click turns **Delete** into a red **Confirm** in the same menu; click it to delete. A thread you opened but never used is deleted right away. A thread that is still working can't be deleted. |

Where to find them:

- **Desktop sidebar**: hover a thread under its bot and click **…**.
- **Thread menu** under the bot's name: the **This thread** section acts on the thread you are viewing.
- **Actions → Threads** on the desktop: buttons on every thread, archived ones included.
- **Mobile**: long-press a thread in the thread list, or use the buttons in **All threads**.
- **vatoide.com**: the buttons in **All threads**.

## See all threads

The thread menu shows your threads that aren't archived. To see all of them, including old and archived ones:

- **Desktop**: choose **Threads** at the bottom of the thread menu, or **Actions → Threads**.
- **Mobile and vatoide.com**: open the thread menu and choose **All threads**.

From there you can:

- **Open** any thread to pick it up again.
- **Archive**, **mute** or **delete** it, as described above.

The General chat can't be hidden or deleted.

## What stays in the General chat

- Background reports from routines and actions are posted in the General chat as a card. The card shows the source (**Routine**, **Trigger**, **Action** or **Daily digest**), the run's title, a status (**Done**, **Failed**, **Blocked** or **To review**) and the time it was posted. A long report is folded after a few lines; select **Show more** to read all of it. The card also has a link to the run's thread. On the desktop, reports posted one after another with nothing said in between are folded into one line, for example **Between 14:00 and 18:00 · 8 routines ran**, with a **1 failed** or **1 to review** badge when needed; click the line to show the cards. Mobile and vatoide.com still show each card.
- Editing a sent message, restore points and reactions are available in the General chat only.

## Changes the bot makes show in the chat

When the bot changes its own setup during a conversation, a small line records it where it happened, for example **Routine created · Vato IG — 5 random captions**. This covers routines (created, updated, paused, resumed, started, routine memory), actions, triggers, knowledge, skills, the brief, and its role, instructions and memory. A change still in progress in the current turn shows a spinner; the same change repeated in a row shows once with a count, for example **Brief updated ×5**; a failed attempt changed nothing and shows no line. The bot's internal work notes (checkpoints, working ledger) stay hidden. Changes you make yourself in the **Actions** menu don't add a line.

## Limits

- The thread menu lists the 30 most recent threads and the 20 most recently active routines of a bot, one line each.
- The full list shows every thread on the desktop for bots on this computer. For Vato Cloud bots, and on mobile and vatoide.com, it shows the 100 most recent.
- Threads can't be renamed yet.
- On a Vato Cloud bot, a thread keeps the model it had when it was opened. Model and account changes apply to the General chat.
- A Vato Cloud machine that hasn't been updated yet refuses `/new` and asks you to update it.

Source: https://vatoide.com/docs/bots/threads