Projects

Open project folders, organize them in the sidebar and find the files your agents work on.

In Vato, a project is a folder on your computer. Every conversation belongs to a project, and its agent reads and edits files inside that folder.

Open a project

When no project is open, Vato shows its home screen:

  • Click Open a project and choose a folder.
  • Or click a folder under Recent projects.

When a project is already open, you can add another one:

  • Click the Open folder button at the top right of the sidebar list.
  • Or open the command palette with ⌘K on macOS or Ctrl+K on Windows. Type a project name to reopen it, or choose File: Open folder….
  • On Windows, you can also click the Vato icon at the top left, then File → Open folder….

Opening a folder also starts a new conversation in it.

Choose the project of a new conversation

A new conversation asks What are we building in followed by the project name. Click the project name to pick another project from the list, or choose Open a project… to add a folder.

Organize the sidebar

The sidebar can list conversations in two ways. Switch with the button next to New Agent:

  • Activity: what is running, what needs your answer and what just finished come first, across all projects.
  • Projects: one section per project under Repositories. Pinned conversations appear first, under Pinned.

In the Projects view, hover a project to see its buttons:

  • New conversation in this project starts a conversation in that folder.
  • Project actions opens a menu with Color, Open project and Remove from list.

You can drag a project to change its place in the list.

Hide a project

Remove from list hides the project from the sidebar without deleting its conversations. Open the same folder again to bring it back.

If a project folder is missing

If you moved or deleted a project folder, Vato shows This folder doesn't exist when you send the first message of a new conversation in it. Choose:

  • Create folder to create an empty folder at the same place.
  • Remove project to remove it from the sidebar.
  • Stop to do neither. Your message stays in the message field.

Find files

Vato has no file tree. Agents search and read your project for you, and you reach files through the conversation:

  • Type @ in the message field to mention a file or a folder.
  • Click a file name in an agent's answer to open it. See Files and split view.
  • Review the files an agent changed in the changes card. See Review changes.

To help agents find the right code faster, Vato builds a private local index of your projects in the background. You can turn it off in Settings → General → Index projects automatically. It is on by default.