Projects and chats in Otter Beam

Which part of the workspace does what?

Projects

The project rail takes you to a folder on a host. The computer matters: a folder with the same name on another machine is a different location.

Chats

The chat list lets you choose existing work or start a new chat. Selecting another chat changes the task you are looking at, not the project's files.

Chat view and terminal view

Supported agent chats offer a chat view for prompts, replies and tool activity, and a terminal view of the agent interface. A standalone terminal is separate; it is not automatically a chat with an agent.

Files and displays

Bottom tools give access to the computer's files and supported display features. A remote display is separate from an agent chat.

See these areas highlighted in the real workspace screenshot. Phone, foldable and desktop layouts adapt to the available space, so the list and the chat are not always visible together.

A practical project-to-chat workflow

Start with a configured, reachable host — a Mac, a Linux computer or a Windows PC — and an approved client device. If this is your first connection, follow the phone setup guide first.

1. Pick the folder where the work belongs. Use the Project entry to choose a folder on the intended host. For example, choose your application's repository rather than a similarly named copy on another computer.
2. Read the project's chat list. Choose the existing chat when you want its previous context. Choose New chat for a separate task.
3. Keep the task in that chat. Read the response, inspect the changes and send follow-up instructions there. For an agent that supports it, open its terminal view when the task calls for terminal interaction.
4. Return to the same host and project from another device. Approve that device and reopen the chat. A larger display can show the list beside the chat; a phone gives the active content more space.

Multiple chats in one project can work on the same files. A new chat is not automatically a separate checkout or a copy of the repository. Coordinate concurrent edits as you would when working directly on the computer.

Why can I not find my chat?

1. Check the computer. Confirm the host is powered on, awake and connected. A phone connection cannot recover a process from a computer that has shut down.
2. Check the device approval and connection. Resolve an approval or connection problem before treating an empty list as missing work.
3. Check the folder. Select the project associated with the chat's working directory. A matching project name alone does not establish that you selected the same host and path.
4. Check how the agent was started. Otter Beam supports specific agent integrations and tmux sessions. A process launched in an arbitrary terminal is not guaranteed to appear or be resumable in every integration.
5. Check the agent on the host. If that agent has exited or cannot authenticate with its provider, reconnecting your phone does not resolve the underlying problem. Inspect the host before launching duplicate tasks.

If the host is reachable but the expected chat is still absent, send support the app version, platform, agent name and a description of how you started it. Keep credentials and private conversation contents out of the report.

Which agents and platforms are supported?

Otter Beam integrates with Claude Code, Codex, Grok Build, Pi, Oh My Pi (OMP) and Antigravity. Available discovery, resume and chat controls depend on the harness. Z.ai through Claude Code and DeepSeek through Codex are provider configurations, not additional chat types.

Hosts run on macOS, Linux and Windows. Keeping a tmux session running through a client disconnect does not keep the computer awake or preserve a process through a reboot.

Download Otter Beam, review the Linux requirements and Windows notes, or open the web app.