---
title: "Chats in Tale"
description: "Tale Chat is the everyday entry point: pick an agent, send a message, and read a streamed reply with citations, tool calls, Arena mode, and in-chat approvals."
---
Chats

# Chats in Tale

Chat is the everyday entry point: pick an agent (or none), type, and a reply streams back with citations, tool calls, and optional Arena comparisons — the surface every other platform module feeds.

> Animated demo: Chat Arena runs one announcement prompt through Claude Sonnet and GPT-5.5 side by side so the writer picks the stronger draft.

## How Chat works in Tale

From a grounded reply to Arena, approvals, knowledge, and scoped projects — the same surfaces you use every day.

01 Approvals

### Approvals live in the thread

When a reply would post to Slack, send mail, or change a system, an approval card lands in the thread before anything ships.

> Animated demo: an in-chat approval card asks to post the release announcement to the #customers Slack channel; approval is granted and journaled.

02 Projects

### Threads stay with their team

A thread belongs to its workspace. The Comms Agent's drafts stay with comms — engineering never has to scroll past them.

> Animated demo: Projects that keep chat threads in the right workspace — Comms drafts stay out of engineering chat.

03 Agents

### Pick the agent that owns the ask

Switch specialists mid-thread or let Auto route — every agent carries its own instructions, knowledge, and tools.

> Animated demo: Chat’s specialist roster — Comms Agent, Support Agent, Research Agent, Docs Agent, and Release Agent.

04 Knowledge

### Ground every reply in indexed sources

Chat retrieves from the libraries you grant — citation cards land in the thread so readers can open the file or page the answer used.

> Animated demo: the sources Chat retrieves for a grounded reply — the release notes PDF, the changelog crawl, the announcement template, and the brand-voice entry.

## What does Chat include?

Everyday AI that cites its sources, calls your tools, and compares models side by side.

- 01Composer with Auto routingThe composer carries the agent picker and model picker. Auto lets Tale pick the model for the thread.[Chat basics](https://tale.dev/docs/platform/chat/basics)
- 02Citations on every grounded replyRetrieved passages carry their source so readers can open the file, entry, or page the answer used.[Chat basics](https://tale.dev/docs/platform/chat/basics)
- 03Arena modeCompare models or agents side by side when you need a second opinion before you commit.[Arena Mode](https://tale.dev/docs/platform/chat/arena-mode)
- 04Attachments and CanvasUpload supported files; open Canvas when the reply needs a long document or diagram beside the thread.[Attachments](https://tale.dev/docs/platform/chat/attachments)
- 05Agents in the threadSwitch agents mid-thread, run one-shot specialists, or keep a sticky agent for the conversation.[Agents in chat](https://tale.dev/docs/platform/chat/agents-in-chat)

## Chat FAQ

### What is Chat in Tale?

### Does Chat work without an agent?

### What is Arena mode?

### Can Chat take actions, or only answer?

## Related modules

- [ProjectsShared workspaces where agents pick up tasks.](https://tale.dev/platform/projects)
- [KnowledgeDocuments, websites, and records agents cite.](https://tale.dev/platform/knowledge)
- [AgentsOrchestrate Claude Code, Codex, Hermes, and OpenClaw.](https://tale.dev/platform/agents)
- [GovernanceApprovals, audit trail, and spend controls.](https://tale.dev/platform/governance)

## Read the docs

- [Chat overview](https://tale.dev/docs/platform/chat/overview)
- [Chat basics](https://tale.dev/docs/platform/chat/basics)
- [Arena Mode](https://tale.dev/docs/platform/chat/arena-mode)
- [Agents in chat](https://tale.dev/docs/platform/chat/agents-in-chat)
- [Attachments](https://tale.dev/docs/platform/chat/attachments)

## See Tale on your stack

Book a guided demo or talk to the team about self-hosted deployment, pricing, and hardware.