# Chats and history

The Chats panel lives on the left edge of the primary display. Hover at the middle of that edge or click its slim handle to open it. Your next question continues the current chat until you choose another or start a new one.

## Start or resume

1. Open the Chats panel.
2. Select **+** for a new conversation, or select an existing chat to continue it.
3. Read the conversation shown in the notch before sending a follow-up.

You can also type “new chat” or “start over” by itself. Spoken commands can be interpreted as an ordinary agent request when accompanied by selected text or screen context; **+** is the reliable explicit control. A new conversation does not necessarily erase long-term information the agent has saved. It is a fresh conversation, not an account or memory reset.

Use the lock control to keep the panel open while switching apps. Unlock it to restore outside-click dismissal.

## Find older work

Search matches content in the chats currently loaded. Use **Show older chats** to load more before concluding that a conversation is missing. Long conversations may show only their most recent messages. Dictations and background worker results are not ordinary saved chat messages, so look for task output in the appropriate task surface.

## Retention and deletion

In **Settings → Agent → Keep chats for**, choose the retention period that suits your work. The current candidate offers 30 days, 90 days, one year, or Forever, with 90 days as its default.

To delete a specific chat, use its context menu and review the confirmation. Deleting removes that chat and its saved cards from Nock's history; it does not promise deletion from a separate coding agent, model provider, or durable memory store. Copy anything important to a document before deleting it.

## If history seems incomplete

Check whether you are in the intended chat and whether older chats have been loaded. A resumed conversation may be reconstructed from recent exchanges when its original engine session is no longer available. Restate critical requirements rather than assuming every old detail is in context.

See [Privacy](/nock/privacy) and [Background tasks](/nock/background-tasks).