Files and changes

The agent edits your files, and you see every change it makes. The files panel is your folder as it is right now. The Changes panel is what changed since you last saved a version, line by line, with a way to take any of it back.

Where to find it

Two icons sit at the top right of the window, above the tab strip. Click one to open its panel, and click it again to close it. Only one panel shows at a time.

• Files panel (a folder icon): its tooltip reads “Show the files panel”, with the shortcut. The shortcut is ⌘⇧E on macOS and Ctrl+Shift+E on Windows and Linux.
• Changes panel (a branch icon): its tooltip reads “Show the Changes panel”, with the shortcut, the branch you’re on and how many files changed. The shortcut is ⌘⇧G on macOS and Ctrl+Shift+G on Windows and Linux.

A small number on the Changes icon counts your changed files. It’s green while the changes are small and turns amber from 50 changed lines, a gentle nudge to save a version. It never opens anything by itself.

Drag a panel’s left edge to make it wider (“Drag to resize”). Each workspace remembers which panel you had open.

What’s on the screen

The files panel

The header shows your project folder’s name and three buttons:

• New file: a name box appears at the top of the tree. Type a name and press Enter, and the new, empty file opens in a tab. Type a path like notes/ideas.md to put it in a folder; missing folders are made for you. Esc cancels.
• New folder: the same, for a folder.
• Collapse all folders: folds every open folder back up.

Click a folder to open it, and a file to open it in a tab. The tree keeps itself up to date: when you or the agent adds, moves or deletes something, it shows up without a refresh.

A few things never show in the tree: node_modules, .git, and files and folders whose names start with a dot, except .pi, .github and .agents, which hold settings for the agent and your project.

Right-click a file or folder for three more choices:

• Open.
• Delete…: asks “Move file to Trash?” (or “Move folder to Trash?”). Move to Trash sends it to your computer’s Trash, so you can restore it from there.
• Details: its kind, size, when it was last modified, and its path.

You can also drag things around:

• Drag files from your computer onto the tree to copy them into your project. Drop them on a folder to put them there.
• Drag a file or folder onto another folder to move it.
• Drag a file into the middle of the window to open it.

Nothing is ever overwritten: if a file with that name is already there, the tree says so and stops there, without overwriting anything.

The editor

A file opens as a tab, in the pane you’re working in. If it’s already open, the app jumps to its tab instead. One file opens differently: AGENTS.md opens in a dialog of its own.

The bar at the top of the file holds its controls. The first three form a switcher, shown when the file has more than one view:

• Edit source (a code icon): the file as text, ready to edit. Press ⌘F on macOS or Ctrl+F on Windows and Linux to search it.
• Changes (two arrows), shown only when the file differs from your last saved version: “What changed since your last save”. See Undo one change.
• Preview rendered (an eye icon), for Markdown and HTML files, which open in the preview first. An HTML preview runs no scripts, so it’s a quick look, not a working page.
• A speech-bubble button, shown while you have lines selected. Its tooltip names them, for example “Send lines 3–8 to the chat”. It drops the lines into the message box of the session you’re in, and never sends them for you.
• Save, with a dot on it while you have unsaved changes. The file’s tab carries the same dot: “Unsaved changes”.

The editor opens text files up to 1 MB. A bigger file says “Too large to edit here”. A file that isn’t text, like an image or a Word document, says “Binary file”. To have the agent read a PDF or a Word document, attach it to a message instead (Session view).

HappyVibe also tells the agent which files you have open, by name only, never their contents, so “this file” means what you’re looking at.

The Changes panel

The Changes panel is git, in plain words. Git is the tool that keeps your project’s history: each saved version is a snapshot of every file, and you can always get back to one. HappyVibe keeps the everyday words at the top and git’s own words in the corners, and each action prints its git command on the bottom line, like $ git fetch --prune.

Two saves, two jobs: Save in the editor writes one file to disk; the Changes panel’s save button records a version of the whole project. On this page, “your last save” always means your last version.

The branch bar, at the top:

• The branch button, showing the branch you’re on (a branch is a separate line of work, so you can try something without disturbing the main version). Its tooltip reads “Switch branch, or make a new one”. See Switch branch, or make a new one.
• Fetch: “Check the remote for new work, without changing your files”. The remote is the copy of your project that lives somewhere else, such as GitHub. Fetch only looks; your files stay as they are.
• In a project that sits inside a bigger repository, a line reads “repo at … · showing …”, because branches apply to the whole repository, not just your folder.

The commit message box and the save button:

• The commit message box reads “What did you change?”. The message is how you’ll recognise this version later.
• The wand, “Write it for me”, drafts a message from your changes, using the model picked for Commit message in AI autofill, or your default model. It shows only when that job is on and a model is set up.
• The save button (an arrow rising out of a tray): its tooltip reads “Save a version”. It stays greyed until you’ve written a message.
• ▾ beside it: “Other ways to save”.

When there’s nothing to save, the same spot shows the next useful step instead:

• Publish branch: your branch isn’t on the remote yet. It sends it there for the first time, with every version saved on it.
• Sync with a number: your branch and the remote have drifted apart. Its tooltip counts both sides, for example “2 to send, 0 to receive”.
• “All saved ✨” and “Everything is saved and up to date.”: nothing to do.

Open a pull request appears when your branch has been published to github.com, gitlab.com or bitbucket.org and isn’t the project’s main branch. A pull request asks for your branch to be merged into the main one. See Open a pull request.

The file list. A line on top sums it up, for example “Since your last save · 3 files · +12 −4”. Changed files follow, grouped by folder, with files at the top of the project listed last as “project root”. A group of files that are all new says “· new”.

The letter before each file says what happened to it: A added, M modified, D deleted, R renamed, U new and not saved in any version yet. Hover over the letter for git’s word for it (“untracked” for U). The green and red numbers count the lines added and removed.

Click a file to open it in a tab, then click its Changes button to see the lines that changed. A deleted file has nothing to open, so its changes unfold right in the list.

Hover over a file for its buttons:

• stage / unstage (“Stage this file” / “Unstage this file”): picks the files that go into your next version. Leave everything unstaged to save it all.
• undo (“Undo this file”): asks “Undo every change in this file?”, then puts the file back the way it was at your last save. This can’t be undone: the file’s unsaved edits are gone for good.
• discard, on a new file (“Delete this new file”): asks “Discard this new file?” and warns “It will be deleted from your project. This can’t be undone.” It skips the Trash.

Stashed, with a count, appears when you’ve parked changes to come back to later (Stash changes). Open it to see each one:

• Restore brings the changes back into your files.
• Delete asks “Delete this stash?”, then removes it: “The changes in it are gone for good.”

History, closed at first, lists your 20 most recent versions, each with its message, a short code and its date. Click one to see its files, under “Files in …”. Close folds them away.

When the panel can’t do its job yet

• The folder isn’t using git. The panel says “This project isn’t tracking versions yet” and offers Start tracking. See Start tracking versions.
• Git isn’t installed. The Changes icon isn’t there at all. Your workspace settings say “git isn’t installed on this computer, so the Changes panel is hidden.” and offer Install. On macOS, Install makes macOS offer to install its Command Line Tools, which include git. On Windows and Linux, it opens git’s download page in your browser.
• Git can’t read the project. The panel says “git couldn’t read this project.” and shows git’s own message, word for word. When there’s a known fix, it shows the command under “Run this yourself to fix it:”, with a Copy button. “HappyVibe won’t run this for you — it changes settings outside this project.”

Save a version

1. Open the Changes panel.
2. Look through the list. Click a file, then its Changes button, to read what changed.
3. Type a message in “What did you change?”, or click the wand to have one drafted and edit it as you like.
4. Click the save button.

“Version saved.” appears at the foot of the panel. A saved version stays on this computer: nothing goes to the remote until you click Publish branch or Sync. Every changed file goes in, new ones too. To save only some files, stage them first: the save button then shows how many, for example “2/5”, and its tooltip adds “(staged only)”. New files have no stage button, so they wait for a save that includes everything.

If the save would sweep in folders nobody means to keep, like node_modules, the panel stops and asks: “This save includes files you probably didn’t mean to keep”. Add to .gitignore and save leaves those folders out of this save and every later one. Save anyway saves everything, those folders included. Cancel saves nothing.

Other ways to save

Click ▾ beside the save button (“Other ways to save”):

• Amend last commit: “Replace the last commit instead of adding a new one”. A commit is git’s word for a saved version. Amend folds your changes and new message into your last version.
  • It needs a message and a version to replace.
  • There’s no button to take an amend back.
  • Amend only a version you haven’t sent to the remote yet. After that, Sync won’t go through: it says “The remote has changes that can’t be combined automatically. Nothing was merged.”
• Stash changes: “Park these changes and come back to them”. A stash sets your unsaved changes aside, new files included, and puts your files back to your last save. They wait under Stashed until you Restore them.

Undo one change

You can take back an edit to a file one block at a time. A new file can only be deleted as a whole, with discard.

1. Open the file, then click its Changes button. Each block of changed lines has its own Undo button (“Undo just this hunk”).
2. Click Undo. The app asks “Undo this change?” and names the file.
3. Click Undo again to confirm.

That block goes back to how it was at your last save, and the rest of the file stays as it is. If the file changed since you opened this view, nothing is touched and the app says so. Once the last change is undone, the file’s view says “All changes undone” and goes back to the text.

To undo a whole file at once, use undo on its row in the Changes panel.

What you can get back

These are safe, because what they remove waits for you somewhere:

• Delete… in the files panel moves things to your computer’s Trash.
• Stash changes parks your changes under Stashed until you Restore them.
• A saved version stays in git’s history. Amend and Delete it anyway are the only buttons here that drop one.

These can’t be taken back from HappyVibe:

• Undo on a block, and undo on a file: there’s no redo, so the lines you undid are gone for good.
• discard on a new file: it’s deleted, not moved to the Trash.
• Delete on a stash, Delete it anyway on a branch, and Remove it anyway on a worktree.

Changed your mind about a whole message instead? Changed your mind? Rewind can often roll your files back too.

Switch branch, or make a new one

1. Click the branch button in the branch bar. A list of your branches opens, with a ● next to the one you’re on.
2. Click a branch to switch to it. Or type a name in “New branch…” and click Add to make one and switch to it. If a branch by that name exists already, the button reads Go and takes you there.

Your unsaved changes come along with you. When the other branch has its own version of the same files, the app asks “Switch to …?” instead: Stash them and switch parks your changes under Stashed first, and Cancel stays put.

To delete a branch, hover over it and click the bin. It asks “Delete …?”: “This deletes the branch … from this computer only. Anything already pushed stays on the remote, and the files in your project don’t change.” If the branch holds versions no other branch has, a second question warns that deleting “loses that work”, and only Delete it anyway goes ahead, and that work can’t be brought back from HappyVibe. You can’t delete the branch you’re on, or the project’s main branch; the bin’s tooltip says why.

Open a pull request

1. Publish your branch, then click Open a pull request. It reads “Writing it up…” while it drafts.
2. Your browser opens at the new pull request page of GitHub, GitLab or Bitbucket, with the title and description filled in. “Nothing is created until you press Create there.”

HappyVibe never logs in anywhere for you and stores no password: you finish on the site, where you’re already logged in. The description is drafted by the Pull request description job in AI autofill. With that job off, or no model set up, it’s your list of commits instead.

If you have changes that aren’t saved yet, the app asks first, because they won’t be part of the pull request: Let me commit it first puts you in the commit message box, and Open it anyway goes ahead without them.

Start tracking versions

1. Open the Changes panel in a project that isn’t using git yet, and click Start tracking.
2. The panel shows what it will do before it does anything: the command it will run, and a .gitignore (the list of files git should leave out) you can edit. It lists only the throwaway folders it found in your project (plus .DS_Store on macOS). “Nothing is saved yet — your first “Save a version” will be your first save.”
3. Click Start tracking. The panel says “This project is now tracking versions.”
4. Write a message under “Save your first version ✨” and click the save button.

HappyVibe refuses to start tracking your whole home folder, the top of a drive, or the root of your computer: “Pick a project folder instead.”

Worktrees

A worktree is “A second copy of this project’s files, on its own branch, so an agent can work there without touching what you have open here.” It lives in HappyVibe’s own folder, “not inside your project, so it never shows up as changes to save”.

1. Open the branch menu and click New worktree… at the bottom (or pick it from the + beside the workspace in the sidebar, or press ⌘⇧T on macOS, Ctrl+Shift+T on Windows and Linux).
2. Type a branch name.
3. Click Make worktree. You land in it straight away.

A worktree’s Changes panel says “worktree of …” under the branch bar, and adds two ways to finish:

• Merge into …: brings the worktree’s saved versions back into the project. “If they don’t apply cleanly nothing changes, and you’ll see why.” Unsaved changes in the worktree don’t come along. The panel has no button to take a merge back. While the project itself has unsaved changes, the button is greyed and its tooltip reads “This project has unsaved changes — save a version or stash them first.” After a merge, the app offers Remove worktree and delete branch; Cancel keeps both, and you can keep working there.
• Remove worktree…: “The folder goes.” The branch stays, unless you pick Remove and delete branch. Sessions in the worktree move to Show archived in the sidebar. If the worktree holds unsaved changes, it asks again: Remove it anyway deletes them for good. A branch with work no other branch has is kept even if you picked Remove and delete branch.

If git still lists a worktree whose folder has gone, the project’s panel offers Clean up a stale worktree (or the number of them). Confirm with Clean up to tidy the list: “Nothing on disk is deleted.”

During a session

• The agent keeps working while you look. Browsing, reading changes and saving a version never get in its way.
• Some actions wait for it. Switching branches, stashing, syncing, undoing, discarding and starting tracking would change files under the agent’s feet, so while a session in this project is working, the panel says “Anything that changes files waits until it finishes.” and names the session. Merging and removing a worktree wait too, with “Waiting for: …” and the session’s name. Try again when the turn ends.
• The panel catches up at the end of a turn. It doesn’t refresh on every edit while the agent works; the list and the badge update once its turn ends. The files panel updates as files appear.
• Open files follow along. If the agent edits a file you have open, the tab reloads. If you have unsaved edits in it, you choose: “This file changed on disk while you have unsaved edits.” with Reload from disk or Keep mine. If the file was deleted, your edits are kept, and saving puts the file back.
• The buttons here are yours. The agent has no way to press them. When it runs git commands of its own, each one goes through the approval dialog like any other command, and rules already set on Permissions cover the risky ones: git push --force is refused, and pushing, git reset --hard and a few others ask first.

Related

• Changed your mind? Rewind: rewind a conversation, and often your files, to before a message.
• AI autofill: the jobs that draft commit messages and pull requests.
• Permissions: the git rules the agent’s commands meet.
• Keyboard shortcuts: change the keys that open these panels.