Agents as text files

ChatMD is where you define an Ochat agent: what it should do, what tools it can call, and, optionally, how a script coordinates its work. It combines readable Markdown with a small set of tags. You can keep these files alongside your code, review changes in version control, and compose reusable pieces into new agents.

You do not need a server to get started. Write a prompt and open it in the local TUI; hosting it in a daemon is a separate choice later.

Start with instructions

A minimal prompt can be just a developer message. Save this as helper.chatmd:

<developer>
Help me understand unfamiliar code. Explain the main idea first, then work
through an example. Ask for missing context rather than inventing details.
</developer>

With Ochat installed and your provider configured, run:

chat-tui --no-config --local -file helper.chatmd

This prompt has no tools: paste the code you want to discuss. The local TUI walkthrough covers setup; the TUI guide covers editing and navigation.

Build up the agent as you need it

• Instructions and context: use messages and Markdown to describe the task, constraints, and information the agent needs.
• Tools: add declarations for the capabilities the model may call. Start with the tools introduction; declarations are not a reason to skip reviewing each tool’s access rules.
• Composition: import shared declarations or expose another ChatMD prompt as a specialist tool. Keep reusable roles in their own files.
• Orchestration: add an optional ChatML script when instructions alone are not enough to express your workflow.

The workspace supplies the ${workspace} location used by configured tools. It is not a blanket filesystem sandbox or an automatic access grant. The language reference explains the other path variables, including ${prompt_dir} and ${source_dir}, and how imports affect resolution.

Choose how to run it

Use the local TUI for interactive work, the completion CLI for a file-backed input/output workflow, or the agent server when you need independent session lifetimes and client connections. The prompt remains the agent definition; the host supplies execution and lifecycle behavior.

Go deeper

• ChatMD language reference: supported tags, configuration, imports, embedded content, and path resolution.
• Examples and walkthroughs: starting points to adapt.
• Tool reference: declarations and built-in behavior.
• ChatML workflows: programmable orchestration.
• Documentation home.