Context and Mentions
Context is the material Copilot gives an AI with your request. Choose the shortest lifetime that fits the job:
| Context type | How long it lasts |
|---|---|
| Agent Chat attachment or mention | The next message |
| Mentioned agent | The current multi-agent question |
| Project context | Every new chat started in that Project |
Vault or Project AGENTS.md | Every Agent Chat started in that vault or Project |
| Quick Chat attachment | The next Quick Chat message |
Add context to Agent Chat
Select + beside the Agent Chat composer to open Add context. Depending on what is open, you can add the Active Note, other Notes, Folders, the Active Web Tab, other Web Tabs, or Images. Web tabs come from Copilot’s desktop Web Viewer.
You can also add context while typing:
- Type
[[and select a note to insert[[Note title]]. - Type
@to browse the available context categories. - Choose a folder to insert its path as
{Folder/path}. - Paste or drag an image into the composer. The selected model must support images.
Context badges above the composer show what will be sent with the next message. Select the x on a badge to remove it. After the message is sent, one-turn attachments are cleared.
A note mention gives the agent the note’s vault path so it can read the current file when needed. A folder mention points to a folder to inspect. It does not paste every file in that folder into the prompt.
Active note and selected text
A new Agent Chat can start with an Active Note badge when that preference is enabled. Remove it when the current note is unrelated. You can add it again on any later turn.
To attach an excerpt from a note:
- Select the text.
- Run Add selection to chat context from the command palette.
- Review the removable selection badge before sending.
For text selected in the Web Viewer, run Add web selection to chat context. Copilot sends the selected excerpt instead of also attaching the full active web tab.
Mention other agents
With active Plus access, type @, open Agents, and select one or more other installed agents. Each mentioned agent receives the same question, that turn’s attachments, and a bounded slice of the visible conversation. The current agent summarizes their answers and does not automatically answer separately.
Multi-agent answers are designed for read-only research, second opinions, and review, but retrieval Skills can still run trusted scripts under an agent’s permissions. They are not a security sandbox. Use a normal single-agent turn when you want files changed. Mentioning only the current agent behaves like a normal turn.
Agent mentions select opencode, Claude, or Codex. They are different from note, folder, and web context mentions. See Multi-agent answers for permissions and model behavior.
Reuse context with Projects
For material that should be prepared for more than one chat, create a Project. Add saved context from the Context section or tab:
- drag in a vault file or folder;
- add a web page or YouTube URL; or
- select Manage Context to add links, tags, properties, folders, files, and ignored files.
Project context is prepared for every new chat in that Project. If preparation is still running when you send a message, Copilot queues the message and starts it when the context is ready.
Saved context is a focus aid, not a permission boundary. The agent can still inspect other files available through its tools. Ignore Files excludes files from prepared Project context but does not block an agent from reading them.
One-turn attachments remain one-turn attachments inside a Project. Start a new Project chat after changing saved context or Project instructions when you want the latest version applied.
Context in Quick Chat
Quick Chat has a separate composer and context state. It can attach the active note and, on desktop, the active Web Viewer tab. Use Add context for a note, folder, web tab, or image. You can also type [[Note title]] for a note.
Quick Chat attachments apply to the next Quick Chat message. They do not become Agent Chat context, Project context, or AGENTS.md instructions.
For vault-wide semantic search and AI history that you own outside the plugin, use Miyo. Miyo provides the local-first search path for Copilot V4.