Organizing chats
The sidebar keeps your chats organized by server, channel and agent. This page covers how it’s laid out and how to arrange it.
Layouts
Section titled “Layouts”Pick a layout from the menu at the top of the sidebar:
| Layout | How chats are grouped |
|---|---|
| By server (default) | Each Discord server gets a section with its #channels. Automations get their own section, and everything else is grouped under its agent. |
| By agent | One section per agent. |
| By group | One section per group you’ve made. |
| Recent | One list, most recently active first. |
Discord server names
Section titled “Discord server names”Server names come from your gateway’s Discord config (channels.discord.guilds.<id>.slug) when it’s set. Otherwise the section is just called Discord.
To name a server yourself, right-click its header and choose Rename Server…. The name syncs to your other devices through the gateway.
Groups
Section titled “Groups”Groups are your own folders for chats. They sync through the gateway, so they’re the same on every device.
- Create a group: choose New Group… from the Organize menu or a group header’s menu, or right-click a chat and choose Move to Group → New Group….
- Move chats: drag a chat onto a group (or onto Ungrouped). Drop it between two chats to put it at that spot. In By server, dropping a grouped chat on its own server or agent takes it back out of the group.
- Reorder groups: drag a group header, or use Move Up and Move Down in its menu.
- Icon: Change Icon… on a group’s header picks an SF Symbol.
- Delete: Delete Group… removes the group and leaves its chats ungrouped.
Empty groups stay until you delete them, so you can set them up ahead of time.
Per-chat actions
Section titled “Per-chat actions”Right-click a chat (or long-press on iOS) for:
- Pin, to keep it at the top;
- Rename;
- Move to Group;
- Color, from OpenClaw’s named colors, or Custom… for any color;
- Change Icon…, to pick an SF Symbol tinted with the chat’s color, or Reset Icon;
- Reasoning level;
- Archive.
Custom colors and icons sync to your other devices. See Synced preferences.
New chats, forks and branches
Section titled “New chats, forks and branches”Chats you start with New Chat (⌘ N) are listed on their own, like in the Control UI. Only forks and branches nest under their parent.
Helper (subagent) runs
Section titled “Helper (subagent) runs”Subagent runs stay out of the sidebar by default. A spinner on the parent chat shows when helpers are working, and you open one from the Open run button on the tool call that started it.
If you’d rather see them, Settings → Sidebar can list them under their parent, behind a ✨ count chip. Helper runs never add to unread counts or send notifications.
Compaction
Section titled “Compaction”When a chat’s context is compacted, it stays the same chat. You’ll see a “Compacting context…” line while it runs, then a divider in the same thread.
Finding your way
Section titled “Finding your way”- Search at the top of the sidebar filters chats by name.
- Unread dots and the Dock badge show what’s new.
- Next Unread Chat (⌥ ⇧ ↓) jumps to the next chat with unread messages.