Use the Desktop App

The Allen desktop app is your main place to start tasks, follow active work, answer questions, and review results. Use it to keep the conversation, execution record, workspace, and saved outputs for a task connected.

A practical daily workflow

Most work in Allen follows the same path:

1. Start from the Dashboard.
2. Describe one clear outcome in New chat.
3. Select the repository that Allen should use.
4. Confirm the provider and model. Choose a specific agent only when you know that specialist owns the task.
5. Send the request and review Allen's proposed route before approving any state-changing work.
6. Return to the Dashboard to follow Needs You, Running Conversation, and Recent Conversation items.
7. Open Executions when you need step-level status, logs, traces, or saved artifacts.
8. Open the linked workspace to review files and code changes before approving a commit, pull request, or other external action.

This path works for questions, repository investigations, workflow runs, and agent tasks. The exact review surface changes with the task, but the sequence remains: request, confirm, monitor, review, then approve.

Start and resume work

Start a task

1. Open Dashboard.
2. In New chat, enter the result you want and how you will judge success.
3. Select a repository when the answer or change depends on project context.
4. Keep the default provider and model unless the task requires another configured model.
5. Send the request.

A successful start opens a conversation that contains your request and Allen's response. If Allen needs to run a workflow, assign an agent, or change external state, review the route and confirm it before execution begins.

If the repository is missing, open Repositories, add it, then return to the Dashboard. If no model is available, open Settings → Models and complete the provider setup shown there.

Resume something that needs attention

The Dashboard groups current work by the action you need to take:

• Needs You contains approvals, questions, and blocked checkpoints. Open the item, read the linked evidence, and respond there instead of starting a duplicate task.
• Running Conversation contains conversations with active agent or workflow work. Open one to see its latest progress.
• Recent Conversation contains your latest chats. Use it to continue a previous decision or request without losing context.

For a complete list of runs, open Executions. Filter by Running, Completed, Failed, Cancelled, Queued, or Waiting for input.

Review repository work

Code-changing tasks should use an isolated workspace. From a workspace-linked conversation, use the right-side controls to inspect:

• Files for the workspace file tree;
• Code changes for the current diff;
• Terminal for commands and validation output;
• Servers and Preview when the workspace defines a service you can run.

In the packaged desktop app, choose Open in IDE, then VS Code or Cursor, to continue reviewing the workspace in a local editor. The action appears when the conversation is linked to an active workspace. Allen shows an error if it cannot open the selected editor.

Before approving the result, confirm that:

• every changed file belongs to the requested scope;
• reported checks passed;
• artifacts and summaries match the visible diff;
• no credentials, customer data, generated clutter, or unrelated files were added;
• any pull request is reviewed before it is merged.

Completed means the run finished. It does not mean the result is automatically approved.

Use more than one window

Choose File → New Window or press ⌘N when you want to keep two views open. For example, keep the conversation in one window and the execution or workspace review in another.

All windows show the same Allen data, so progress in one window is available from the others. Closing a window does not quit Allen or stop its active work. To close the app and its shared desktop session, quit Allen explicitly from the application menu or Dock.

Use desktop shortcuts

Shortcut	Action
⌘K	Open the command palette to navigate or run an app command.
⌘L	Focus the chat input, or return to the Dashboard and focus it from another page.
⌘N	Open a new Allen window.
⌘1	Open Chat.
⌘2	Open Workspaces.
⌘,	Open Settings.

On a non-macOS keyboard, the app menu displays the equivalent Control-based shortcut where supported.

Manage desktop preferences and updates

Open Settings → General for desktop-level preferences:

• Under Workspace behavior, choose the system, light, or dark appearance and review the command-palette and chat-focus shortcuts.
• Under Application updates, turn Automatic checks on or off.
• Next to Current version, choose Check for updates to check manually.
• Under Release notes, choose View release notes to see changes in published desktop releases.

When a manual check succeeds, Allen tells you whether the current version is up to date or a newer installer is available. If the page says update checks are disabled for the build, use the installation source provided by your Allen administrator.

Use the other Settings sections only when the task requires them—for example, Models for provider access, MCP Servers for integrations, and Schedules for recurring work.

Diagnose a desktop problem

Use the File menu when Allen cannot start work, a page cannot connect, or support asks for desktop details:

1. Choose File → Show Diagnostics. Copy the details if you need to include them in a support request.
2. Choose File → Open Logs Folder when support needs the application logs.
3. Choose File → Export Support Bundle to save a JSON support bundle.

Review diagnostic text, logs, and the support bundle before sharing them. Remove anything that reveals private repository details, credentials, API keys, cookies, or customer data. Use Open Data Folder only when support explicitly asks you to inspect Allen's local application data.

Common recovery steps

Problem	What to do
A task is waiting	Open Needs You or filter Executions by Waiting for input, then answer the existing request.
A run failed	Open the execution, inspect the failed step and first actionable error, then retry only after correcting the cause.
A repository is unavailable	Add or reactivate it in Repositories, then return to the task.
No model can be selected	Open Settings → Models and complete authentication for a supported provider.
VS Code or Cursor does not open	Confirm the editor is installed and available to the desktop app, then try Open in IDE again.
Allen still cannot proceed	Capture Show Diagnostics, open the logs, and export a reviewed support bundle.

Continue learning

• Learn how to make precise requests in Chat.
• Learn how isolated changes work in Workspaces.
• Learn how to follow active work in Monitor an Execution.
• Learn how to review saved outputs in Artifacts.