dsh-context-branch

Usage

Open a conversation as usual and select Tree View in the conversation header. Switching between Chat and Tree View changes only how the conversation is displayed; no data is copied or converted.

In Tree View:

1. Move the pointer over a completed assistant message and select Ask follow-up.
2. Type your question. It appears as a card to the right of the answer you asked about, and the reply is generated below it.
3. To keep talking within that branch, select Continue this branch on its most recent answer. To isolate the context one level further, select Ask follow-up again.
4. Select any card to read the full message. Use search, focus, collapse, the overview map, and the zoom controls to navigate larger trees.

Return to Chat whenever you want to continue the main task.

Collapsing a large tree

A tree opens fully folded the first time you see it: the main conversation plus one dot per answer that has branches. Select ⊕ to reveal one capsule per branch, then select a capsule to restore that branch's message cards. Opening a dot always starts from capsules, so you choose each level deliberately; sibling capsules stay folded until you open them. To return a card group to its capsule, select the up-arrow area along the inside bottom edge of its dashed frame. Select ⊖ to close a whole group back to its dot.

Alt-select ⊕ or a capsule to expand all descendants at once. Collapse all reduces every top-level anchor group to a dot. The layout is restored per conversation after a restart. A pulsing blue marker means a folded descendant is still generating; red means one has failed. Search automatically opens the folded ancestor chain before centering the matching message.

Two actions, two meanings

The difference between the two actions is structural, not just visual:

Action	Direction	Effect
Ask follow-up	Grows right	Creates a new branch that inherits the conversation up to the selected answer
Continue this branch	Grows down	Adds the next exchange to the current branch

Ask follow-up never appends to an existing branch, and Continue this branch never creates one. Continue this branch appears only on the most recent completed answer within a branch, never in the main conversation.

Deleting a branch

Deleting a branch also deletes every branch below it. The confirmation dialog states how many branches and messages will be removed. Your main conversation and any sibling branches are unaffected.