Coding Workspace (IDE Mode)

Mercury includes a CLI IDE-style workspace mode for repository-focused coding.

Enter Workspace Mode

You can enter workspace mode in multiple ways:

• /code and choose workspace
• /code workspace
• /ws open <path>

Once active, Mercury switches to coding context for that repository. Agent responses appear in the normal scrollable chat view so you can always see full output.

Modes

Use programming modes to control behavior:

• /code plan — analysis/planning first, minimal code changes
• /code execute — implementation mode
• /code off — return to normal conversation behavior

Keyboard Shortcuts

Shortcut	Action
Ctrl+P	Plan mode
Ctrl+X	Execute mode
Ctrl+E	Focus explorer pane
Ctrl+G	Focus git pane
Ctrl+J	Toggle right panel between chat and git
Tab	Cycle focus: explorer → code → right panel
Esc	Return to explorer (or exit workspace from explorer)
Ctrl+Q	Exit workspace
Shift+Enter	Insert newline (multi-line input)
Alt+Enter	Insert newline (fallback for terminals that don't distinguish Shift+Enter)

Navigation (when input is empty)

Focus	Keys	Action
Explorer	↑ ↓	Move selection
Explorer	← →	Collapse / expand folder
Explorer	Enter	Open selected file
Code	↑ ↓	Scroll code ±1 line
Code	PgUp PgDn	Scroll code ±15 lines
Code	Ctrl+U Ctrl+D	Scroll code ±10 lines (vim-style)
Chat	↑ ↓	Scroll agent output ±1 line
Chat	PgUp PgDn	Scroll agent output ±10 lines
Chat	Ctrl+U Ctrl+D	Scroll agent output ±8 lines
Git	↑ ↓	Move through changed files
Git	Enter	Stage selected file

Workspace Commands

Command	Description
/ws open <path>	Open a directory in workspace mode
/ws refresh	Refresh file tree + git status
/ws focus <area>	Focus a panel: explorer, code, git, or chat
/ws stage <file|all>	Stage one file or all changes
/ws commit <message>	Commit staged changes
/ws undo <file>	Revert file changes
/ws toggle-chat	Toggle right panel between chat and git
/ws chat-scroll <n>	Scroll agent output by n lines
/ws exit	Exit workspace mode back to general chat

Sub-Agents + Background in Coding

Workspace mode supports explicit delegation and backgrounding:

• /code agent <task> — delegate coding work to a sub-agent
• /bg current — move active in-flight work to background
• /bg list — inspect all background tasks (shell + sub-agent)
• /bg <id> — view task details/output (IDs use friendly names like swift-fox)
• /bg cancel <id> — cancel running background work
• /bg stop <id> / /bg kill <id> — aliases for cancel
• /bg killall / /bg stopall — cancel all running background tasks

This lets you continue coding/chatting while long operations run asynchronously.

Progress Tracking

During long-running tasks, Mercury shows real-time progress:

• The status bar displays the current tool/action (e.g., ● step 5 · ✂️ Editing App.tsx)
• Heartbeat messages escalate timing (20s → 30s → 45s → 60s) to reduce noise
• Use /progress to see the last 10 completed steps with timing
• Consecutive identical tool calls are collapsed (e.g., "Read 3 files")