--- title: "Chat with the AI Agent" id: "1944" type: "page" slug: "agent" published_at: "2026-09-30T22:28:16+00:00" modified_at: "2026-09-30T23:50:35+00:00" url: "https://xedant.com/agents/proxy/docs/agent" markdown_url: "https://xedant.com/agents/proxy/docs/agent.md" excerpt: "The AI agent chat is a way to ask right in the interface: “why so…" --- # Chat with the AI Agent [https://xedant.com/agents/proxy/docs/agent.md](https://xedant.com/agents/proxy/docs/agent.md) The AI agent chat is a way to ask right in the interface: “why so many errors yesterday”, “help me set up a channel”, “what does this chart show”. The answer comes not from a model directly, but from an external Xedant Agent connected to the product. The conversation happens where the data lives — no switching to another window and copying numbers around. ## How to connect it It is enough to set two environment variables on the server: - **`PROXYAGENT_AGENT_API_URL`** — the address of your Xedant Agent. - **`PROXYAGENT_AGENT_API_KEY`** — its access key. Both variables are read **once at startup**. That means after changing them the container needs a restart — saving in the interface is not enough. Until both are set, the chat counts as not connected. ## What stays on the server The agent key never reaches the browser. It is stored on the server and inserted only into calls to the agent — from the browser window it is visible neither in replies nor in live updates. That matters when several people use the interface: the agent key stays yours. ## What it looks like - **The chat panel** — on a wide screen it is a separate panel next to the content; on a narrow one it slides up from the bottom. One and the same panel, in two forms. - **The chat list and the message queue** — the side panel shows which chats are working right now and which messages are waiting their turn. - **Live updates** — the answer appears as it becomes ready, as in an ordinary chat; the “working” state, the counters and the queue refresh themselves. Questions the agent asks along the way can be answered right in the chat — such answers are handled separately from ordinary messages, so they do not get stuck in the queue. ## What the chat panel can do - **Chat labels** — a conversation can be given a label and sorted by topic or client. The chat list offers filtering: with labels, without labels, or by any chosen label; a chat without one is marked accordingly. - **The task list** — above the conversation sits the list of tasks the agent keeps as it works. You see what is done, what is being done and what remains — no need to ask again. - **Instant sending** — your message appears in the conversation immediately, without waiting for the server’s reply. If something goes wrong, it returns to the input field. - **Back to the latest message** — in a long conversation, once you have scrolled up, a jump-to-bottom button appears. ## Sounds and voice input A new message can be heard: the notification sound also fires for chats that are not currently open. If it gets in the way, there is a mute button next to it, and unmuting works the same way. A message can be dictated — the voice-recording button in the input panel. How the speech is recognized depends on the settings: - **By the browser** — the browser itself recognizes the speech, and the recording never leaves for your server. But not every browser supports it, and the browser may need an internet connection. - **Through the connected agent** — with the other engine selected, the recorded audio goes to Xedant Agent for transcription. Without a connected agent this input does not work. Honestly: when the browser cannot recognize speech and no agent is connected, the button will not help. And the browser needs microphone permission — without it the product suggests checking the device settings. ## How much an answer costs The cost of every answer is visible in the conversation. Cheap answers show to the hundredth of a cent — as `$0.00xx` — and the very smallest as “under a cent”. That way you can see that a cheap model is really cheap, and not “free” because of rounding. ## Without a connection When no agent is connected, the product works in full: models, keys, logs, analytics, secret hiding, the proxy service — everything is in place. The chat panel simply does not appear. Nothing breaks and nothing “waits for configuration”. The bottom block of the side panel — the summary of active chats with the “Prompts” and “Chats” buttons — is always shown: open it and you will see what is missing. A warning strip appears above the buttons naming the required variables (`PROXYAGENT_AGENT_API_URL` and `PROXYAGENT_AGENT_API_KEY`); as soon as the connection works, the strip disappears. ## An honest caveat The chat is a **separate product**. For it to work, Xedant Agent has to be installed and configured on its own; Proxy Agent merely connects to it. If you do not have the agent yet, you do not need this capability — everything else works without it. Next: how to host the product on a server and where the data lives — in the [Hosting & Data](/agents/proxy/docs/hosting) section. [← Back to the documentation index](/agents/proxy/docs)