What is the Q&A Agent?

The Q&A Agent is a lightweight interface for asking questions about your code, getting explanations, and performing simple coding tasks. Unlike generic AI assistants, it understands your codebase through Repo Grokking, allowing it to provide contextually relevant answers.

How to Use the Q&A Agent

1

Getting Started with Q&A Agent

Select the Q&A Agent from the agent dropdown menu at the bottom of the chat interface, or use the agent selector with Cmd+. (Mac) or Ctrl+. (Windows/Linux).Agent selector showing Q&A Agent option

Core Capabilities

The Q&A Agent handles these development tasks:
  • Code explanations
What does this function do?
Explain how this API endpoint works
  • Error debugging
Why am I getting this TypeError?
  • Simple code generation
Write a function to validate email addresses
  • Best practices
What's the best way to handle this exception?

Using Code References

Reference specific files, functions, or classes for contextual answers:
How does the authentication work in auth_service.py?
What's the purpose of the UserManager class?

Q&A Agent vs. Coding Agent

While both interfaces are powered by the same technology, they serve different purposes:
Q&A AgentCoding Agent
Quick questions and explanationsComplex multi-file operations
Simple code snippetsFull feature implementation
Read-only file operationsFull file create/modify/delete
Limited tools accessWeb search and other tools

Technical Details

  • The Q&A Agent uses the same codebase understanding as the Coding Agent but with limited abilities
  • It can read files but has restricted ability to modify them
  • It doesn’t have full access to external tools like web search
  • It’s optimized for quick responses rather than complex problem-solving

Enabling the Coding Agent

When you need more powerful capabilities:
  1. Open the agent selector with Cmd+. (Mac) or Ctrl+. (Windows/Linux)
  2. Select the Coding Agent from the dropdown
  3. The Coding Agent can perform more complex tasks like:
    • Creating and modifying multiple files
    • Implementing entire features
    • Searching the web for documentation
    • Running validation and tests
Agent selector showing available agents including Coding Agent
You can switch between different agents by starting new chats and selecting the appropriate agent from the agent selector. Each chat maintains its selected agent type throughout the conversation.
Other agents and features that complement the Q&A Agent: