VAV

Your agents' workbench.

Pick a slide, a cell, a node — ask beside it. Charts and App Clips render in the thread. Swarm puts Claude next to Codex.

Download Source
VAV session: ask over a folder, see the write land VAV session: ask over a folder, see the write land

The loops that close

Not a chat box with a file picker — pick on the document, draw in the thread, pop out a clip, or split two CLIs.

01

Pick on the Office file

Open a deck, a sheet, or a brief. Click the title, a card, a cell — then ask. The agent writes the same path on disk. Not a Word-style canvas.

Selection is the prompt. The file stays the source of truth.

VAV PowerPoint window: selected slide card, agent editing the same file VAV PowerPoint window: selected slide card, agent editing the same file
02

Mermaid + Vega-Lite

Flows and charts render in the thread — Mermaid for the path, Vega-Lite for the numbers. Copy, download, or open the source file beside the chat.

Same turn: a flowchart and a bar chart, both live.

VAV chat with a Mermaid flow and a Vega-Lite chart in the same turn VAV chat with a Mermaid flow and a Vega-Lite chart in the same turn
03

App Clip

The agent can write a small interactive app in the thread — a board, a calculator, a teaching aid. Pop it out with View in window. It is a real widget, not a screenshot.

```app in chat, or a thin overlay from an HTML file.

VAV App Clip: interactive restock board popped out of chat VAV App Clip: interactive restock board popped out of chat
04

Swarm

Flip the surface and split the pane. Claude on the left, Codex on the right — each a real TUI in its own column. ⌘D splits; arrow keys move.

Optional under Settings → CLI Agents. Off until you want it.

VAV Swarm: two CLI agent panes side by side VAV Swarm: two CLI agent panes side by side
05

⌘⇧↵ Quick Ask

From anywhere on your Mac, ⌘⇧↵ opens a narrow companion column. Ask one thing — a path join, a regex, a name — get the answer, close it. No full workspace.

Built for the interrupt: short, local, done.

VAV Quick Ask companion window VAV Quick Ask companion window

Open any document window

Mermaid source, PDF, decks, sheets, Markdown — preview on one side, agent on the other.

VAV Mermaid file window with pick-to-ask VAV Mermaid file window with pick-to-ask
Mermaid file Open the .mmd as a canvas, pick a node, ask about the failure branch.
vav PDF window with summary and Mermaid vav PDF window with summary and Mermaid
PDF Stand-up summary from the brief, then a Mermaid follow-up flow — same window, same turn.
vav PowerPoint window with edit tool calls vav PowerPoint window with edit tool calls
PPTX Load a deck skill, rename a slide, tighten bullets — tool cards show every write.
vav CSV window with Vega-Lite and PDF report vav CSV window with Vega-Lite and PDF report
CSV / TSV Ask over the sheet, get Vega-Lite in chat, write a one-page PDF report to disk.
vav Excel window with agent editing vav Excel window with agent editing
DOCX / XLSX Skill-backed edits on workbooks and briefs — add a column, refresh, stay in the window.
vav Markdown window with read and write tools vav Markdown window with read and write tools
Markdown Read the notes, rewrite install steps — every fs_read / fs_write stays auditable in the transcript.
vav chat with Mermaid diagram and Vega-Lite chart vav chat with Mermaid diagram and Vega-Lite chart
Charts in chat Mermaid flows and Vega-Lite plots render inline — copy, download, keep moving.

Format knowledge

What each type can do in a document window — preview, ask beside it, edit in place, or convert first. Capabilities match the app, not a wish list.

Format Capabilities Notes
.docx Word (OOXML)
Preview Ask Edit Skill

Opens in Read by default; switch to Edit or use the docx skill to write the open path.

.doc Word (legacy)
Preview Ask Convert Read-only

Preview via convert to DOCX/HTML (macOS). Edit means Convert → Save As .docx; original stays put.

.xlsx Excel (OOXML)
Preview Ask Edit Skill

Sheet preview + agent edits through the xlsx skill on the same workbook path.

.xls Excel (legacy)
Preview Ask Convert Read-only

Opens in the spreadsheet preview. To edit, Convert → Save As .xlsx; original untouched.

.pptx PowerPoint (OOXML)
Preview Ask Edit Skill

Slide canvas + pptx skill for renames, bullets, and deck writes.

.ppt PowerPoint (legacy)
Read-only Convert

No built-in .ppt converter. Export to .pptx first, or open with the system default app.

.pdf PDF
Preview Ask Read-only Skill

Preview and ask only in the window. Create, fill, or reformat via the PDF skill to a new path.

.csv .tsv Tables
Preview Ask Edit

Grid preview, charts in chat, direct text writes back to the sheet.

.md .txt Markdown & text
Preview Ask Edit

Full in-place edit; agent fs_read / fs_write on the open file.

.mm .mmd Mind maps & diagrams
Preview Ask Edit

Rendered canvas with pick-to-ask; source stays editable text on disk.

.heic HEIC image
Preview Convert Read-only

View in-app; Edit converts to JPEG via Save As. Original HEIC unchanged.

.zip ZIP archive
Preview Read-only

Structure preview only — not a full archive utility.

Get VAV

Latest GitHub Release builds. Follow install notes if your OS warns on open.

macOS · Apple Silicon Windows · x64 Install notes

From a terminal, vav . opens a session in the current directory (Settings → vav command).