# Assistant

The workspace assistant opens beside Byte from the assistant toggle in the
workspace header. Next to Byte it is the **Byte assistant**: it can explain a
snippet, find a problem, and edit the files of the Byte workspace it was
opened beside.

## AI provider keys

The assistant uses the AI keys of the shell, not keys of its own. Enter them
once in the **AI** section of the settings panel, which the settings button
beside the light and dark mode control opens; in the standalone plugin the
same section is part of Byte's Settings. The section takes a key for OpenAI,
Anthropic, Google and OpenRouter, stores it encrypted and never shows it
again, and every SleekWP product on the site uses the same keys. Without a key
the assistant's composer stays disabled, and earlier conversations stay
readable.

Requests go from your site to the provider you choose, billed to that
provider's account.

## What it can do

The assistant works on the open workspace through these tools:

| Tool                   | What it does                                                                                                                                |
| ---------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `inspect-byte-editor`  | Reads the workspace: its files, unsaved changes, PHP errors, the selected file, the number of snippets, and the contents of up to 20 files. |
| `write-byte-files`     | Creates or replaces up to 20 files or folders.                                                                                              |
| `delete-byte-paths`    | Deletes up to 20 files or folders, each with what it contains.                                                                              |
| `select-byte-file`     | Selects a file in the editor.                                                                                                               |
| `validate-byte-editor` | Checks the changed PHP files and refreshes an open preview.                                                                                 |
| `save-byte-editor`     | Saves every change, only when you ask it to.                                                                                                |
| `discard-byte-editor`  | Drops every change, only when you ask it to.                                                                                                |

Its edits are drafts like your own: they appear in the editor as unsaved
changes, are checked like a file you type, and refresh an open
[preview](/docs/byte/snippets/preview.md), so you review them before anything
runs on the site. It cannot write outside the workspace's sources.

It can also run Byte's [WP-CLI commands](/docs/byte/cli.md) on the site: listing,
reading, creating, enabling, disabling and deleting snippets, writing and
deleting files, `wp sleek byte test`, and reading and clearing runtime error
logs. A command that deletes something or clears a log asks you to confirm
before it runs. Exporting is not available to it.

At the workspace home the suite assistant lists the same tools with a `byte-`
prefix, such as `byte-inspect-byte-editor`, but they work only on an open
Byte workspace, so there they ask you to open Byte and use its assistant.

Conversations are kept per user, and the suite and the standalone plugin
share them.