LouiseLM Tutor - LouiseLM

Welcome. LouiseLM gives you a chat inside Neovim and lets an Agent work with the files in your project. This short tour teaches the core loop.

Want to feel the interaction before configuring an Agent? Try LouiseLM in your browser. It runs real Neovim and LouiseLM against a clearly disclosed scripted demo; no Agent or Provider is connected.

1. Start here¶

You are reading the Tutor inside Neovim. The file is read-only so the shipped lesson stays intact. To keep your own copy, use:

:saveas ~/.config/nvim/louiselm-tutorial.md

Commands are the reliable way to use LouiseLM. Default keymaps are listed as shortcuts; your Neovim configuration may change or disable them.

2. Check your setup¶

Run:

:checkhealth louiselm

Health checks tell you whether LouiseLM can find your configured Agents and their executables. If no Agent is configured, finish the setup instructions in the README or onboarding guide, then run the health check again.

The same health report lists optional capabilities and their exact opt-in settings. Attention, Beads, capture, workflow Runs, skill invocation and trusted skill management start disabled. Enable the integrations you want, install their prerequisites manually, and rerun health. Existing tools or credentials do not enable them. See :help louiselm-optional-capabilities for editor and service choices; ordinary chat retains your configured Agent permission policy.

3. Try a first prompt¶

Open the chat:

:LouiselmChat

Type your prompt after the > marker and press <Enter> in Insert mode. Try something small, such as:

Explain what this project does in three sentences. Do not change any files.

The current Session stays attached to the Agent that started it. LouiseLM shows the Agent’s response as it arrives and asks you before an Agent performs an operation that needs your permission.

Default shortcut: <leader>lc.

4. Permissions¶

When the Agent asks to run a command or change a file, read the request and choose deliberately. A permission decision is not the same as accepting the Agent’s answer. You remain responsible for allowing effects in your project.

The picker shows the command or the Agent’s request title when available. Choose View request details to scroll through the complete request, including long commands and directory or pattern scope. Press q or Esc in the details window to return to the approval choices; viewing details does not approve the request.

Inspect or revoke remembered choices with:

:LouiselmPermissions

Default shortcut: <leader>lp.

5. Give the Agent context¶

You can queue context for the next prompt. LouiseLM sends queued context when you submit that prompt.

From a file you want the Agent to see:

:LouiselmMentionBuffer

Choose a file with:

:LouiselmPickFile

You can also select text in Visual mode and run:

:LouiselmSendSelection

Default shortcuts:

<leader>lb queues the current buffer.
<leader>lf picks a file.
<leader>ls sends a Visual selection.

6. Stay in control¶

Stop the current turn when you change your mind:

:LouiselmCancel

Default shortcut: <leader>lC.

Create another Session without closing the current one:

:LouiselmSessionNew

Switch between attached Sessions:

:LouiselmSessionSwitch

Close the current Session when you are done:

:LouiselmSessionClose

Active Sessions use a native Close/Keep confirmation, even while a permission picker is open. Press c to close; k, Enter, or Escape keeps the Session open.

Default shortcuts:

<leader>lsn creates a Session.
<leader>lsw switches Sessions.
<leader>lsx closes a Session.
<leader>lsO opens Session Overview in a left sidebar.

The overview shows the invoking Session’s modified files, change totals, and edition lines beside the conversation. It refreshes as the Session works. Press Enter on a file or edition to open that location in a numbered file window below the sidebar, with the conversation on the right. Further jumps reuse that file window. Press d on an edition to preview that recorded change; on a file header it previews the latest patch for that file. Edition line numbers refer to the file at the time of that edit. Previews are read-only; d or q closes them. In the sidebar, s returns to the chat, r refreshes, and q or Escape closes the sidebar. The file stays open when the sidebar closes. Switching to another Session closes the sidebar. Moving into an ordinary file or the diff preview keeps it open. To inspect a different Session, invoke <leader>lsO from that Session’s chat; returning to an earlier Session does not reopen its sidebar automatically. The same view is available through :LouiselmSessionOverview.

7. Continue learning¶

The human reference is available with:

:help louiselm

Useful next topics include skills, inline edits, session options, resuming a previous Session, and exporting a transcript. LouiseLM also has headless APIs for applications that do not use the chat buffer.