Open a workspace’s Add pane menu and choose a tool, or find it in the command palette. Tools use the selected environment and project. HTTP requests, database queries, ports and Docker operations run on that environment, including when you connect remotely. Reopening a tool focuses its existing pane; the selected saved resource follows the workspace layout across devices.
Dashboard
On web and desktop, open Dashboard from Add pane, the right panel’s surface menu, or Open Dashboard in the command palette. It brings together agents across your connected environments and the panels open in your client. Search by name or project, filter by status, and group agents by status or project. Select an item to return to its conversation or panel. Disconnected environments are marked offline so their last known activity is not mistaken for live work.
Switch agents to Board to see them in columns by what they need: waiting for you, working, done, idle, and errors or offline. Switch to Map to follow work an agent delegated to child threads: pick a tree, then open or stop any parent, child, or grandchild. Open orchestration map in the command palette opens the Dashboard on its map.
On mobile, Home is the dashboard. It groups your agents by status, with Waiting for you first; use Group by in Home’s filter menu to group them by project or return to your custom order. Opening a Dashboard pane from Tools shows Home limited to that pane’s project. Select an agent to open its chat or Provider CLI session.
Using tools from a conversation
Ask an agent to send an HTTP request, query a database, manage tasks, find a listening port, edit environment variables, or inspect Docker containers and logs. VC provides these tools to supported provider sessions even when browser and computer access are off. Environment edits use the conversation’s project and worktree, preserve hidden secret values, and detect conflicting file edits.
Docker inspection requires Docker Manager in Settings → Integrations. Operations that require confirmation, such as production database writes and Docker lifecycle changes, still use their tool panes. After updating VC, start a new agent session if an existing session does not list the new tools.
HTTP requests
Use HTTP Client to send and save requests. Press Cmd+Enter (Ctrl+Enter on
Windows and Linux) to send. Set a request’s name and folder path under Details,
and pick an environment for {{variables}} next to the request sections; No
environment removes it for that request. Use the lock button to keep a header or
variable value secret. Import Postman v2.1, Insomnia, Bruno folders or .http files
from the import button; the import report lists unsupported items such as scripts.
You can also open .bru, .http and .rest files from the file explorer, as well as
collection files named like *.postman_collection.json, *.insomnia.json or
Insomnia_*.json.
Use the export button to save every request as a Postman collection, an Insomnia
export, a Bruno folder (downloaded as a zip) or a .http file. Postman and .http
carry one set of variables: the open request’s environment, or your only one. Secret
headers, credentials and secret variables are left empty unless you turn on Include
saved secrets in the same menu; treat a file with secrets like a password. Folders are
kept except in .http files. Import and export are available on web and desktop.
The library button shows saved requests, history and environments. Selecting a history entry reopens that request; history keeps no headers, auth or body, so those start empty unless the request is saved.
Each request tab keeps its own draft and response. Save drafts before reloading the app: unsaved credentials stay in memory. Saved secrets are hidden and remain on the server when you leave their fields unchanged. Switch a JSON response between a tree you can filter and raw text. Send to agent attaches a bounded, redacted result to the selected agent’s chat draft or CLI input. Review it before sending. Project history keeps the last 50 summaries. On mobile, run saved requests and view responses and project history.
Databases
Use Database to connect to SQLite, PostgreSQL or MySQL. Browse tables and
their columns, preview rows, or run SQL. Opening a .sqlite file in the explorer
uses that project’s file. Set a connection to Production to require explicit
confirmation before a write. Results are paged; cancel a running query when it
is no longer needed. Export CSV or send a bounded result to an agent.
Ports, tasks and inbox
Ports lists listeners and available process details on the environment. Stopping a process requires confirmation and a verified VC child process; unrelated or unidentified processes cannot be stopped here.
Tasks manages project work and approval requests. Use the status filter to find active or completed tasks.
Inbox (/inbox on web and desktop, or Inbox from the mobile home screen
and tools pane) combines pending thread and task decisions across your
connected environments. By default it shows every environment; filter by
environment or project to narrow the queue. Search matches titles and details.
Open a row to review context and respond. Send applies your answer; Send and continue moves to the next item in the “Needs you” queue. A row leaves the queue only once the answer is accepted; if sending fails, the row and your draft stay put. Draft text is saved locally while you work and appears under Drafts until you send or clear it. Snooze defers a row (except live conversation approvals, which stay visible until answered); open it from Snoozed and choose Unsnooze to bring it back early. Changes refresh across connected clients.
Environment files
Use Environment to edit a project’s .env files. Secret names are hidden
automatically; mark other values as secret when needed. Reveal a value explicitly
to inspect it. Saving preserves comments and ordering. If another program edits
the file, reload and reconcile your draft before saving again. Closing a tool
with unsaved changes asks for confirmation.
If the environment has dotenvx installed, you can encrypt or decrypt a file. Add at least one variable before encrypting an empty file. Removing the last encrypted variable keeps the file encrypted until you explicitly decrypt it. VC keeps the private key separately for each checkout. You can reveal or edit an encrypted value without decrypting the project file. Decrypting the whole file requires confirmation; keep the environment’s private keys when moving or backing up encrypted projects.
Docker
Enable Docker Manager in Settings → Integrations on the environment that owns the Docker daemon. Docker socket access gives control over that host. Browse containers and published ports, images, and volumes with their container usage. Select a running container for CPU/RAM samples or bounded logs. Resource sampling pauses when hidden and can be paused manually. Stop, restart and remove operations require confirmation; VC protects containers recognized as its host.
Local utilities
ToolBox includes JSON, Base64, URL, hash, UUID, timestamp, text, regex, diff, Markdown, cron, password and JWT utilities. These run in the client. Markdown preview does not load external images. JWT decoding displays the payload; it does not verify the signature.
Skills, MCP and settings
In Settings → Skills, choose a project and provider to pin an exact skill
version. Browse a catalog URL or import a local SKILL.md, review its content and
scan results, then save. Load a saved version into the editor to create a new
version. Unpin a version from every project before deleting it. Export a manifest
to restore the same pins on another environment; changes apply to new agent sessions.
In Settings → Integrations, manage project MCP servers for supported providers. Removing an entry preserves unrelated provider configuration. The tool history shows calls reported to VC by providers.
Use Settings transfer in Settings to export server settings, local preferences and custom keybindings together. Secrets are excluded by default. Import a JSON file to preview changes and confirm them. If settings change after preview, review the file again before importing.