Conversation modes

Untether can handle follow-up messages in two ways: chat mode (auto-resume) or stateless (reply-to-continue). Both work across all your devices — start a conversation on your phone, continue it from your laptop, or check in from Telegram Web.

During onboarding, you chose a workflow (assistant, workspace, or handoff) that automatically configured this for you:

Workflow	Session mode	Topics	Resume lines
assistant	chat	off	hidden
workspace	chat	on	hidden
handoff	stateless	off	shown

This page explains what those settings mean and how to change them.

Chat mode (auto-resume)

What it feels like: a normal chat assistant.

!!! user "You" explain what this repo does

!!! untether "Untether" done · codex · 8s ...

!!! user "You" now add tests

Untether treats the second message as a continuation. If you want a clean slate, use:

!!! user "You" /new

To pin a project or branch for the chat, use:

!!! user "You" /ctx set [@branch]

/new clears the session but keeps the bound context.

Tip: set a default engine for this chat with /agent set claude.

Stateless (reply-to-continue)

What it feels like: every message is independent until you reply.

!!! user "You" explain what this repo does

!!! untether "Untether" done · codex · 8s ... codex resume abc123

To continue the same session, reply to a message with a resume line:

!!! untether "Untether" done · codex · 8s

!!! user "You"
    now add tests

Changing your settings

You can manually change these settings in your config file:

=== "untether config"

```sh
untether config set transports.telegram.session_mode "chat"
untether config set transports.telegram.show_resume_line false
```

=== "toml"

```toml
[transports.telegram]
session_mode = "chat"      # "chat" or "stateless"
show_resume_line = false   # true or false
```

Or re-run onboarding to pick a different workflow:

untether --onboard

Resume lines in chat mode

If you enable chat mode (or topics), Untether can auto-resume, so you can hide resume lines for a cleaner chat. Disable them if you want a fully clean footer, or enable show_resume_line to keep reply-branching visible.

If you prefer always-visible resume lines, set:

=== "untether config"

```sh
untether config set transports.telegram.show_resume_line true
```

=== "toml"

```toml
[transports.telegram]
show_resume_line = true
```

Reply-to-continue still works

Even in chat mode, replying to a message with a resume line takes precedence and branches from that point.

Cross-environment resume

Started a session in your terminal and left the house? Use /continue to pick it up from Telegram — no reply needed. Works with Claude, Codex, OpenCode, Pi, and Gemini.

See the cross-environment resume guide for details.

Related

• Routing and sessions
• Chat sessions
• Cross-environment resume
• Forum topics
• Commands & directives

Next

Now that you know which mode you want, move on to your first run:

First run →