The Chat Place 0.1.0

The Chat Place 0.1.0

The Chat Place is a home for your Claude Code chats, built from the start for the keyboard and
screen readers. Everything is in one window: your sessions, the conversation you're reading and
a reply box. You can start a chat with Claude, read every reply as you would any text, answer
Claude's questions, and keep track of several conversations at once without hunting for which
one needs you.

It runs on the Claude subscription you already have, through Claude Code, and never asks for an
API key. It also lists the Claude Code sessions in the Claude desktop app, so everything you have
going is in one place.

This is the first release, and a pre-release, for Windows and for Macs with Apple silicon. On
Windows it has been used every day with JAWS; NVDA and Windows voices are supported, but NVDA
hasn't had a full test pass yet. The Mac version is new: it speaks through VoiceOver or a system
voice, but hasn't had a full pass with VoiceOver, and Windows notifications have no Mac
equivalent yet.

What's new

Everything, because this is the first release. Here's what you'll find:

• One window, in Tab order: the session list, the messages of the session you load, and the
  reply box. F6 moves between them and the status bar, and Escape in the messages or the reply box
  takes you back to your sessions.
• Start a chat with Ctrl+N: choose a folder, give it a title, pick a model (Opus, Sonnet,
  Haiku or your Claude Code default) and a permission mode (auto by default, where Claude runs most
  tools without asking; accept edits, manual or plan are the others), then write your first
  message. Reply with Ctrl+Enter, and
  you stay in the reply box. Send while Claude is still answering, and your message is queued
  until the turn ends; it shows at the end of the messages, where Send Now (Ctrl+Enter) makes
  Claude stop and answer it at once, and Edit or Delete change your mind. Session, Change Model
  picks another model for a chat's next turns.
• Read like a document. Arrowing through the messages reads each one in full. Enter opens a
  message as a formatted page, with headings, lists, tables and code blocks your screen reader
  can jump between, or as plain text to read by line, word and character. Ctrl+Shift+C copies a
  message's last code block, and Code Blocks on the context menu lists and copies each one.
• Hear what's happening. New replies are announced through JAWS, NVDA or a Windows voice: the
  whole reply, a short summary or nothing, as you choose. Your own message is read back when it's
  sent, so you know exactly what went. Show tool activity (Ctrl+T) to see and hear what Claude is
  doing during a long turn, and Turn Status (Ctrl+Shift+T) says how long it's been working. Stop
  (Ctrl+Period) ends a turn. Settings (Ctrl+Comma) chooses how much is said and which voice says
  it, and Ctrl+Shift+R repeats the last announcement.
• Claude asks, you answer. In the chats you start here, when Claude needs permission to run something, has a question for
  you, or a plan to approve, the session shows as needing you and Ctrl+Shift+A opens it. Nothing
  is approved by waiting.
• Know which session needs you. Sessions that need you are listed first. Windows notifications
  tell you when a chat finishes or needs you while you're in another window, and choosing one
  brings you straight to that session.
• Keep things organised. Sort the list, show only the sessions you want, find a session by
  title or folder (Ctrl+F), and put sessions in groups (Ctrl+G). The Claude desktop app's own
  groups show too.
• Your Claude desktop app sessions, read-only, so two programs never write to one session.
  Open in Claude (Ctrl+O) switches the desktop
  app to one, and Continue Here (Ctrl+Shift+N) carries it on in The Chat Place as a copy.
• Attach files and pictures (Ctrl+Shift+F), including a screenshot pasted with Ctrl+V, so Claude can see what
  you see.
• Commands and skills (Ctrl+/): a searchable list of slash commands and your skills, with
  what each one does.
• See what changed. Changed Files (Ctrl+Shift+D) lists the files Claude changed, and reads
  each change line by line.
• Keep an eye on your plan. Usage and Context (Ctrl+Shift+U) says how full the conversation is
  and how much of your plan's limits you've used. It tells you when the conversation is past 80%
  full, when a limit passes 90%, and when it's reached.
• Export a conversation (Ctrl+E) as Markdown, a web page or plain text.
• No surprise bills. If a turn would run on Fable without your choosing it (some plans bill
  Fable to usage credits), The Chat Place doesn't send your message, says why, and gives the
  message back. The same goes for a turn that would be billed through an API key.
• Remote Control, off unless you turn it on (Settings, or Session, Remote Control for one
  chat): while a turn runs, you can reach that chat from claude.ai and your other devices.
  Turning it on copies the conversation to claude.ai.
• Sign-in check: Help, Claude Code Sign-in says whether Claude Code is signed in, and helps
  you sign in if it isn't.
• Report a Bug (Help menu) fills in a GitHub issue for you, and shows you exactly what the
  report includes first: never your session titles, folders or messages. Without access to
  GitHub, Copy Report puts it on the clipboard to email to support@theideaplace.net.
• Automatic updates, on Windows and the Mac: The Chat Place checks for new versions and asks
  before installing one. Your sessions and settings are kept.

Help, Keyboard Shortcuts (F1) lists every key.

Downloads

• TheChatPlace-windows-Setup.exe: the installer. It installs for you only, with no
  administrator rights, adds The Chat Place to the Start menu, and keeps it up to date.
• TheChatPlace-windows-Portable.zip: the same app in a folder, to run without installing. The
  portable copy doesn't update itself.
• TheChatPlace-macos-arm64.dmg: the Mac app. Open it and drag The Chat Place to
  Applications. It updates itself wherever you keep it, once it's out of the disk image. Signed
  and notarized by Apple, so it opens without a warning.
• The .nupkg files and the releases.*.json, assets.*.json and RELEASES-* files are the
  update feeds the apps read, one set for Windows and one for the Mac. You don't need to download
  them.

The installer and the programs in the portable zip are signed by "kelly ford". Windows SmartScreen
may still ask about a new download until the publisher builds up a reputation.

Requirements

• Windows 10 or 11 (built for x64; Arm PCs run it under Windows's x64 emulation), or a Mac with
  Apple silicon. On a Mac, speech through VoiceOver needs "Allow VoiceOver to be controlled with
  AppleScript" turned on in VoiceOver Utility, General, and macOS asks once whether The Chat Place
  may control VoiceOver.
• Claude Code installed with its native installer, and signed in to a Claude subscription
  (the same login the Claude desktop app uses). Chats you start in The Chat Place run through
  Claude Code in headless mode, which counts against your plan's monthly credit for that kind of
  use (see Anthropic's article
  Use the Claude Agent SDK with your Claude plan).
  Past it, turns stop unless you've turned on extra usage, which is billed. Usage and Context
  (Ctrl+Shift+U) shows where you stand. Reading the desktop app's sessions costs nothing.
• On Windows 10, the formatted message page needs Microsoft's Edge WebView2 runtime, which
  Windows 11 already has. Without it, messages open as plain text.
• The Claude desktop app, if you want its sessions listed too.

The README has the full details of every feature and
how it works.

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The Chat Place is an independent project by Kelly Ford. It works with Claude Code and the Claude desktop app, but it isn't made, sponsored or endorsed by Anthropic, and isn't affiliated with it. Claude and Claude Code are trademarks of Anthropic.