User Manual

User Manual

Complete reference for Alex commands, UI, and features.

Table of Contents

• Chat Commands
• Sidebar Panel
• Agents
• Skills
• Memory System
• Health Processes
• Settings

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Chat Commands

Interact with Alex through Copilot Chat using the @alex participant.

Core Commands

Command	Description
@alex help	List available commands and capabilities
@alex status	Show cognitive health and memory stats
@alex dream	Run dream cycle (synapse validation)
@alex meditate	Consolidate recent learning
@alex self-actualize	Deep architecture assessment

Workspace Commands

Command	Description
@alex initialize	Set up Alex for current workspace
@alex reset	Clear workspace-specific settings
@alex sync	Synchronize heir architecture

Agent Mode

Command	Description
@alex /builder	Switch to Builder agent (implementation)
@alex /researcher	Switch to Researcher agent (exploration)
@alex /validator	Switch to Validator agent (QA)
@alex /documentarian	Switch to Documentarian agent (docs)

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Sidebar Panel

The Alex sidebar (Ctrl+Shift+A or click the Alex icon) contains three tabs:

Mind Tab

Your window into Alex's cognitive state.

Section	Shows
Health Pulse	Current cognitive health (0-100)
Synapses	Active learned connections
Skills	Available knowledge domains
Memory	Recent episodic entries

Actions:

• 🧠 Open Chat Memories — View Copilot's memory about you
• 📊 Memory Audit — Analyze memory health and efficiency

Mission Tab

Your current focus and session history.

Section	Shows
Active Session	Current conversation context
Recent Sessions	Last 5 significant sessions
Focus Areas	Auto-detected project domains

Journey Tab

Your learning progress with Alex.

Section	Shows
Partnership Level	How well Alex knows your patterns
Skills Used	Most activated skills
Milestones	Key learning moments

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Agents

Alex has specialized agents for different tasks. Each brings focused expertise.

Agent	Specialty	When to Use
Alex	General partnership	Default, most conversations
Builder	Implementation	Writing code, creating features
Researcher	Exploration	Learning new domains, investigations
Validator	Quality assurance	Code review, testing, audits
Documentarian	Documentation	READMEs, wikis, changelogs
Planner	Strategy	Architecture, roadmaps, planning
Presenter	Communication	Demos, presentations, stakeholder docs

Switching Agents

In chat:

@alex /builder Create a React component for user profiles

Or explicitly:

@alex Use the Researcher agent to investigate OAuth2 best practices

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Skills

Alex has 165+ skills across domains. Skills activate automatically based on context.

Skill Categories

Category	Examples
Development	vscode-extension-patterns, api-design, testing-strategies
AI/ML	prompt-engineering, rag-architecture, mcp-development
Documentation	markdown-mermaid, lint-clean-markdown, md-to-word
Quality	code-review, security-review, debugging-patterns
Process	release-process, git-workflow, scope-management

Checking Active Skills

@alex What skills are active for this workspace?

Requesting a Skill

@alex Use the security-review skill to audit this code

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Memory System

Alex maintains three types of memory:

Synapses (Long-term)

Learned connections between concepts. Created when Alex discovers patterns or relationships.

• Stored in .github/synapses/
• Persist across sessions
• Strengthened through repeated use

Episodic Memory (Session-based)

Records of significant sessions and decisions.

• Stored in .github/episodic/
• Captures key moments from conversations
• Used for context in future sessions

User Memory (Copilot Chat)

Copilot Chat's memory about you, accessible to Alex.

• Cloud-synced across workspaces
• Contains preferences and patterns
• Managed via Mind tab or @alex memory audit

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Health Processes

Alex needs maintenance to stay healthy. Run these periodically:

Dream (Weekly)

Validates and repairs synapse network.

@alex dream

What it does:

• Checks synapse integrity
• Identifies broken connections
• Proposes repairs
• Reports health score

Meditate (After major sessions)

Consolidates recent learning into long-term memory.

@alex meditate

What it does:

• Reviews recent sessions
• Extracts key insights
• Creates new synapses
• Updates skill activations

Self-Actualize (Monthly)

Comprehensive architecture assessment.

@alex self-actualize

What it does:

• Full cognitive architecture audit
• Skill usage analysis
• Memory efficiency review
• Improvement recommendations

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Settings

Configure Alex through VS Code settings (Ctrl+,).

Available Settings

Setting	Default	Description
alex.persona	auto	Your primary persona (Developer/Researcher/Writer/auto)
alex.verbosity	normal	Response detail level (brief/normal/detailed)
alex.autoMeditate	false	Auto-meditate after long sessions
alex.dreamReminder	7	Days between dream reminders

Settings File

Create .vscode/settings.json in your workspace:

{
  "alex.persona": "developer",
  "alex.verbosity": "detailed"
}

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Keyboard Shortcuts

Shortcut	Action
Ctrl+Shift+A	Toggle Alex sidebar
Ctrl+Shift+I	Open Copilot Chat (talk to Alex)
Ctrl+K Ctrl+A	Quick Alex command

Custom Shortcuts

Add to keybindings.json:

{
  "key": "ctrl+alt+d",
  "command": "alex.dream",
  "when": "editorTextFocus"
}

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Alex adapts to how you work. The more context you provide, the better the partnership.