[IDE] Revisit Duo context menu for IDE

Latest

Watch the 5 min status update or try the prototype

Problem to solve

The current context menu has a few friction points such as requiring typing /include to open the menu and not supporting inline tokens while typing a prompt. There's also several quality of life opportunities around keyboard workflows and the default menu list.

For Who: Code Author job performer

Job performer	Code author
Main job	Develop improvements for my application (e.g., performance, reliability, security, user experience)
Outcome	Minimize the time it takes to generate or complete code using AI assistance
Methods	Provide shortcuts for common actions

Where: Duo Chat in the IDE. This won't be used in Duo Chat for web.

Why: Selecting context is a frequent workflow so even small improvements will have good ROI for developer productivity and UX.

Example of current state

Current Example (May 2025)
No button to open menu, must type /include File category only shows current file tabs and also requires user manually add sources (ie. current file and open tabs not included by default) Unable to close menu by clicking away from menu Hover tips are overly large and include unnecessary info Back/close buttons overly prominent No hotkey hints Type to search doesn't work on initial menu launch	current_vscode_duochat

Design Proposal

Note

A working prototype is available for user testing and to demo keyboard interactions. It's not a final spec and uses the older IDE-first styling. The North Star designs should take priority. More details in the prototyping repo.

There's multiple teams working on Duo right now so proposed changes have been scoped and organized by risk factor and need for alignment.

High UX ROI

Change	Example	Issue
Ability to: Open menu with a plus + button Open the menu by typing + in the prompt input	Screen_Recording_2025-05-22_at_4.51.37_PM	gitlab-org/gitlab#544992
Change: Replace generic document icon in the context menu with language specific file icons Use specific file language icons in context tokens		gitlab-org/gitlab#545188
Change: Send button icon to ↵ Disable the send button when prompt input field is empty		gitlab-org/gitlab#546312 (closed)
Ability to: Immediately start typing to filter when menu launched Prefix matching (e.g. "app" matches "apple," "application," etc.), Token-based matching (e.g. "blue" matches "blue shirt" and "light blue pants") Have the most relevant menu item focused while filtering Prefetch assigned issues and MRs so they can be filtered from global menu category Prefetch N issues/MRs in current project when enter respective sub-category (e.g. Issues, MRs)		gitlab-org/gitlab#546092
Change: Prompt input placeholder text from Type / for slash commands to Ask anything (⌥D), + to add context		gitlab-org/gitlab#546306

Moderate UX ROI

Change	Example	Issue
Ability to: Insert inline tokens into prompt input when menu opened by typing +		gitlab-org/gitlab#546248
Change: Context Token tool tip layout		gitlab-org/gitlab#546255
Misc. UI changes: Back and close button styling to lower contrast Add hotkey hints for Back/Close		gitlab-org/gitlab#546263
Change: Remove Included references collapsible and always show tokens above prompt input. Allow tokens to be focused via keyboard (e.g. to delete with backspace)		gitlab-org/gitlab#546266 (closed)
Change: Menu items are single line (except for issues). If necessary, truncate file paths starting at start of the file path string		gitlab-org/gitlab#546289
Ability to add a context source by drag and dropping a file from the file tree		TBD

Needs more investigation:

• Using other symbols to shortcut adding context sources (e.g. #, $)

Feedback

• Iteration 1 walkthrough (usertesting.com + internal)
• Iteration 2 internal product hours feedback

Open questions

1. What new context sources will get added?
   • Repository

Useful links

• IDE First Duo Chat (initial concept)
• Prototype
• Agentic Chat planning