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For ready-to-copy prompts, see Example Workflows.

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Writing Effective Prompts

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Be Specific

Say what should change, where, and how. Names, numbers and units help. Instead of “Fix the tracks”, try:
Name the scope, using track, marker and region names exactly as they appear in REAPER:

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Describe the Result

Describe the result, not every step:
For UCS names, Reagent typically uses its built-in UCS Renamer skill, which on a Mac needs Apple silicon and macOS 14 (Sonoma) or later. Reagent picks its actions as it goes and usually says briefly what it’s about to do. When the method matters, name it, or ask for the plan before anything changes:

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Sound Effects vs. Dialogue

Silence trimming is for sound effects and other non-speech audio. For voice-over, dialogue or podcast recordings:
  • Ask Reagent to edit the dialogue instead.
  • Edit the dialogue in REAPER yourself, or tell Reagent exactly which time ranges to remove.

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Save Prompts You Repeat

Save requests you send often as slash commands. Create one in Settings > Commands with New command, then type / in the chat box and pick it.

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Working with Selections

Each time you send a message, Reagent reads your selected items and tracks, the edit cursor, the time selection, and the Wwise selection when Wwise is connected. Select in REAPER first, then keep the request short:
When items are easy to select, this is simpler and less error-prone than describing them. When selecting is awkward, such as across the whole project, describe the scope in words. Reagent is built to match “this”, “these” and “the selected” to what’s selected when you send, not to something mentioned earlier in the chat:
  • REAPER words like item or track point at your REAPER selection. Wwise words like event, bus or soundbank point at your Wwise selection.
  • If both items and tracks are selected in REAPER, Reagent works on the items. Say “these tracks” when you mean the tracks.
  • If you change the REAPER selection between messages, a follow-up that says “this”, “these” or “the selected” uses the new selection. Multi-step jobs already under way, such as classifying items or editing dialogue, keep working on the items they started with.
  • While Wwise is connected to a running game, Reagent ignores your Wwise selection for requests about a sound you heard, unless you say “selected” or “selection”. See Live Mixing.

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New Chat or Same Chat

For an unrelated task, start a new chat so earlier work doesn’t confuse the new request. Click New chat in the sidebar or press Cmd+N (macOS) or Ctrl+N (Windows). For follow-ups on the same task, stay in the chat so Reagent can build on what it just did. Here, “these tracks” works because Reagent selected the tracks first, and “these” means what’s selected when you send:
You: Select the tracks you just changed. Reagent: (selects the 10 tracks) You: Rename these tracks to “Stem 01”, “Stem 02” and so on.
When a chat gets long, Reagent summarizes older messages and shows a divider starting with “Earlier context summarized”. You can still read everything above it, but Reagent may no longer recall the fine details, so start a new chat and restate what matters. See Long Chats and the Context Ring.

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Staying in Control

The permission selector next to + in the chat box sets how often Reagent asks before it changes something: use Default permissions for anything you haven’t tried before, and Full access only for batches you’ve already tested on a few items. The mode applies to every chat and survives a restart, so switch back when a big batch is done. See Which Mode to Use.

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Undo and Recovery

If a request goes wrong, stop it, undo it, and try again:
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Stop the request

While Reagent works, the send button becomes a stop button (Cancel request). Click it or press Esc. If an approval card is showing, click Deny, then Cancel request if Reagent carries on. Stopping doesn’t undo what Reagent has already changed.
2

Undo in REAPER

Press Cmd+Z (macOS) or Ctrl+Z (Windows) in REAPER once for each Reagent entry in the undo history, before you send another request. One request can leave several entries. Most built-in edits start with reagent:, for example “reagent: Trim Item Silence”, and scripts Reagent runs are named after what they do.To count the entries, open REAPER’s undo history: in Actions > Show action list, search for “undo history” and run the action that shows the window.
3

Try again

Send a clearer request. Mention that you undid the last attempt, so Reagent doesn’t build on it.
REAPER’s undo only restores your REAPER project. For files on disk and Wwise, see Undoing Changes.
Before a large change to an important project, save a copy of the REAPER project. Also back up any files a render, move or copy will replace. Neither REAPER’s undo nor a project copy restores files on disk.

Chat

New chats, long chats and the context ring.

Permissions

What each permission mode asks about.

Skills

Built-in workflows Reagent uses for you.

Troubleshooting

Fixes for common problems.