Use Discussion Mode in Bolt to get help without immediately generating code
Discussion Mode offers project-specific insights without generating any code. This feature uses Gemini 2.5 Flash with search grounding, enabling the model to dynamically access both Bolt’s support documentation and sources from the internet. Discussion mode provides high-quality, up-to-date answers about the technologies you use in your application.
Using discussion mode helps reduce token usage, as you you’re sending less information to and from Bold than in Build Mode. It’s also safe: no code changes until you say so.
Every discussion message includes your project codebase for context-aware responses, as well as the six most recent messages.
Because Discussion Mode has the entire context of your project, there are a wide range of use cases, including:
When the AI answers a question, it can pull in realtime, up-to-date information from trusted sources like Google Search instead of just relying on what it was trained on. This helps ensure the answers are accurate, relevant, and not outdated. When a search has been conducted, Bolt displays the sources at the top of the response.
For example:
After every discussion mode response, users can take immediate actions such as:
The exact quick action buttons are contextual and vary based on your project and what you’re discussing.
Choosing one of the quick action buttons switches Bolt back to Build Mode to generate code.
Think of Discussion Mode as having a smart teammate who you can talk things through with. It’s excellent for weighing trade-offs, asking for recommendations, trying to debug something, or when you just need a second opinion. Discussion Mode gives you space to do that, with full awareness of your project.