Conversations

Co-browsing is conversational: you ask in the side panel, Zo answers in-context, and the browser acts. Two layers of state keep the conversation intact — one local, one on Zo's side.

Two layers of state

Layer	Where	Key / concept	Role
Local history	chrome.storage.local	zo_cobrowse_history	What the panel displays; capped at 50 messages
Zo thread	background worker	zoConversationId	What Zo uses for continuity on its side

Local history

The side panel keeps a conversation array (local chat history) and persists it to chrome.storage.local under zo_cobrowse_history. Messages are stored in the shape { role, text, reasoning, timestamp } so both the answer and its thinking re-render when the history loads.

Why storage.local? History can grow large, and chrome.storage.sync has size limits and syncs across devices. History stays local; only lightweight settings use sync.

Zo thread continuity

The background worker stores zoConversationId — the conversation_id returned by /zo/ask — and sends it as conversation_id on every subsequent call. Zo respects this, so the thread continues on Zo's side: Zo remembers the earlier turns in the same session.

Starting fresh: New Chat

The New Chat button performs a full reset:

1. Sets zoConversationId to null on the worker (breaks the Zo thread)
2. Clears stored local history

After that, the next query starts a brand-new conversation on both layers.

Storage model

Split between the two Chrome storage areas to respect MV3 constraints and privacy:

Area	What lives there
chrome.storage.sync	Non-sensitive settings: model, active mode, theme, enabled menus, TTS prefs, API URL
chrome.storage.local	Sensitive + bulk data: access token, Zo.space endpoint, conversation history, custom modes

The config module (extension/lib/config.js) is the single source of truth for keys and defaults, and routes each key to the correct storage area automatically — sensitive keys (zoAccessToken, zoSpaceEndpoint) go to local, everything else to sync.

Relevant message types

• NEW_CONVERSATION — panel → worker: reset the Zo thread
• ASK_ZO — panel → worker: send a query (with current mode + custom modes)
• GET_CONFIG — panel → worker: return sanitized config (token presence, URL, model)

See Message Types for the full list.