Using the Vox Axis Desktop Workbench & Loquela Controls

The Vox Axis Desktop Workbench (vox-gui) is a Tauri 2 operator interface uniting multi-agent chat (Loquela), a VS Code-style multi-panel docking shell (DockWorkspaceShell), an interactive Documentation & Findings Reader (DocReader), and live telemetry across 32 verified surfaces. This guide covers launching the workbench, switching cognitive clutch and risk posture in real time (Alt+1..4), pinning @kb documentation context into agent turns, and inspecting BPE token compaction receipts.

Architecture & Workbench Layout

Diagram source

graph {
    direction: right
    node omnibar: "Omnibar (Cmd/Ctrl+K)\nFederated Search & Slash Router"
    node dock: "DockWorkspaceShell\nMulti-Panel Split Docking"
    node loquela: "Loquela Chat & Posture Bar\n(Alt+1..4 Clutch & Risk Knobs)"
    node reader: "DocReader & Scientia\n(Pinned Architecture + RRF Search)"
    node rail: "ChatExecutionRail\n(Turn Receipts & CAS Task Ledger)"
    omnibar -> dock
    dock -> loquela
    dock -> reader
    dock -> rail
}

1. Launching the Workbench

Run the desktop shell from the workspace root or open the web preview during development:

cargo run -p vox-gui

Use Cmd+K (macOS) or Ctrl+K (Windows/Linux) at any time to open the federated Omnibar and jump across all 32 registered surfaces (Chat, Loquela, DocReader, Scientia, Mesh, Runs, Sub-Agents, Models, Policies, Approvals).

2. Real-Time Loquela Posture Controls & Keybinds

The Loquela control bar (crates/vox-gui/ui/src/components/surfaces/Loquela/Loquela.tsx) lets you steer how the agent harness routes models, compacts context, and verifies code on every turn:

Shortcut	Control	Effect on Agent Turn
Alt+1 .. Alt+4	Cognitive Clutch	Switches between Fast Local (MENS), Balanced Hybrid, Deep Architecture, and Speculative Repair Cascade.
Alt+R	Risk Posture	Cycles Conservative, Balanced, and Autonomous tool approval boundaries.
Alt+C	Compaction Strategy	Switches cl100k_base BPE token budgeting (2,400 / 4,000 / 8,000 tokens with 20% goal-anchor preservation).
Alt+/	Keybind HUD Overlay	Toggles the live shortcut reference overlay (loquela-keybind-hud-panel).

3. Exposing Project Tools to the Workbench

Any tool or @mcp.resource declared in your .vox files is automatically discoverable in the workbench capability registry:

table DeploymentTarget {
    env_name: str
    healthy:  bool
}

query healthy_targets() to int {
    return len(db.DeploymentTarget.all())
}

tool "Check deployment target health from the Axis Workbench" check_target(env_name: str) to Result[str] {
    return Ok("Target verified: " + env_name + " (" + str(healthy_targets()) + " active)")
}

4. Using the Built-In Documentation & Findings Reader (DocReader)

Open the Documentation Reader (DocReader.tsx) from the sidebar or Omnibar to:

• Jump directly to Pinned Core Architecture Guides (Where Things Live, 5-Minute Quickstart, Subsystem Architecture Atlas L0–L5, AgentOS & Orchestrator SSOT).
• Filter the knowledge base by Topic and Domain pill selectors using hybrid Tantivy BM25 + HNSW Reciprocal Rank Fusion (RRF).
• Review candidate research findings in the Findings Inbox and promote verified [path:Lstart-Lend] claims.