# Voice Assistant Panel block

> Docked voice first assistant panel that answers in a different shape each time

A floating assistant panel beside any page, driven by voice as readily as typing. Hold the mic and the take lands as a playable turn with a scrubbable transport and its transcription, then the answer arrives in whichever shape the question deserves: a move plan behind an approval gate, a set of times to choose between, a roster of who is free, a figure summary, a callout that carries its own next action, a trace of the steps taken, or prose with the documents it quoted. Also carries a thread switcher, meeting attachments, citation chips you can turn off, and a widen toggle.

- Type: Pro block
- Category: [AI Chat](https://reui.io/blocks/ai-agents/ai-chat.md)
- Page: https://reui.io/blocks/ai-agents/ai-chat/ai-chat-8
- MCP: `get_block("ai-chat-8")`
- Built with: Alert, Attachment, Avatar, Badge, Bubble, Button, Dropdown Menu, Empty, Field, Icon Stack, Input Group, Item, Kbd, Marker, Message Scroller, Popover, Sidebar, Skeleton, Slider, Spinner, Toggle Group, Tooltip
- Installs with a ReUI Pro or Ultimate license; setup: https://reui.io/docs/license-setup

## Best for

A calendar assistant taking voice notes with a scrubbable Slider transport, answered as a move plan to approve, time slots or a roster

## Agent notes

- Replace `SCHEDULE`, `PENDING_EVENT`, `THREADS` and the placeholder `MODELS`; `composeReply` picks each answer shape from `REPLY_LIBRARY` by keyword
- The mic captures no audio: `startRecording` only counts seconds, and each take transcribes to the next canned `DICTATED` line
- `approve` edits only local `schedule` state, `confirmSlot` only appends a `settleWith` line, and `modeId` never changes what is answered

## When not to use

- An assistant beside a document draft that writes its answer into the page: use [Docked Assistant](https://reui.io/blocks/ai-agents/ai-chat/ai-chat-2.md) (`get_block("ai-chat-2")`)
- A text only assistant drawer over the page, seeded by prompt suggestion chips: use [Copilot Chat](https://reui.io/blocks/application/sheet/sheet-10.md) (`get_block("sheet-10")`)

## Install

```bash
npx shadcn@latest add @reui/ai-chat-8
```

## About AI Chat blocks

### When to use

- A full page assistant chat, new chat welcome screen or 2 model comparison inside an AI product
- A copilot docked beside the page it works on, or opened from a launcher in the page corner
- Answers that show the work behind them: sources read, tool steps, plans to approve and run cost

### When not to use

- The product layout around the chat: a sidebar of threads, workspaces and account menus: use the [App Shell blocks](https://reui.io/blocks/application/app-shell.md)
- A plain overlay chat panel opened from a button, with suggestion chips and a composer: use the [Sheet blocks](https://reui.io/blocks/application/sheet.md)
- A highlighted snippet with a filename header and copy button, outside any conversation: use [Code Block](https://reui.io/components/code-block.md) (`get_component("code-block")`)

### Agent notes

- Each `AiChat` root sizes itself to the viewport with `h-svh`, or `min-h-svh` in ai-chat-5; give it your layout's height inside an app shell
- Every reply is canned content from the block's data file, played back on `setTimeout` and `setInterval` timers; stream your model's output there instead

Every ReUI item has a twin like this one; the index is https://reui.io/llms.txt. Agents with the ReUI MCP (https://reui.io/docs/mcp) get the same guidance from the getters named above.