btw Addin cannot access R Environment / session objects (unlike `btw_app()`)

[muuksi]

Summary

There is a functional discrepancy between launching the btw chat interface via the RStudio Addin vs. calling btw_app() directly: the Addin does not have access to the current R session environment, making env and session tools non-functional when used through the Addin.

Expected behavior

The btw RStudio Addin should behave equivalently to btw_app() with respect to tool availability, including access to the current R environment and session objects (e.g., loaded data frames, model objects, defined variables).

Actual behavior

When launching via the RStudio Addin:

• The tool selection UI correctly reflects the btw.md configuration (e.g., tools: [docs, env, session])
• However, the env and session tools appear to have no access to the live R GlobalEnvironment — objects present in the session are not visible to the LLM

When launching via btw_app() in the console:

• Full access to the current R environment works as expected
• However, btw_app() blocks the R session, making parallel work in RStudio impossible

This creates a forced trade-off with no good solution:

• Addin → non-blocking, but no environment access
• btw_app() → environment access, but session is blocked

Environment

R version: 4.5.2
Platform: macOS (Apple Silicon)
RStudio version: 2026.4.0.347
btw version: 1.1.0
ellmer version: 0.4.0

questions

• Could the Addin be modified to run in the same R process (or share environment state) rather than as a separate process?
• Alternatively, could btw_app() gain a background = TRUE argument that launches non-blocking (e.g., via rstudioapi::jobRunScript()) while retaining environment access?
• Or could environment snapshots be serialized and passed to the Addin process at launch time?

[gadenbuie]

Thanks, and you are correct, the btw addin does not have access to the running session in RStudio. It's unfortunately a bit complicated and won't make it into the next btw release, but I was hoping we could take the learnings from side::kick() and bring them here to btw_addin().

[ivan-pourmir]

Hi, thanks for the development of this wonderful and very promising app.

Just wanted to add my voice to muuksi's message that it is really what is currently lacking IMHO to btw to drastically increase my productivity: Being able to launch the app/or add-in in the same way as side::kick() does so that you can combine the comfort of the GUI and still Interact with your console, environment, etc.

For the moment, the only workaround I have found is

• initialize a client with all the features I want, once and for all and
• write a function based on btw_app() that can be launched with a simple keyboard shortcut to
• start or resume the shiny app with the same client, after I had interrupted it (every time I had to liberate the console).

Regards