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Brainbox Overview (New 2026)

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Brainbox Overview (New 2026)

Brainbox is your AI assistant, built right into Wavebox. Summarize a page, draft a reply, translate an email, chat with a PDF, check your tone before hitting send — all without leaving the tab you're working in. Brainbox is built-in to Wavebox, rather than an add-on, so it works across all your Apps, Groups, and Spaces.

For example, you can reference your work Gmail in one tab and a client's Gmail in another, all in the same conversation.

Every Wavebox Pro subscription includes 1 million free OpenAI tokens per month, plus 11 pre-canned customizable Skills. There's also support for multiple AI engines from OpenAI and Anthropic by connecting your API key.

Want to jump straight in? Click on this Quick Start guide.

What Can Brainbox Do?

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Open the Brainbox panel to chat with any tab

Brainbox works in a similar way to other Chrome AI extensions, but because Brainbox is part of our browser, we can do some extra clever things. Below are the capabilities available with Brainbox out of the box:

  • 💬 Chat with any page — ask questions about the tab you're viewing, or @mention any other tab to pull it into the conversation. You can even reference tabs from other Spaces!
  • 📸 Chat with a screenshot — capture part of any tab and ask Brainbox about it.
  • 📲 Pop out the panel — detach Brainbox into a floating window and use it alongside any app on your desktop.
  • 🧠 Built-in Skills — use built-in prompts for common tasks via /s in the chat panel, or the page right-click menu. Create your own for any workflow you repeat. Brainbox comes with 11 built-in Skills:
    • Compare Articles — produce a structured comparative analysis of two or more articles.
    • Chat with PDF — upload a document and ask questions about it. Brainbox quotes from the original and tells you where to find it.
    • Draft Reply — highlight an email or message and get a professional reply that matches the original tone.
    • Grammar — check and fix grammar, spelling, and punctuation errors without changing your style.
    • Meeting Notes — turn messy meeting content into structured notes with action items and owners.
    • Rewrite — improve clarity and readability while keeping the original meaning.
    • Simplify — explain complex text in plain, easy-to-understand terms.
    • Summarize — get a quick TLDR and key points from long articles, email threads, or meeting notes.
    • Task List — extract action items from text into a prioritized, trackable checklist.
    • Tone Check — review your message for tone before sending and get suggestions if anything might land badly.
    • Translate — translate text into another language while preserving the original meaning and tone.
    • YouTube Transcript — extract a timestamped transcript, summary, and key quotes from any video (coming soon).

There are also lots of prompt libraries available online if you want to add more Skills.

How Brainbox Works With Your Tabs

Each Brainbox panel is tied to the tab you opened it from.

Click the Brainbox icon when in any App or tab, and the resulting chat is connected to that particular App or tab. When you switch to a different tab, the panel disappears. Switch back, and it reappears again, exactly where you left off.

This means every tab has its own Brainbox conversation running — in any tab, App, Group, or Space.

Think of each panel as a dedicated AI assistant for that tab.

It knows what's on the page, remembers your conversation, and waits quietly when you're focused elsewhere.

For example, you might have a project plan being written in Notion, a draft reply in Zoho Mail, and a translation in Slack, all happening independently. Each panel keeps its own conversation and context.

You can also pop out panels to use side by side.

For example, pop out a panel from your personal Space and another from a client's Space. Then place them side by side to compare, cross-reference, or work across simultaneously.

Brainbox works in the main Wavebox window and any secondary window, so you can spread your AI conversations across monitors and windows, however you like.

All conversations are accessible from any panel, at any time, via the Chat Menu (☰) in the top-left.

So, if you open a new tab and pop out the panel, you can click the Chat Menu (☰) and pick up where you left off in an existing conversation.

Enable/Disable

Brainbox is enabled by default for all Wavebox Pro users, but you can toggle it off or on at any time in Settings.

  • Enable: Go to Settings > General > Brainbox, and toggle on.
  • Disable: Go to Settings > General > Brainbox, and toggle off.

Opening/Closing the Panel

There are several ways to open Brainbox depending on your workflow.

Opening the panel:

  • Toolbar icon: Click the robot icon in the toolbar (top-right corner) to open the Brainbox side panel.
  • Highlight and right-click: Highlight any text on a page, right-click, and select "Brainbox", then choose a Skill from the pop-up menu. The panel opens with the Skill already applied to your selection.
  • Keyboard shortcut:
    • Panel: Settings > General > Keyboard Shortcuts > Application > Toggle Brainbox Chat.
    • Skill Picker: Settings > General > Keyboard Shortcuts > Application > Open Brainbox Skill Picker.
  • Pop-out window: In the Brainbox panel, click the "open" icon (square with arrow) next to the X in the top-right. Brainbox pops out into its own window that you can drag anywhere on your desktop — including to a second monitor — and use even when you're working outside Wavebox.
  • Dashboard widget: Add the Brainbox Chat Widget to any Dashboard via the Widget Library.

Closing the panel:

  • Click the X in the top-right corner of the panel to close it.

A Tour of the Brainbox Panel UI

The Brainbox panel is split vertically into three main areas: (1) Menu and Settings at the top, (2) Brainbox's responses in the middle, and (3) your prompt box at the bottom.

1. Menu and Settings (Top)

At the top of the Brainbox panel you'll find the following:

  • Chat Menu (☰) — top-left.
  • Name of the current chat — top-middle.
  • Settings cog (⚙️) — top-right.
  • New Chat (📝) — far top-right.

2. Responses (Middle)

This is where Brainbox displays its replies. New chats show a "Let's Get Started" home screen with 4 example Skills (Summarize, Task List, Chat with File, and Draft Reply). At the bottom of each response box, you'll find icons to copy, regenerate, or delete the message.

3. Prompt Box (Bottom)

This is where you tell Brainbox what you need.

  • Type your message: Ask a question or give an instruction.
  • Use @ to reference any tab: From any Group, Space, or window — even sleeping tabs!
  • Use /s to add a Skill: The fastest way to use a Skill.
  • Attach content (+): Pull in context from recent tabs, attach all tabs in a window, paste from your clipboard, take a tab screenshot, or upload files.
  • Choose your engine: Pick the AI model that fits the task.
    • GPT-5 Mini (Low, Medium, High) is the default.
    • Wavebox Assistant is optimised for Wavebox-specific help.
    • Add your own API keys to unlock GPT 5.2, Claude Sonnet 4.5, Claude Haiku 4.5, or Claude Opus 4.5.
  • Screenshot (📷): Click and drag to capture an area of the current tab.
  • Voice input (🎙️): Click and speak to dictate your message.
  • Submit (➡️): After entering any text, @tabs, or /Skills, always click the purple submit button or hit return to kick off the conversation.

Want to get started? Read the Quick Start guide.

Brainbox Settings

To open Brainbox Settings, click the cog icon (⚙️) in the top-right of the panel. In Settings there are 4 tabs:

1. Usage (Tokens)

Displays the percentage used of your monthly 1 million token allocation for OpenAI models. Your allowance resets automatically on the 1st of each month. Note that unused tokens are not carried over to the next month.

2. Skills

View and manage your Skills (prompts). There are 11 built-in Skills included in this Brainbox update (March 2026), which are all editable so you can tweak them to customize the results. It takes just seconds to add a new Skill to the list:

  • Click the purple + button to create a new Skill.
  • Or click on a Skill to view/edit its settings:
    • Name (text field)
    • Description (text field)
    • Icon (dropdown menu)
    • Trigger Type (dropdown menu: selection only, page only, both)
    • Prompt (text field)
    • AI Model (dropdown menu)

3. API Keys

Extend your token allowance and unlock additional models by adding your own API keys:

  • OpenAI API Key: Unlocks GPT 5.2 and extends your monthly token usage.
  • Anthropic API Key: Unlocks Claude models (Sonnet 4.5, Haiku 4.5, Opus 4.5) and extends your monthly token usage.

4. Persona

The Persona tab (labelled "About You" in the panel) lets you tailor how Brainbox responds. For example, this could be in the style of your own voice, or the tone of your brand.

Here's what you can set:

  • What should Brainbox call you? Enter your name so Brainbox can personalise its replies.
  • Do you want to specify a custom voice to use in responses? Toggle on/off. In the text field, describe your preferred writing style or tone — e.g. "Keep replies professional and concise. Use bullet points and lists when relevant."
  • Is there any other background you'd like Brainbox to consider to make replies more meaningful? Toggle on/off. In the text field, tell Brainbox about your role, industry, or what you work on — e.g. "I work in sales, my strengths are presentations and writing reports. I struggle with numbers."

Chat Menu (☰)

To see all your conversations, click the Chat Menu (☰) in the top-left of the panel. In the pop-out you will find:

  • New Chat button: Start a new chat.
  • Chat Search field: Keyword search through all chats.
  • Chat History: List of all recent conversations.

Manage Chats in the History List

  • Hover over any chat in the list.
  • Click the kebab icon (⋮).
  • Choose an option:
    • ✏️ Rename: Rename the chat.
    • 📍 Pin: Pin to the top of the history list.
    • 📝 New Smart Note: Paste the chat into a new Smart Note.
    • 🧠 Convert to a Skill: Create a new Skill from a useful chat.
    • 🗑️ Delete.

Convert Any Chat Into a New Skill

Sometimes it can take a while to get the right result from a prompt, and the resulting conversation becomes worth saving as a reusable Skill. When that happens, use the "Convert to a Skill" option and Brainbox will take the chat, create a new Skill from it, and add it to the Skills menu for you to use again and again.

To convert a chat into a Skill:

  1. Click the Chat Menu (☰).
  2. Find the conversation in the list.
  3. Click the kebab icon (⋮).
  4. Choose "Convert to a Skill."
  5. Edit the name, engine, and prompt details to make it your own.

Free Token Usage

Every Wavebox Pro subscription includes 1 million free OpenAI tokens per month. Unused tokens do not carry over to the next month.

  • To check your token usage, open the Brainbox panel and click the cog icon (⚙️). The Usage tab is displayed first.
  • If you need more tokens, add your OpenAI or Anthropic API key in Brainbox Settings > API Keys. This extends your allowance and gives you access to additional models.

Deleting Chats

To delete a chat you no longer need:

  1. Open the Brainbox panel.
  2. Click the Chat Menu (☰).
  3. Find the chat in the list, or use the search field.
  4. Hover over the chat and click the kebab icon (⋮).
  5. Choose "Delete."

Troubleshooting

If you run into any issues with Brainbox, here are the most common fixes.

  • Brainbox is missing: Check that you're on a Wavebox Pro trial or have an active subscription. Then go to Settings > General and make sure "Enable Brainbox" is toggled on.
  • Answers are too generic or incomplete: Try clicking Regenerate if the response seems cut off. You can also provide more context by using @ to reference a tab, attaching content, or being more specific in your prompt.
  • Monthly token limit reached: Pro users get 1,000,000 free OpenAI tokens from the first of each month. If you've used your allowance, add your OpenAI or Anthropic API key in Brainbox Settings > API Keys. If you're having trouble with your API key, please contact Support.
  • Skill issues: Go to Brainbox Panel > Settings Cog > Skills to check, edit, or tweak your Skill prompts.
  • Old Skills: Skills from previous versions of Brainbox will be available for the next 6 months via Settings > My Wavebox > Brainbox. Please visit them and manually copy them over to the new Brainbox as soon as you can.