Make it clearer in gptel-menu (or in some other way) that your context is empty

[DrChr]

While using gptel I suddenly wondered if my context was empty. I.e, was I still including some buffers or files?

TL;DR: Suggestion: Make it clearer when the context is empty. Or make it possible to "see" the context even when it's empty. This might in addition make it easier for new users to discover the concept of a context.

The long part:
I'm new to gptel, so it wasn't obvious to me if my context was empty or not. I did M-x gptel-menu and only saw this:

You are a large language model living in Emacs and a helpful assistant. Respond very concisely.

Instructions               Context
 s Set system message       -b Add a buffer to context
 d Add instruction (none)   -f Add a file to context

so I started wondering how I can see what's in the context.

After GPT leading me astray, I decided to add some context and then check gptel-menu again. It now looked like this:

You are a large language model living in Emacs and a helpful assistant. Respond very concisely.

Instructions               Context (1 region in 1 buffer)
 s Set system message       -b Add a buffer to context
 d Add instruction (none)   -f Add a file to context
                            -d Remove all
                             C Inspect context

So now it's clear.

Then I noticed that the top row also was different:

A top row of a buffer in gptel-mode when the context is empty - there's no mention of a context:

Azure-1 Ready                                                     [Ignoring media] [Prompt: You are a larg…] [gpt-4.1]

The top row with something in the context:

Azure-1 Ready                                      [Ignoring media] [Context: 1 buf] [Prompt: You are a larg…] [gpt-4.1

Note: There was a missing ] from the top row, it's not that I forgot to add it above.

Note: I'm running via SSH to another machine where I'm using tmux.

[karthink]

I'd like to avoid cluttering up the menu (and the header-line) with information until it is relevant. Keys to add to the context are always shown in the menu. When context has been added it is shown as well.