Chat with sources

An assistant answers questions using the connected knowledge bases and shows which documents the answer comes from. This article describes the main cycle: question, answer, source check.

Choosing an assistant and starting a new conversation

1. In the top bar, open the "Chat" section. If there are many cards, type part of the name in the search field.
2. Compare the name and description of the assistant with your task: each assistant has its own set of knowledge bases and its own rules.
3. Click the card. On the assistant page, the "New conversation" button appears on the left.
4. Create a conversation. A new topic unrelated to the previous one is better started in a separate conversation: extra history makes the answer worse.

To switch to a different assistant, go back to the "Chat" section and open another card. Conversations of different assistants are stored separately, so a conversation search shows only the conversations of the current assistant.

How to ask a question

Type your question in the "Ask anything…" field and press Enter. Shift+Enter inserts a line break without sending. A good question has four parts:

Do not combine several unrelated tasks in one message. If you need exact numbers, dates or quotes, say so explicitly and then check them against the source.

While an answer is being prepared, you see the stages: "Searching knowledge base", "Reading sources", "Composing answer". During this time the send button is replaced by the "Stop generating" button. If the assistant's creator allows mode selection, choose "Auto" or "Deep analysis" next to the input field. Auto adapts the approach to the task; Deep analysis suits complex tasks, calculations and comparing several documents.

How to read an answer with sources

Below the answer there is an expandable block "Found … results". It lists the sources that were used: the documents and their fragments the assistant relied on.

1. Expand the block and review the "Sources used" list.
2. Click the document name. For an internal document, a viewer opens at the right page or fragment. For an external source, an allowed link may open.
3. Compare the statement in the answer with the text of the document: title, date, edition, clause numbers.
4. If one source is used several times, a counter shows it, but you need to check the document itself, not the number of references.

Before using an answer, check that it is complete, that the edition is current, that numbers and dates are accurate and that the assistant has not added information that is not in the sources. Having a source confirms that the document was found, but it does not replace checking the conclusion.

Continuing the topic

In follow-ups, refer to the previous answer and repeat the key document names, not only pronouns: "Show the clause of the procurement regulation for the second requirement". The round indicator next to the send button shows how full the conversation context is. If there is little free space left, finish the topic and create a new conversation, carrying over only a short description of the task.

If no answer is found

The assistant's creator sets the text that is shown when no suitable information exists. This is normal behavior, not an error. What to do:

• Rephrase the question: specify the document, period, department and use terms from the documents themselves.
• Check that you selected an assistant with the right knowledge bases: their names are shown on the assistant page.
• If the document definitely exists but the assistant does not see it, contact the knowledge base owner: the document may not have been processed or may have been uploaded to a different base.
• Do not ask the assistant to "guess" an answer, and do not treat an answer without sources as a confirmed fact.

What's next

• How to attach a file to a question and get a Word document: Documents and reports.
• Long investigations across several sources: Research mode.
• How an answer with sources differs from an ordinary chat with a model: RAG vs general AI chat.