The AI assistant

The AI assistant is a side panel you open beside your work. It answers questions about what you are doing, shows every step it takes, and keeps its own conversations. You meet it in a Lake connector, in a Connect Any API recipe, in the Slides editor and while you build a custom visual.

Open and close the assistant

1. Click AI Assistant in the toolbar of the surface you are working in. The panel opens on the right, with your most recent conversation for that surface, or with the starting screen if you have none there yet.
2. Click AI Assistant again to close the panel. The button's tooltip and screen-reader label read Open AI assistant while the panel is closed and Close AI assistant while it is open.

In the Slides editor, the panel opens from the AI rail on the right of the canvas; see Write slides with AI.

Each surface keeps its own conversation, so a chat you start beside one connector does not appear beside another surface. The panel also remembers, for each surface, whether you left it open or closed.

Resize the panel

Drag the divider between the panel and your work. The panel opens at around 35% of the width, and it cannot be dragged narrower than 300 px or wider than 60% of the width.

Write to the assistant

Before your first conversation in a surface, the panel shows the heading How can I help today? with the line "Ask anything related to what you're working on." Type into the message box and press Enter to send; Shift+Enter starts a new line. The message box, its attachments and its settings are covered in Write and send messages to the assistant.

What the assistant can do

The assistant works on the surface it sits beside:

• Beside a connector, it can read and edit the connector's files, test the configuration and the connection, and run a sync. These steps are described in Connector operations and data access in chat.
• While you build a custom visual, it can read the visual and its data, write the visual's code and check how it renders. See Building custom visuals with the assistant.

Read the answer and its steps

• Replies are formatted text. Each step the assistant takes appears as a card under the reply, from file reads and searches to connector actions: see The assistant's step cards.
• An answer can include a diagram. You can move and zoom it, open it fullscreen and download it as an SVG: see Diagrams in chat.
• When a change to a connector needs your approval, it waits on a card until you decide: see Approve or reject connector changes and Change acceptance for the assistant.
• When the assistant needs an answer from you, it asks above the message box: see Answer the assistant's questions.
• If a turn fails, an error card appears in the conversation with Retry and, when part of an answer exists, Continue: see Retry and recover from errors.
• Long conversations can be summarised, and a cleared context is marked in the conversation: see Compact and clear the assistant's context.
• For connector work, every change is saved as a version that you can roll back: see Roll back and restore connector versions.

Move through a long conversation

• While you are near the bottom, the conversation follows new text as it streams in. Scroll up to read, and it stays where you put it; click Scroll down to return to the latest messages.
• On a wide panel, a rail of dots runs down the right side. Each dot is one of your turns; click a dot to jump to that message (the tooltip reads Jump to message).

Copy a reply and read its details

• Each finished reply ends with a footer. Copy message copies the reply and briefly reads Copied.
• Response information opens Response info, with Tokens used, Context, Model and Response ID. Copy response ID copies the response id.
• Some messages carry a chip that names the conversation they were generated from. Click it to open that conversation; the tooltip reads View the conversation this was generated from. The assistant checks your access first, and shows Could not open this conversation. if it cannot open it.

When the panel is loading or cannot load

• While the panel loads your conversations, a loading indicator appears. Screen readers announce it as Loading.
• If the conversation list cannot load, the panel shows Could not load conversations. with a Retry button. Click Retry to try again.

Questions, answered

Where can I use the AI assistant?

In a Lake connector, in a Connect Any API recipe, in the Slides editor and while you build a custom visual. Each of these places keeps its own conversation. For the Slides editor, see Write slides with AI.

How do I open or close the assistant panel?

Click AI Assistant in the toolbar of the surface you are working in to open the panel, and click it again to close it. Its tooltip and screen-reader label read Open AI assistant or Close AI assistant, depending on the panel's state.

Do the different surfaces share one conversation?

No. Each surface keeps its own conversation with the assistant, so a chat you start beside one connector does not appear beside another surface.

Can I resize the assistant panel?

Yes. Drag the divider between the panel and your work. The panel opens at around 35% of the width, and it stops at 300 px at the narrow end and at 60% of the width at the wide end.

Is my conversation lost when I close the panel?

No. The conversation stays with its surface, and reopening the panel shows your most recent conversation there again. The panel also remembers whether you left it open or closed, for each surface.

How do I send a message to the assistant?

Type in the message box and press Enter; Shift+Enter starts a new line. Every control of the message box is covered in Write and send messages to the assistant.

How do I copy a reply or see its model and token usage?

Each finished reply ends with a footer. Copy message copies the reply, and Response information opens Response info with Tokens used, Context, Model and Response ID.

How do I jump to an older message in a long conversation?

Use the rail of dots on the right of the panel: each dot is one of your turns, and clicking a dot jumps to that message (Jump to message). To return to the latest messages after scrolling up, click Scroll down.

What does the conversation chip on a message do?

It links the message to the conversation it was generated from. Click it to open that conversation; the assistant checks your access first and shows Could not open this conversation. if it cannot.

The panel says "Could not load conversations." What should I do?

Click Retry to load the conversation list again.