> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.artific.nl/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.artific.nl/en/for-everyone/assistants/chatting.md).

# Chatting with an assistant

Holding a conversation, and getting the most out of the answers.

## Starting

Pick an assistant from your [starting point](/en/for-everyone/starting-point.md), or from **AI assistants → Assistants**, and type in the box at the bottom. Press Enter to send.

On an empty chat you may see a few **suggested questions**. They are worth reading even if you do not use them: they tell you what this assistant is actually good for.

## During the conversation

The assistant answers as it writes, so you can start reading immediately. **Stop** halts it if you can already see it is heading the wrong way.

You do not have to get your question right first time. The conversation has a memory of itself, so follow-ups work:

> *"Summarise this policy."* *"Now just the part about part-time staff."* *"Put that in an e-mail to my manager."*

This is the biggest difference between using an assistant well and badly. Ask, then refine. A rough first question followed by two corrections beats a carefully engineered one almost every time.

## Reading an answer properly

**Check the sources.** Where an assistant answers from your organisation's documents, a **Sources used** block appears beneath the answer. It tells you which document the answer came from, and it is the fastest way to catch an answer drawn from something out of date.

**Notice what is missing.** An assistant that says it does not know is doing its job. An assistant that answers everything confidently is not necessarily better.

**Be suspicious of specifics.** Dates, numbers, names and amounts are where confident errors do the most damage. Check those against the source.

## What you can do with an answer

| Action                       | What it does                                                           |
| ---------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Copy**                     | Copies the answer. Hold `Shift` while clicking to copy it as Markdown. |
| **Download as Word**         | Saves a longer piece as a document, styled to your organisation.       |
| **Download the spreadsheet** | Where the assistant produced tabular data.                             |
| **Try again**                | Regenerates an answer that failed or came out badly.                   |

## Things the assistant may ask you

**Permission to use a tool.** Some assistants ask before doing something on your behalf. Read what it proposes before agreeing.

**Whether you want a person.** Where your organisation has enabled it, you can ask to speak to a colleague. You are told when someone takes over, and you carry on in the same window.

**To connect an account.** Some assistants act in another system on your behalf, which means signing in to that system once. You only see what you were already allowed to see there.

## Starting fresh

**New chat** starts a clean conversation. Do this when you change subject.

Long conversations that wander accumulate context that pulls answers off course. A new chat for a new topic gives noticeably better answers than one endless thread.

## When something goes wrong

| What you see                                          | What to do                                                                                                               |
| ----------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| **This response could not be completed**              | Choose **Try again**.                                                                                                    |
| A message about the service being busy or unavailable | Wait a moment and retry.                                                                                                 |
| The answer was cut off                                | Ask it to continue, or ask for a shorter answer.                                                                         |
| Your message was too long                             | Shorten it, or attach the text as a file instead.                                                                        |
| The answer is confidently wrong                       | Tell your administrator. It usually means a document needs fixing. See [Getting help](/en/for-everyone/getting-help.md). |