Asking a question and reading the answer

Asking is a chat. You type a question in plain language and get an answer written from the knowledge base, with the sources it used. Each chat asks one knowledge base.

What you'll need

• The Knowledge Base app in your top bar.
• This permission: Knowledge Base · Chat - Execute.
• Access to the knowledge base, and at least one document or Q&A pair indexed in it.

If Knowledge Base isn't in your top bar, your role can't view it or your plan doesn't include it. Ask a workspace administrator, or see Permissions and module visibility.

Steps

1. Open the chat

   On Overview, type your question in the ask bar, select the chip that starts on Select Knowledge Base and pick the knowledge base, then press Enter. If you can reach only one, it is picked for you. You can also select Ask on a knowledge base's card, or Ask in Chat in its header.

   

   The Overview ask bar with its Select Knowledge Base chip ringed and open on Choose a knowledge base: a search field, All, Recent and Indexed, and the knowledge bases with their status and document counts, among them Northwind Archive, Northwind HR Policies and Northwind Supplier Handbook.

2. Ask your question

   A question typed on Overview is asked as the chat opens. Otherwise type it the way you would say it and press Enter; Shift+Enter starts a new line. A new chat offers up to five suggested questions drawn from content you can reach. Select one to ask it.

   

   A new chat in Northwind Supplier Handbook: How can I help you today? with three suggested questions, and the conversation list on the left.

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3. Read the answer

   The answer streams in under a moving label. If the knowledge base is busy, a line under it says so. Stop generating halts the answer part-way.

   

   An answer to What documents does a new supplier need to send us?, listing five documents and citing [1], with Sources (1) ringed and open on supplier-onboarding-guide.pdf, page 2.

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4. Check the sources

   Select Sources (3) under the answer to list each numbered source, with its page where there is one, then select a source to read the passage in a panel beside the chat. The numbers in the answer open the same panel. Previous source and Next source step through the rest.

   

   The chat with a source panel open on the right: supplier-onboarding-guide.pdf, Page 2, Source 1 of 1, showing the passage the answer came from.

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5. Keep going, and rate it

   Suggested follow-up questions appear under a finished answer. Select one, or type your own. Use the thumbs, Helpful or Not helpful, to say whether it helped; see Rating an answer and reviewing feedback.

What success looks like

• The answer streams in, then Sources (3), with your count, appears under it.
• Selecting a source opens the passage, headed with its page and Source 1 of 3.
• Suggested follow-up questions appear under the finished answer.

When Elie declines to answer

If nothing retrieved is relevant enough, or the drafted answer cannot be checked against the sources, Elie says so instead of guessing. A declined answer has no sources and may carry a chip naming where it stopped: Stopped at: Relevance gate, Stopped at: Groundedness gate or Stopped at: No matching content. Rephrase with the words you expect in the document, or check that the document is indexed and that you can reach it.

The question What is the dress code for the summer party? answered: I couldn't find an answer to that in this knowledge base's documents. There are no sources.

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Without Knowledge Base · Chat - Execute the chat opens read-only: the question box is replaced by You do not have permission to run chat queries on this knowledge base. Ask your administrator for access.

If something goes wrong

Symptom	Likely cause	What to do
Select a knowledge base to ask. appears under the ask bar.	You can reach more than one knowledge base and haven't picked one.	Choose one in the chip, then press Enter again.
The ask bar is greyed out, with You do not have permission to ask questions.	Your role lacks Knowledge Base · Chat - Execute.	Ask a workspace administrator.
The answer starts Sorry and says something went wrong generating it.	The answer failed part-way. The question is still kept in the conversation.	Ask again.
A toast says the knowledge base is busy or taking longer than expected, then retries.	Many questions are being answered at once.	Wait; Elie retries once by itself.
You don't have access to this knowledge base instead of the chat.	It has not been shared with you.	Ask its creator or an administrator to grant you access.

Next

• Managing your chat conversations - going back to, pinning, renaming or deleting a chat.
• Curated question and answer pairs - answers returned word for word.
• Asking questions about conversations - the same chat inside a Voice IntELIEgence app.