Artifacts & Generated Documents
When you ask the AI to build something — a document, a table, a diagram, a small web page — it doesn't just describe it in the chat. It creates the content and shows it in a dedicated side panel, or hands you a downloadable file.
This page explains what that panel is, when it opens, and everything you can do with it.
What an Artifact Is
An artifact is a finished piece of content the AI produced for you, kept separate from the chat conversation so it's easy to read, keep and reuse.
The chat stays a conversation. The artifact is the result of that conversation — a brief, a comparison table, a flowchart, a snippet of a web page — shown at full size next to it.
When the Panel Opens
The artifact panel opens on its own, on the right side of the chat, as soon as the AI starts building rich content instead of a plain text answer.
You don't need to turn anything on. Typical requests that open it:
- "Create a comparison table of these three options"
- "Draw a flowchart of our approval process"
- "Draft a one-page project brief"
- "Build a simple landing page for this campaign"
You can also open it yourself:
- Click the artifact card that stays in the answer — a small card with the artifact's title and type — to reopen an artifact you closed.
- Click the eye icon (Preview in panel) on a generated file — see Generated Files below.
- Hover a table in an answer and click Open to see that table at full size in the panel. The Copy button next to it copies the table so you can paste it into a spreadsheet.
The chat and the panel share the screen. Drag the divider between them to give either side more room.
The Panel at a Glance
The top of the panel always tells you what you're looking at.
| Part | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Icon | A small icon matching the kind of content |
| Title | The name the AI gave the artifact |
| Type badge | A short label for the content type (see below) |
| Streaming | A pulsing blue dot with the word Streaming while the content is still being written |
| Action buttons | Copy, download and close — see What You Can Do |
Type badges
The badge is a quick hint at what the artifact is:
| Kind of content | Badge you may see |
|---|---|
| Text & documents | Markdown, Word, PDF |
| Tables & data | Excel |
| Slides | PPTX |
| Diagrams & visuals | Diagram, SVG |
| Web pages & code | HTML, React, Code |
| Anything else | Preview |
Watching It Build
While the AI works, the content appears live in the panel — you can read along as it's written.
- The header shows the Streaming indicator.
- A thin blue progress bar animates along the bottom of the panel.
- If nothing has arrived yet, the panel shows "Generating artifact...".
When the AI finishes, the indicator and the progress bar disappear and the content settles into its final form.
There's no need to wait in silence. Once it's done, just ask for changes in the chat — "make the tone more formal", "add a column for cost" — and the AI rebuilds it.
What You Can Do
The buttons in the panel header depend on what kind of artifact it is.
| Button | Appears for | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Copy source | Text, code and diagram artifacts | Copies the whole content to your clipboard. The copy icon briefly turns green to confirm it copied. |
| Download file | Artifacts that are a real file (a document, spreadsheet, PDF or presentation) | Saves the file to your computer under the artifact's title |
| Close panel (ESC) | Always | Closes the panel and gives the full width back to the chat |
You can also close the panel by pressing the ESC key.
An artifact has either Copy source or Download file, not both — text-based content is copied, real files are downloaded.
Resizing
The divider between the chat and the panel can be dragged left or right at any time, so you can favour whichever side you're working in.
Working With Several Artifacts
If the AI builds more than one artifact in the same conversation, a row of tabs appears just under the panel header.
- Each tab shows a coloured dot and the artifact's title (long titles are shortened).
- Click a tab to switch to that artifact.
- Click the × on a tab to close that one and keep the rest.
The tab you're viewing is highlighted with a white background.
Generated Files
Some requests produce an actual file rather than on-screen content. When that happens you get a download card right in the chat.
| Format | Example request |
|---|---|
| Word | "Write this up as a Word document" |
| Excel | "Export these figures to a spreadsheet" |
| "Generate a PDF summary" | |
| PowerPoint | "Turn this into a short presentation" |
You can also start from the Tools menu with Create Document or Create Presentation, when the assistant offers them — see Using AI Tools.
Each card shows a coloured file icon, the file name, a format badge, and the note "Generated by Arketic AI".
The card has two icon buttons. Hover one to see its name:
| Button | What it does |
|---|---|
| Eye icon — Preview in panel | Opens the file in the side panel so you can read it without leaving the chat. While it loads you'll see "Loading preview..." |
| Download icon — Download | Saves the file to your computer. A spinner shows while it downloads; if something goes wrong the icon shows an error for a few seconds and then resets so you can try again |
Generated files live inside the conversation — they are not added to your documents library. Download anything you want to keep or share outside Arketic.
While a document is being written
A longer document is written piece by piece, which can take a few minutes. During that time a progress card shows you how far it is.
| Part of the card | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Title | The name of the document being prepared |
| Progress | How many pieces are finished out of the total — for example 3/10 section. The unit is section for Word and PDF, sheet for Excel and slide for PowerPoint |
| Outline | Every section, sheet or slide as a numbered row, known from the start |
| Row status | writing… for the piece being written, a green check and a word count (such as 240 words) when it is done, retrying (2/2) when it is being tried again |
| FIGURES | Key numbers used in the document, listed at the bottom of the card so you can check them before the file is finished |
Click the arrow on a finished row to read the opening of that section.
If a piece cannot be written, its row turns amber and says why:
| Reason shown | What it means |
|---|---|
| ran out of time | The document was too long to finish in one go. Ask for fewer sections, or ask for the missing part separately |
| took too long | That piece got stuck. Ask the assistant to try again |
| could not be written, unreadable output, content was lost | The piece failed on the assistant's side. Ask the assistant to try again |
| service unavailable | The service could not be reached at that moment. Try again a little later |
| skipped | The piece was left out without a specific reason |
The card is shown while the document is being written. When the answer is complete, the download card takes its place.
Updated documents and versions
Ask for a change to a file the assistant already created — "add a risks section", "change the due date to the 15th" — and you get a new download card for the updated file.
- The new card carries a version chip — v2, then v3, and so on. Hover the chip to read "Version 2 of this document. Earlier versions are still downloadable."
- The earlier card stays where it was in the conversation, and you can still preview or download it. Nothing is overwritten.
- The first version of a document has no chip.
Viewing Files in the Panel
Each file type opens in its own viewer. The bottom of the viewer shows "Generated by Arketic AI" and the kind of preview.
PDF
| Control | What it does |
|---|---|
| Previous page / Next page arrows | Move one page back or forward |
| Page number box | Type a page number to jump to it; the total number of pages is shown next to it |
| Zoom out (−) / Zoom in (+) | Change the size, from 50% to 200% |
| Fit to width | Makes the page fill the width of the panel. This is how a PDF opens; the zoom value then reads Fit |
Presentations
A presentation opens one slide at a time. Use the arrow buttons at the bottom to go to the previous or next slide; the counter between them shows where you are, for example 3 / 12.
While the slides are prepared you see "Preparing presentation preview…". If they cannot be shown, you see "Preview could not be loaded." with a Try Again button — the file itself can still be downloaded.
Word documents
A Word document is shown as it will look when opened, for reading. Use Download file to edit it in your own application.
Spreadsheets
A generated spreadsheet opens in an editable grid — the label at the bottom reads Excel Editor and the note reads "Generated by Arketic AI — Editable". You can click a cell and change it, as in a spreadsheet application.
If a sheet contains a chart, a Chart row appears under the grid. It starts closed; click it to show or hide the chart for the sheet you are looking at.
Sending your changes to the assistant
Edits you make in the panel are not saved into the file by themselves. To have the assistant use them:
- Change the cells you want in the grid.
- Click Send to AI at the bottom of the panel.
- A green chip appears at the top of the message box with the file name and the number of changes — for example "budget.xlsx — 3 changes".
- Type what you want done — "apply these changes and recalculate the totals" — and send.
The assistant receives the exact cells you changed along with your message. To drop the changes before sending, click the × on the chip. If you have not changed anything, Send to AI does nothing.
Download file in the panel header saves the file as the assistant created it. To get a file that includes your edits, send them to the assistant and ask for an updated version — it arrives as a new download card with a version chip.
Images
Pictures the assistant creates appear inside the answer, not in the side panel. When a picture is an edit of an earlier one, Before and After buttons under it let you compare the two. See Using AI Tools.
Messages You May See
| Message | What it means |
|---|---|
| Generating artifact... | The AI has started but no content has arrived yet — give it a moment |
| Loading preview... | A generated file is being opened in the panel |
| Empty artifact | Nothing was produced for this artifact; ask again, more specifically |
| Preview could not be loaded. | A presentation could not be shown in the panel. Press Try Again, or download the file |
Tips
- Say the format you want. "as an Excel file", "as a presentation", "as a flowchart" — being explicit gets you the right kind of artifact the first time.
- Iterate in the chat. Ask for changes in plain language and the AI regenerates the artifact; you don't have to start over.
- Check the figures early. While a long document is being written, the FIGURES strip on the progress card shows the numbers it uses — a wrong one is easier to correct before you share the file.
- Download to keep. Anything you want to file away, send by email or edit elsewhere should be downloaded.
- Close what you don't need. Closing tabs keeps the panel tidy when a long conversation produces several artifacts.
Related Pages
- Starting a Chat — how to ask in the first place
- Attachments — give the AI your own files to work from
- Using Tools & Actions — when the AI does something instead of writing something
- Chat History — find the conversation an artifact came from
- Tips & Best Practices — get better results from every request