Starting a Chat
Chat is the main way you work with Arketic. You ask a question in plain language, and the assistant answers — searching your documents, looking things up on the web, or carrying out an action for you.
This page walks you through everything that happens between opening Arketic and reading your first answer.
Where a Chat Can Start
You can begin a conversation from several places.
| Starting point | Where you find it | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| New Chat | Top of the sidebar | Opens a fresh, empty chat home screen |
| Assistant chip | On the chat home screen | Selects that assistant for your next message |
| Start Chat | On an assistant's card in Assistants | Opens a chat with that assistant already selected |
| Recent | Sidebar | Reopens a past conversation and continues it |
| Inside a project | The project's chat area | Starts a conversation shared with the project team |
Nothing is saved until you send. Opening the chat screen does not create a conversation — the conversation is created the moment you send your first message.
The Home Screen
When you open Arketic you land on the chat home screen.
What you see there:
| Element | Description |
|---|---|
| Greeting | A time-of-day greeting with your first name — Good Morning, Good Afternoon or Good Evening |
| "What would you like to explore today?" | The prompt line under the greeting |
| Assistant chips | Up to four recommended assistants, shown as clickable chips above the input |
| Input box | The large text box with the placeholder "Ask Arketic anything..." |
| Toolbar | The row of buttons inside the input box (see below) |
| Disclaimer | "Arketic AI can make mistakes, please double-check the responses!" with a link to the Privacy Policy |
Choosing an Assistant
Different assistants are set up for different jobs — one may know your HR documents, another your IT procedures. Choosing the right one usually gives you a better answer.
To pick an assistant, click one of the chips above the input. The selected chip is highlighted with a sky-blue outline. Click a different chip at any time before you send to switch.
If you do not pick one, Arketic uses a default assistant — Arketic AI when it is available.
If no assistant is selected, sending shows the message "Please select an assistant first". Pick a chip and send again.
Browse the full list, including assistants that are not shown as chips, on the Assistants page. See Browsing Assistants.
The Assistant Welcome Screen
Once an assistant is selected and the chat is still empty, its welcome screen appears:
- The assistant's avatar
- Its name
- A short description, if the assistant has one
- Starter question chips, if the assistant has them configured
Clicking a starter question fills it into the input box — it does not send it. You can edit the wording first, then send.
The Input Toolbar
The toolbar sits inside the input box, under where you type.
| Button | Tooltip | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| + | Add File | Opens a menu for attaching a file, inserting a prompt, or picking an employee |
| Sliders icon | Tools | Turns Web Search and Document Search on or off |
| Brain icon | Thinking: {mode} | Sets how deeply the assistant thinks before answering |
| Arrow button | Send message | Sends your message; becomes Stop while an answer is being written |
The + Menu
| Option | What it does |
|---|---|
| Upload File | Opens the file picker so you can attach a document, spreadsheet, image or audio file |
| Prompts | Opens the Quick Prompts window, where you can pick a ready-made prompt. Choosing one inserts its text into the input box without sending |
| Select Employee | Opens the Select Employee window so you can ask about a specific team member |
Select Employee is only shown to managers, admins and executives — it does not appear for standard members. Once someone is selected, a chip with their name appears above the input, and the + button shows a small dot. Remove the selection with the × on the chip.
While a file is uploading, the + button turns into a spinner. See Attachments for supported file types and limits.
The Tools Menu
| Toggle | What it does |
|---|---|
| Web Search | Lets the assistant look things up on the web |
| Document Search | Lets the assistant search your organization's documents |
Each row has a sliding switch that turns sky-blue when it is on. A toggle only appears if the assistant is allowed to use that capability — in project chats, both are available.
Thinking Mode
The brain icon sets the thinking mode. It stays grey on Auto, and turns purple with a purple background when any other mode is active. Hovering it shows the current mode. See Thinking Modes.
Sending Your Message
Type naturally — there are no commands or special syntax to learn.
| Key | Result |
|---|---|
| Enter | Sends the message |
| Shift + Enter | Starts a new line without sending |
The send button stays disabled while the input box is empty, and while an answer is still being written.
Examples of things you can ask:
- "What's our refund policy?"
- "Create a task for the marketing team to review the Q2 report"
- "Summarize the employee handbook"
- "Show me all open tasks assigned to me"
Say what you want the answer to look like — "as a short bullet list", "as a table", "as an Excel file" — and the assistant will follow it.
What Happens After You Send
Your message appears at the top of the conversation and the assistant starts replying.
While You Wait
A waiting indicator shows the assistant is working. Its wording changes as time passes — from "Thinking..." to "Running detailed analysis...", "Preparing comprehensive response..." and "Almost ready..." for longer answers.
If the assistant needs to look something up, a small status bar appears showing what it is doing — for example "Searching documents..." then "Documents found". See Using AI Tools.
You can stop at any time: the send button becomes a dark Stop button while an answer is being written. Whatever has been written so far is kept.
The Answer
| What you may see | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Formatted text | Answers come back with headings, lists, tables, links and code blocks |
| Sources | A collapsible panel under the answer listing the documents used, each with a relevance score, plus any web pages |
| Source-backed response | A green badge next to the timestamp, shown when the answer is well grounded in the sources |
| Suggested follow-up questions | Clickable chips under the last answer; clicking one sends it straight away |
| Side panel | Opens when the assistant builds rich content such as a document, table or diagram — see Artifacts & Documents |
Arketic AI can make mistakes. Double-check important answers, and open the Sources panel to see exactly where the information came from.
Message Actions
Hover a message to reveal its actions. On mobile they are always visible.
| Action | Available on | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Copy | Any message | Copies the message text |
| Regenerate | The last answer | Asks the assistant to write the answer again |
| Continue | An answer that was cut off | Asks the assistant to carry on from where it stopped |
| Like / Dislike | Answers | Records your feedback; click again to remove the rating |
Taking Actions Through Chat
You can ask the assistant to do things, not just answer questions — create a task, submit a request, start a process.
Anything that only reads information runs on its own. Anything that changes or sends data first shows an approval card titled "Action Requires Approval", listing exactly what will happen. Nothing is changed until you press Approve.
See Using AI Tools.
Chatting Inside a Project
You can also chat inside a project. Project conversations are shared with the project's members rather than being personal, they are not tied to a single assistant, and both web search and document search are available in them.
See Projects Overview.
Notices You Might See
| Notice | What it means |
|---|---|
| "{n} old messages summarized" | A long conversation was condensed so it can keep going. Earlier messages stay visible |
| A note about document access | Some document features may be unavailable depending on your organization's data settings |
| "Please select an assistant first" | No assistant is selected — pick a chip and send again |
Finding Your Conversations Again
Everything is saved automatically once you send your first message.
- Recent in the sidebar lists your latest conversations
- All Chats shows your full history, with a filter box
Opening a past conversation reloads its full message history, its attachments and its sources, and the assistant keeps the context of that conversation. See Chat History.
Your personal conversations are private to you. Only conversations inside a project are shared, and only with that project's members.
Next Steps
- Thinking Modes — control how deeply the assistant thinks
- Using AI Tools — let the assistant act for you
- Attachments — bring your own files into a chat
- Artifacts & Documents — get documents, tables and diagrams back
- Tips & Best Practices — get better answers, faster