Get a research report

Pick a bot and start a fresh thread

If you don't have a research bot yet, press Ctrl+N (⌘N on Mac), or click + at the top of the sidebar and choose New Project. Pick Researcher. Setting up a new bot can take a minute or two.

Then start a new thread for this topic: right-click the bot in the sidebar and choose New thread. One topic per thread keeps the work tidy and the cost down.

Check the chip above the message box. It should say Cloud. That means the bot works on its own computer in the cloud, not on yours, which is what you want for research.

Write a clear request

A bot is like a capable new colleague who knows nothing about your situation. Tell it:

• the topic, as precisely as you can,
• who the report is for, and what you'll do with it,
• what to put in it, like a table, a summary, or sources,
• what to call the file, so you can find and download it later.

For example:

Research the 5 most popular project management tools for small teams. Compare their price, best features, and biggest downsides in a table. Save the table as a file called comparison.md, and give me a one-paragraph recommendation in the chat.

I'm deciding whether to open a second coffee shop in a busy city neighbourhood. Research what the main costs of opening a small coffee shop are, and what usually makes new ones fail. Lead with a 3-bullet summary, cite your sources with links, and save the full report as coffee-shop-report.md.

Have a long document the bot should use? Click the paperclip to attach it, or drag it onto the window. It's copied onto the bot's computer so the bot can read it.

Press Enter to send.

Watch it work

You don't have to watch, but it's the best way to learn what a bot does. While it works you'll see:

• A label and a timer under the bot's avatar, like Searching the web, Reading a file, or Writing…. The first message in a new thread may show Setting up this bot's computer… for a little longer.
• Tool chips for each action, like web search or write. Click a chip to see exactly what went in and what came out.
• A blue, pulsing dot on the bot's avatar in the sidebar.

If the bot asks you to pick something, like which format you want, a question card appears. Click an option, type your own answer, or choose Skip to let the bot decide.

If a card appears saying "… wants to …", the bot is asking for approval. Read it and click Allow once. On a Cloud thread, everything happens on the bot's own computer, so this is a safe place to let it work.

When it's done, its working notes fold into a line like Worked for 2m 10s, its actions fold into a row like 6 steps · web search, write, bash, and the reply appears.

Open the report

The bot saved the report on its computer. To read it:

1. Click the monitor icon in the chat header (Bot's computer). A panel opens on the right.
2. On the Computer tab, find the file in the workspace. Use the search box if there are a lot of files.
3. Click the file to open it. For Markdown files, switch between Preview and Source.

You can also click the file's chip in the bot's reply.

Ask for changes

Not quite right? Reply in the same thread, the way you would to a colleague. The bot remembers everything in this thread, including the file it already made.

Good. Make the table shorter: only price and best feature. Then add a row for Notion.

To point at one part of a long reply, select that text with your mouse, click Comment, type your note, and click Add. The comment is attached to your next message.

With the file open in the computer panel, you can also click Ask about it to send the bot a message about that file, like "summarize this".

Download it

With the file open in the computer panel, click Download to save a copy to your computer. Or click Save a copy on the file's chip in the chat.

Save the method for next time

If the bot did a great job and you'll want this kind of report again, turn what it did into a skill: a saved recipe the bot can reuse.

• If a This run card shows above the message box, click Save as skill.
• Or send /learn in the thread.

A request is added to your message box. Add any notes, like "Always cite sources with links and lead with a 3-bullet summary", then send it. The bot drafts the skill, and you review it before it's used.