How to use Ask WRITER

Ask WRITER is an enterprise-ready, capability-rich assistive agent. Tell WRITER what you need, then chat back and forth with WRITER until you get the results just right. It’s by far our most popular generative AI tool, because it’s easy to use, it’s powerful, and it’s flexible. Analyze, search, and act on large files with speed and accuracy. Search the web, or ground your work in your company's data via Knowledge Graph. Whether you're conducting deep research or drafting compelling content, Ask WRITER helps you get work done.

A legacy version of Ask WRITER is also available in our extensions for Chrome and Mac.

What's in this article:

• What is Ask WRITER?
• How to use Ask WRITER
  • Using documents
  • Using web search
  • Using Knowledge Graph
  • Using the canvas
  • Selecting models
• Customizing an Ask WRITER session
  • Using custom instructions
• When should I use Ask WRITER vs. a prebuilt agent?
• When should I use documents vs. Knowledge Graph?
• How can I get better output out of Ask WRITER?
• Frequently asked questions

What is Ask WRITER?

Ask WRITER is our chat agent which can answer questions and generate outputs based on WRITER-built LLMs and your files and data.

Here's what makes Ask WRITER our most popular generative AI agent:

• Flexible: You can make just about any open-ended request to Ask WRITER. Use Ask WRITER to brainstorm, research, and analyze.
• Easy to use: Since it remembers conversational history, you can refine your queries and ask followup questions. No need to create the perfect prompt; you can chat back and forth with Ask WRITER, giving feedback until you generate the output you want.
• Accurate: LLMs have a limited understanding of your business data. With Ask WRITER, you can upload your most important files, reference URLs, or search through your company’s internal data to get answers and outputs based on data you trust.

How to use Ask WRITER

Ask WRITER can be found front and center on WRITER Home.

You can also access Ask Writer via the Agent Library.

From the input field in Ask WRITER, you can ideate, generate text, or ask questions of our WRITER-built LLMs by typing in the field and selecting enter.

Once you select enter, you'll be taken to a new Ask WRITER session, where you can chat back and forth until you obtain your desired output.

Select the canvas icon to generate an interactive workspace for your output, with enhanced editing capabilities.

If you've enabled the canvas option, you'll see a preview of the generated output in the left window. You can continue to chat back and forth with Ask WRITER on the left, or make edits directly in the canvas. Learn more about using a canvas here.

No matter what you're working on, you can chat back and forth with Ask WRITER, asking followup questions or iterating on the output until you're satisfied with the results.

Understanding sessions

Ask WRITER turns each conversation into a session. You can access previous sessions and switch between them on the left side menu. You can select the New session icon to create a blank session. We recommend creating a new session whenever you start working on a new query – there's no limit to the number of sessions you can create!

Using the Prompt library

Need help getting started? The best way to learn about different types of requests, discover new use cases, or format your queries efficiently is to explore our Prompt Library.

Select the View prompts button in the input field. Then, when you find a prompt you want to work with, select Use to insert it into Ask WRITER. Replace any variables with your own information, then submit. Learn more about the prompt library here.

Using documents

With Ask WRITER, you can work with source files to analyze, research, transform, summarize, and more. Drag your documents into the input field, or select the paperclip icon to upload your file(s).

You can add up to 10 files, totaling up to approximately 375,000 words, per session.

Ask WRITER supports these file types: .pdf, .csv, .doc, .docx, .xls, .xlsx, .ppt, .pptx, .txt, .html

You must have the Palmyra X5 model selected to upload files.

Enter your request in the input field, select enter, and watch Ask WRITER get to work on your request.

Example: Need to show your boss that you're on top of industry news? One company just published its quarterly earnings report, but you don't have time to read through the lengthy document. Download the earnings report as a PDF. In the input field, select the paperclip and Upload from computer. Use the following prompt:

Summarize this PDF into a bulleted list using language you'd use to explain something to a friend. Identify good indicators and concern indicators for investors.

Using web search

Select the globe icon within the input field to enable web search. With web search, Ask WRITER goes beyond its LLM training data to pull in current, real-world information without leaving the platform.

Please note you can only enable web search when you have the Palmyra X5 model selected.

At the bottom of your output, select View sources to display the source URLs used to generate Ask WRITER's response.

Using Knowledge Graph

Sometimes, uploading individual source files isn’t sufficient enough to answer your questions:

• You need to access internal company data which isn’t easily exportable and might be spread across different sources
• You aren’t sure which documents have the answer – it could be in any of thousands of files!

Knowledge Graph lets you search across many sources of internal data, both structured and unstructured. It then analyzes all of the most important results, and then gives you a good answer in a few minutes, not hours.

Select the Knowledge Graph icon, then select the graphs you'd like to search. Enter your query and submit it.

Please note you can use Knowledge Graph when you have the Palmyra X5 model selected.

To change or remove the selected Knowledge Graph from your Ask WRITER session, select the Knowledge Graph icon and adjust your graph selections.

Using the canvas

The canvas is an interactive workspace where you can iterate, tweak, and riff on your output until it's perfect. The canvas is especially helpful for structured content, like tables, formatted reports, or blog posts. Within the canvas, you'll be able to make inline edits, transform specific sections, and more.

Select the canvas icon to create a workspace for your output.

With the canvas enabled, Ask WRITER will automatically generate a canvas for your output if you:

• explicitly tell it to do so in your input OR
• the output is over 200 words of content in a structured format (e.g. blog post, transcript, RFP, memo, table, support article, etc.)

If you have the canvas enabled, but you're not working with structured or longform content, you need to tell Ask WRITER to generate a canvas for your output:

Once your output is sent to the canvas, you'll be able to make endless updates and iterations until it's perfect.

Make inline edits to any content in your canvas directly.

Highlighting content in the canvas will bring up the option to use Ask WRITER on that specific content. For example, if Ask WRITER has included a bulleted lists of key takeaways about a financial document, you could highlight that list, select Ask Writer, and say "Include a few opinionated bullet points for tech investors".

As Ask WRITER follows your instructions, it will regenerate the updated output in the canvas.

In the bottom right corner, you have a few options to work directly with your canvas content:

• Send to doc: Happy with your output? Send your finished first draft to doc mode, so you can view suggestions and check the content against your company's style guide. Learn more here.
• Flag: Let us know if there's anything funky going on in your canvas!
• Copy: Copy the contents of your canvas to your computer's clipboard.
• Translate: Translate all of the content in your canvas to another language. (To only translate some of your content, highlight it and prompt Ask Writer, as shown in the screenshot above.)
• Rewrite: Transform your text. Learn more about rewriting text here.

Selecting models

Switch between different models in the Palmyra family to use the LLM best built for your current task:

• Palmyra X5: Our newest, fastest, largest model yet. We recommend using this model for your most complex requests and file analysis. Palmyra X5 supports file uploads, web search, and Knowledge Graph.
• Palmyra X4: This model handles simple requests and instructions quickly. This model does not support file uploads, web search, or Knowledge Graph.
• Palmyra Creative: Our model for creative thinking and writing, Palmyra Creative helps with original and adaptable content across different professional areas. It is perfect for teams and industries where innovation is key. This model does not support file uploads, web search, or Knowledge Graph.
• Palmyra Fin: Our finance model is designed to support financial tasks with precision in terms, document analysis, and investment analysis. It can do market analysis, risk assessment, and regulatory reporting. This model does not support file uploads, web search, or Knowledge Graph.

Customizing an Ask WRITER session

You can use instructions to create custom versions of Ask WRITER in each session. Customization will produce consistent, repeatable outputs, and you can reuse customization settings for regular use cases.

Using custom instructions

Select the Customize button in the top right corner of any Ask WRITER session. You can describe how you'd like WRITER to behave when generating responses, including specific formatting, style, voice, style, tone, persona, and more.

Example custom instructions:

• Always write as concisely as possible and get right to the point. Use bullet points where possible.
• You're here to help me brainstorm ideas for our next set of field events. Act like a devil's advocate as I present ideas to you. Point out what might go wrong. Suggest new ideas that I should consider instead. Be bold, aggressive, and contentious.

To create new custom instructions, under Session instructions select Create new. Add a name to your instructions, then add the instructions, then select Save.

Once you've saved a set of custom instructions, you can reuse them by selecting them from the Customize modal dropdown menu.

To delete a set of saved instructions, select the Delete button above the Name field.

OLD:

When should I use Ask WRITER vs a prebuilt agent?

WRITER offers a wide variety of prebuilt agents. If you're just getting started with generative AI in WRITER, these are a great place to get started. Prebuilt agents require no experience, and they're fine-tuned on similar content to produce great outputs right away. However, these agents don't have flexibility: you won't always be able to add specific criteria, or ask it to reference a specific source.

Ask WRITER can take any criteria into account: tone, audience, creator, word count, intent, and of course, source URLs and files. However, there's a bit more of a learning curve. When you first begin using Ask WRITER, it's common to get results that aren't quite right. That's why our chatbot makes it easy for you to tweak your request and provide feedback on the output you've received.

Learn more about using prebuilt agents here.

When should I use documents vs. Knowledge Graph?

How can I get better output out of Ask WRITER?

So you've submitted a request to Ask WRITER, but the output you've received isn't quite right. You know you can chat back and forth to refine your query - but how? What adjustments should you make?

A good rule of thumb is to consider the five most important questions:

• Who - Who is the creator? Who is the audience?
• What - What form should the output take? How long should it be? What tone should it use? Is there a specific call to action or bit of content which WRITER should use?
• Where - Where will your audience consume this content, i.e. TikTok, Facebook, a blog, etc?
• Why - Why does the audience need this content? What are you aiming to achieve with it?
• How - How should the output be structured? What should we reference to create the right content?

Of course, you don't have to answer all of these questions, but if you're stuck, unsure why your outputs aren't what you expected, consider telling WRITER the answer to a few of the questions above.

Frequently asked questions

General

Where can I access Ask WRITER?

Ask WRITER is available on the web app. The legacy version of Ask WRITER is available in the WRITER Chrome extension and our macOS app.

Is there a limit to how many words Ask WRITER will generate?

The word limit is 3,000. This is based on the natural limitations of what LLMs can generate. If you hear of use cases that require a higher word count, please let us know.

Is there a limit to how long my input can be?

Yes, your input (the request or message you're submitting to Ask WRITER) can be no longer than 500 words. This limit doesn't include the words within your source files.

Do voice commands work in the new version of Ask WRITER?

No.

Conversations and sessions

What is a session?

A session is an instance of Ask WRITER where the chat history and uploaded files will persist even if you leave the chat. If there is a set of files you’ll work with consistently, you can upload them into a session and return to it repeatedly.

Does Ask WRITER consider the entire chat history when responding to a request?

Ask WRITER will consider the full chat history for all options you select except when working with Knowledge Graph. If you select a Knowledge Graph within Ask WRITER, it will consider the most recent three chat back-and-forths between you and WRITER as context for what it generates next. If you do not want Ask WRITER to consider previous chat history, you can create a new session.

Are sessions shareable with teammates?

Not at this time.

How do you access previous sessions?

You can access previous sessions by going to the Sessions menu at the top right of the Ask WRITER page as well as from the My Work section from WRITER Home.

Can you delete previous sessions?

Yes, you can delete previous sessions.

Can you delete previous sessions?

Yes, you can delete previous sessions.

Are custom instructions only available at the user level?

Yes.

Uploading files

Is there a limit to how long your source(s) can be?

The number of words in all the files that you upload into a chat session can't exceed ~350,000 words. You can upload up to 10 sources to a single session, as long as their total number of words does not exceed 350,000 words.

What types of files can Ask WRITER handle?

• Can parse text from these file types: xlsx/xls, csv, pptx/ppt, pdf, html, txt, srt, docx/doc, url, pasted text, past sources.
• Can parse text from tables but may not understand table formatting and layout.
• Cannot parse text from images or videos. We recommend our image analyzer agent for this.
• Can parse PDFs but quality depends on how files were created. For example, if PDFs may have text that is an image, a file’s permission may not allow text to be copied, or the layout of a PDF’s layout may be hard for us to interpret (e.g., WRITER may struggle to render that a newsletter with multiple columns).

Can Ask WRITER parse images?

No, Ask WRITER is limited to parsing text at this time. Our image analyzer agent will parse images.

Can Ask WRITER parse numerical data?

Ask WRITER can fetch/receive numbers from uploaded sources, but it cannot perform operations at this time. For example, if you uploaded a document that said, "Brickly has 100 employees, 43 of whom are women" you'd be able to Ask WRITER, "How many employees does Brickly have?" and "How many women are employed at Brickly?" but you couldn't ask "What percent of Brickly employees are women?" at this time.

Can Ask WRITER translate content?

Ask WRITER can translate content <500 words. For longer translation, use a translation prebuilt agent.

Are the files you upload available to teammates?

No, they are private to just you.

Does Ask WRITER store the files I upload?

We store the files you upload to Ask WRITER to our Google Cloud Platform (GCP).

Can Ask WRITER analyze text across multiple files?

Yes, Ask WRITER will be looking across all source files you upload by default.

Are there limits to the number of files you can upload?

You can upload up to 10 files to the same session, but there's a limit to the number of words across all files you upload within the same session (~350,000).

Can you upload multiple files at once?

You can bulk upload 10 files at a time.

Can you reference files you previously uploaded in a new session?

No.

I've uploaded a PDF but I'm getting an error message after I submit my prompt, "I apologize, but as an AI text-based model, I am unable to directly access or analyze attached files."

Double-check whether your PDF is encrypted. For security reasons, we cannot override the settings of your files. To check whether your PDF is encrypted:

• Adobe Acrobat:
  • Windows: Choose the hamburger menu > Document Properties > Security - Are there restrictions under Document Restrictions Summary, e.g. Page Extraction?
  • MacOS: File > Document Properties > Security - Are there restrictions under Document Restrictions Summary, e.g. Page Extraction?
• MacOS Preview:
  • Open the file. Click the (i) Info button in the toolbar. Select the lock to view security settings.