# Work with AI Chat

> Your own AI assistant in the workspace: ask, draft and analyze with your knowledge as context.

**AI Chat** is your own AI assistant in the workspace. Ask questions, draft and analyze, with your Library and files as context. It's separate from your customer-facing agents: nothing you do in AI Chat reaches customers.

## Start a conversation

1. Open **AI Chat** in the sidebar and select **New Conversation**.
2. Type your question, or pick a suggestion to fill in the message box.
3. Press **Enter** to send. Once your message has more than one line, press **⌘+Enter**. You can change this under **Preferences** → **AI Chat** → **Submit shortcut**.

The **AI Chat** page lists your conversations. Filter by **Active**, **Archived** or **All**, and select **Continue** to pick one up. A row's actions menu has **AI usage**, **Rename**, **Archive** (or **Unarchive**) and **Delete**.

## Bring in your knowledge

- Select **Library** below the message box to attach Library items to your message. Your agents don't change.
- Paste or drop a file onto the chat, such as an image, a PDF or a spreadsheet. It's added to Library and attached to your message once you confirm. Images, PDF, Word, PowerPoint and Excel files, plain text, Markdown, CSV, JSON, XML, YAML, HTML and EPUB all work. In Library the file reads **Added by you in AI Chat**, linking back to this chat. A file added in an agent's test chat reads **in an agent test chat**.
- Select **Dictate** to speak instead of typing, in browsers that support voice input.

## Chat settings

Select the model's name below the message box to open **Chat settings**.

| Setting | What it changes |
| --- | --- |
| Model | The AI model, and how much it thinks on models that can |
| Video model, Voice model | Shown when your workspace has these models |
| Tools | Tools it may use. None are on until you pick them in **Choose tools** |
| Skills | Skills to follow, such as your team's writing style |
| Integrations | What it can use outside help.ai, such as **GitHub** or **Notion**. Pick them in **Choose integrations**; only the ones shared with you are listed |
| Memory | Which past chats it can draw on: **This chat**, **Your chats** (default) or **Workspace chats** |
| Visual replies | Charts, tables and layouts in replies, **On** (default) or **Off** |

Chat settings are remembered in this browser and apply to all your chats until you change them. A line under the message box shows what's in effect, such as **Reasoning: Off**, **2 tools**, **1 integration**, **Memory: Your chats** and **Visuals: On**.

In a test chat with an agent, **Chat settings** lists the agent's own setup under **This agent** instead, with **Edit agent** to change it.

## While a reply is coming in

- Select **Stop**, or press **Esc**, to end the reply.
- Type your next message and select **Queue** to send it when the reply finishes, or **Steer** to stop the reply and send yours now.

## Work with a reply

| Action | What it does |
| --- | --- |
| Copy | Copies the message |
| Branch conversation | Starts a new conversation with everything up to this message, so you can try another direction |
| Sources | Shows what the reply drew on, when it used sources |
| Message info | Shows the model, provider, timings and token counts |
| Thumbs up, Thumbs down | Rates the reply |

## Keep the work going

In a saved conversation, **Chat settings** also has:

- **Track work from this chat**, which creates a Case or links one, so the follow-up stays with the conversation.
- **Download transcript**, which saves the conversation as a Markdown file.

<Tip>
When a conversation turns into a role you repeat, such as answering billing questions, turn it into an AI agent in **AI Agents**, so it can serve customers too.
</Tip>

## Related

- [What your agents remember](https://support.help.ai/ai-agents/understand-agent-memory)
- [Show charts and tables in replies](https://support.help.ai/ai-agents/show-visuals-in-replies)
- [Track follow-up work with Cases](https://support.help.ai/inbox-and-cases/track-follow-up-work-with-cases)