---
title: "AI CTRL User Guide"
slug: "ai-ctrl-user-guide"
updated: 2026-11-13T18:49:16Z
published: 2026-11-13T18:49:16Z
canonical: "kb.expedient.com/ai-ctrl-user-guide"
---

> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://kb.expedient.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# AI CTRL User Guide

# AI CTRL user guide

AI CTRL is your organization’s private AI workspace. Use it to ask questions, work with files, and save or share useful conversations. The models, tools, and sharing options you see depend on what your organization has made available to you.

New to AI CTRL? Start with the [quick start guide](/docs/quick_start.md).

## Sign in and find your way around

Open the workspace URL your organization gave you. Select **Sign in** and follow the prompts to use your work account. You’ll return to AI CTRL when sign-in is complete. Open the account menu at the bottom of the sidebar to check your organization or **Sign out**.

| Where | What you can do |
| --- | --- |
| Sidebar | Start a **New chat**, search conversations, or open **Collections**, **Agents**, **Projects**, and **Extensions**. |
| Account menu | Open **Settings** to change your preferences or **Data** to find active, shared, and archived chats. |
| **Help** beside the account menu | Browse **Features** and **Release Notes**. |

Pinned chats appear under **Pinned Chats**. A pulsing dot next to a chat means AI CTRL is still working on a reply. A solid dot means a reply arrived while you were away. Drag the sidebar edge to resize it, or use the sidebar button to collapse it.

## Start a chat

1. Select **New chat**.
2. Check the model or agent shown below the message box. Keep the suggested choice, or open its menu to change it.
3. Write your request and select the **Send** arrow. For example: “Turn these meeting notes into a short recap and list the next steps. Flag any owners or dates that are missing.”
4. Review the answer and ask a follow-up in the same chat. Select **Stop** if you want to interrupt a reply, including while tools are working.

AI CTRL gives a new conversation a title as the first reply comes in. Select the title at the top of the chat to rename it.

### Choose a model or agent

- **Auto** lets AI CTRL choose a model for the request. The reply identifies the model that answered. Turn **Auto** off to pick a specific model or agent.
- **Favorites** shows models and agents you’ve starred. Choose **All models** to browse or search the **Models** and **Agents** tabs.
- **Effort** or **Reasoning** appears for models that offer a choice. AI CTRL remembers your choice for that model. **Auto** handles that choice for you.

To change what new chats start with, open **Settings → Preferences → Default model**. Choose **Use organization default**, **Auto**, or a specific model you can use. If a saved choice is unavailable, AI CTRL uses another available model and keeps your preference for when your choice returns. Changing models in one chat does not change this setting.

### Give the chat what it needs

Open **Add to chat** (the **+** beside the message box):

| Option | When to use it |
| --- | --- |
| File attachment | Add a file you want to discuss in this chat. Supported examples include images, PDFs, Word files, PowerPoint files, and spreadsheets. Wait for the upload to finish before sending. |
| **Collections** | Search a reusable group of documents. Attach up to eight collections you can access. |
| **Extensions** | See which connected tools this chat can use and turn individual extensions off for this conversation. |
| **Skills** | Pick a saved set of instructions to use in your next message. |
| **Task List** | Keep a checklist with this chat. Add tasks manually, use **Paste / import**, or choose **Use as task list** on a reply that contains a list. Review imported tasks before adding them or replacing the list. |

Tell AI CTRL what you want from an attachment, such as “Use this spreadsheet to summarize totals by month and flag missing values.” Open a sent attachment from its message. If the upload fails, check the file type and size shown in the error.

You can format prompts with headings, lists, bold text, links, and code blocks. **Enter** usually sends, but continues a list when you’re typing in one. Use the **Send** arrow or **Ctrl+Enter** (**⌘Enter** on Mac) to send from inside a list.

### Work with answers and files

Under a finished reply, use **Copy response** to copy the text or **Regenerate** to ask for another answer. Use the arrows to switch between versions when they appear. You can also mark a reply **Good response** or **Bad response**.

To change an earlier question, choose **Edit message** on your message. In the editor, **Enter** adds a line and **Ctrl+Enter** (**⌘Enter** on Mac) sends the edit. The conversation continues from the revised message. Use the version arrows to return to the earlier path.

When AI CTRL creates a file, diagram, or other output (called an artifact), it can open beside the chat. The same panel opens when you select a file or a document citation. Reopen it from the chat header when it’s closed. The controls depend on the file:

- Use **Preview** to read it and **Code**, when available, to see or edit its source.
- Use **Download** to save a copy. For a generated Word document, you can preview it as PDF and choose **Download Word** or **Download PDF**.
- When editing is available, save your changes as a new version. Use the version menu to revisit an earlier version or make it the active one for the next message.

## Find and organize chats

Use **Search chats** in the sidebar and enter at least two characters. Title matches come first, followed by matches from inside conversations. You can also search by tag.

Use the **⋮** menu beside a chat or in its title bar:

| Action | What it does |
| --- | --- |
| **Pin** or **Unpin** | Adds or removes the chat from **Pinned Chats**. |
| **Rename** | Gives the chat a title that’s easier to find. |
| **Clone** | Makes a separate copy you can continue on its own. |
| **Move to project** | Files the chat in a project. Use **Remove from project** to take it out. |
| **Tags** | Labels the chat so you can find related conversations. |
| **Archive** | Hides the chat from the active list. To bring it back, open the account menu, then **Data → Archived → Restore** from the chat’s menu. |
| **Delete chat** | Permanently removes the chat after you confirm. |

### Use Projects for ongoing work

Open **Projects** and create a project with a unique name. Add optional **Instructions** for every chat in that project. For example: “Write for a nontechnical audience and put decisions before background.” Open the project to start a chat or revisit an existing one. You can also move a chat in from its menu or drag it onto the project in the sidebar.

Deleting a project removes the folder. Its chats stay in your main chat list.

## Share a chat

Open the chat, wait for a reply to finish, then select **Share** at the top. The link opens a read-only snapshot of the conversation, including files and other outputs it contains. Check what’s in the snapshot before you choose an audience.

- **Public** lets anyone in your organization open the link, including people who join the organization later.
- **Private** limits access to the people and groups you add. Add at least one. If someone has access through a group, remove the group to remove that grant.

Create the share and copy the link. Later replies stay in your own chat until you choose **Update shared chat**, which replaces the snapshot and keeps the same link. Use **Save changes** when you change the audience, or **Stop sharing** to turn off the link. You can find the chats you’ve shared under **Data → Shared**.

A recipient can choose **Clone chat** to make a separate copy and continue from there. Stopping the share turns off access to the link; it does not remove copies people already made.

## Build a collection of documents

Use **Collections** when you want to ask questions about the same documents across chats.

1. Open **Collections → New collection**, give it a name, and create it.
2. Open the collection and choose **Upload files**. If a name already exists, decide whether to replace the earlier file or keep both.
3. Wait for the file to show **Indexed** before asking AI CTRL to search it. You can leave the page while it processes and return to check progress. If processing fails, check the explanation and choose **Retry**.
4. In chat, open **Add to chat → Collections** and select the collection. Ask a question about its contents and open the citations in the reply to check the sources.

Use **My Collections** and **Shared With Me** to find collections. When you have permission to share, open the collection’s **Share** menu and choose an audience. Read access lets others open, search, and use the collection in chat. Give edit access only to people who should be able to change its files or delete the collection.

## Create a custom agent

Use an agent when you want to reuse the same model, instructions, and optional resources across chats.

1. Open **Agents → Custom → New agent**.
2. Give it a name, choose a model, and write instructions (up to 4,000 characters). For example: “Draft replies in plain language. Ask a question when the request is missing a detail.”
3. Add any extension tools or collections it should use. You can also add them later.
4. Select **Create agent**. In a chat, open the model menu and choose your agent from **All models → Agents**, or star it to find it under **Favorites**.

Turn **Enabled** off on the **Custom** tab to hide an agent from your picker. On the **Base** tab, you can also star models or hide them from your picker without changing anyone else’s access.

If **Share** is available, choose who can use or edit your agent. Sharing an agent does not grant access to its model, extensions, or collections. If someone loses access to one of those later, the agent editor shows what needs attention. If you received the agent, contact the person who shared it.

## Use extensions, approvals, and skills

### Connect a tool and review its actions

Open **Extensions** to browse tools your organization offers, such as web search. Open a card to see what the extension does. Turn it on for your account or choose **Request access** if permission is required. You can turn off a connected extension for just one chat from **Add to chat → Extensions**.

When an action needs your approval, review the details above the message box and choose **Approve** or **Decline**. **Always allow**, when offered, approves the action and remembers your choice for that tool. Change it later in **Extensions → Tool permissions**, where you can set tools to **Always allow**, **Needs approval**, or **Blocked**. Your organization can require approvals regardless of your preference.

### Save or add a skill

A skill is a set of instructions for a repeatable task, such as turning notes into a weekly update. Unlike an agent, a skill can be used with the model or agent you already selected.

- In **Extensions → Skills**, choose **Create manually** to write your own skill, **Create with agent** to draft one in chat, or **Import** to bring in a saved skill. A skill needs a name, a short description, and instructions. If sharing is available to you, use **Share** on your skill to choose who can use it.
- Go to **Extensions → Marketplace** to browse skills people have shared with you or your organization. **Add Skill** puts the skill under **Added Skills** and follows the owner’s updates. **Clone** makes your own editable copy.
- To use a skill for a message, choose **Add to chat → Skills**, select it, then write and send your request.

## Manage your settings and chat history

Open **Settings** from the account menu. Preference switches save as you change them.

| Section | What you can do |
| --- | --- |
| **Preferences** | Choose a theme, reduce motion, manage the **What’s New** pop-up, and set your default model. You can also set approval preferences. To give AI CTRL default instructions, edit **Default system prompt** and select **Save changes**. If **Memory** is available, choose whether AI CTRL can remember facts about you across chats. |
| **Profile** | Set the name AI CTRL should call you. Your work account supplies your name, email, and organization. |
| **Import** | Bring in a ChatGPT or Claude export ZIP, or an Open WebUI JSON export. Select **Preview** to see what will import or be skipped, then choose **Import chats**. Duplicate chats are skipped. Attachments, alternate branches, and system prompts are left out. |
| **API keys** | If enabled by your organization, create a named key for an approved app that connects to AI CTRL. Copy the key when you create or rotate it; the secret is shown only once. Use **Revoke** to disable a key you no longer need. |

## Get help and send feedback

| If you run into this | Try this |
| --- | --- |
| You can’t sign in | Start again from your organization’s workspace URL. If it still fails, contact your workspace administrator. |
| A model or feature is missing | Check that the model is enabled in **Agents**, or ask your workspace administrator whether the feature is available to your account. |
| An answer fails | Use **Retry** when it’s offered. If the message says your prompt was blocked or is too long, edit it and try again. |
| A file is missing from collection answers | Check that the file is indexed and the collection is attached to this chat. |
| The share can’t be created yet | Wait for a reply to finish, then open **Share** again. |

If feedback is enabled, select **Feedback** at the bottom right of the page, or in the account menu on smaller screens. Choose **General Feedback**, **Feature Request**, or **Bug Report**. For a bug, say what you were trying to do, what happened, and how to repeat it. You can attach one PNG, JPEG, PDF, or Word file up to 5 MB. Keep passwords, keys, and sensitive records out of the note and any attachment. Copy the confirmation reference if you may need to follow up.