Ask your documents
Referencing a specific document
Attach a named document to a question with the @ key, so Spyral answers from that file instead of searching for it.
When you already know which file holds the answer, do not describe it and hope Spyral finds it. Attach it.
Typing @ in the message box lets you name a document directly. Spyral then reads that document for the answer rather than searching your library for something that looks close enough. It also reads much more of the file than a search would ever surface, which is why this is the right tool for "what does this lease actually say" and for summarising one specific document.
Attaching a document
- Open the assistant and click into the message box.
- Type
@. A picker opens above the box. - Start typing part of the filename. The list narrows as you type and shows the file type next to each name.
- Move with the arrow keys, press Enter to attach, or Escape to close the picker without attaching.
The attached document appears as a small removable chip above the message box, and the @name in your text is highlighted. Remove a chip by clicking its cross if you picked the wrong file.
Then write the question as normal and send it.
The hint @ to add file next to the message box is hidden on narrow windows. The @ key still works. If you use Spyral in a narrow window or beside another application, the feature is there even though the hint is not.
Only documents you can already open
The picker lists the documents you have access to, and nothing else. Attaching one does not widen what you are allowed to read. If a colleague can see a file and you cannot, it will not appear in your picker and you cannot reference it.
You can attach up to ten documents
Ten in a single message is the ceiling. In practice, two or three is where the answers are sharpest. Attaching ten documents and asking one broad question spreads Spyral's attention thin, which is the same problem as asking a compound question.
If you are comparing several documents, attach the two or three that matter and ask about one point of comparison at a time.
Attachments last for one message only
This surprises everyone once.
An attached document applies to the message you send it with, and not to the next one. The chips clear as soon as you press send. If you attach the FY2024 annual accounts, ask a question, and then ask a follow up, that follow up is answered by searching your library again, not by reading the file you attached a moment ago.
Attach the document again on each message where you need it.
This is deliberate, but it does mean a long exchange about one document needs the @ reference repeated. If you find yourself doing that several times in a row, it usually reads better as one carefully written question.
What Spyral does with an attached document
An attached document is treated as the authoritative answer to your question. Spyral reads a large part of it, far more than it would find by searching, and quotes from it directly.
Very long documents are still read only up to a point. If you attach a two hundred page filing package and ask a question about one clause deep inside it, you may get an answer drawn from the earlier part of the file. When that happens, name the section in your question, for example "in the notes to the accounts, what does the related party disclosure say".
Attaching a document does not switch the rest of the library off. Spyral can still bring in other documents where they are relevant, and they appear in the Sources row alongside the one you attached.
When to attach and when to search
| Attach the document | Let Spyral search |
|---|---|
| You know the filename. | You do not know which file, or whether it exists. |
| You want the detail of one clause, table or figure. | You want a fact that could be in any of several documents. |
| You are summarising one specific document. | You are asking a general question about a client. |
| The search keeps returning the wrong file. | The search is already returning the right file. |
If a long paste is rejected
There is a limit on how much text one message can carry. Pasting the body of a document into the message box will hit it, and the message is refused rather than truncated.
Upload the document to the Library instead and reference it with @. That is both more reliable and reusable: once it is in the library, every colleague can ask about it too.