Tips and current limits

Ask questions the files can answer

Before the assistant answers, it searches the project’s files once, using the words of your message, and it can open any Ready file whole when you name it. So either the wording of your question decides which passages it gets to see, or the file name decides which document it reads.

Name the file when you want work on one document: “read sponsor-v2-redline.docx and list every change”, “grade submission 7 against the rubric”. The assistant can list the project’s files and read a named one in full, so it never has to guess from a search which document you meant.
Name the section and the subject. “Playbook section 7, export control: what is the standard position on foreign nationals?” finds the right passage. A long message that opens with a greeting and ends with three questions often doesn’t.
One topic per message when you need the files. Ask the follow-ups next.
Paste the exact clause you’re asking about. Quoted text is the most reliable way to get the right passage back.
Ask what it couldn’t see. End important requests with “…and tell me what you could NOT see, so I know how complete this is.”
If an answer says a document “isn’t available”, check Files. It may still be Setting up.

Keep project memory useful

Decide who records decisions, usually the lead editor, and have them say “record in project memory …”. The assistant adds a line for each new memory to the index on its own.
Open Memory at the start of a review session to see what the assistant will rely on, and who put it there.
Pin the facts everything else depends on, so no later change can drop them by accident.
Correct mistakes immediately. Anything saved to project memory is repeated in every teammate’s conversations.
Use “just for me” memory for preferences that apply to this project, and personal instructions for your role and how you like answers formatted everywhere.

Keep files clean

One current version of each document. Delete superseded drafts.
Name each redline so it’s clear whose draft it is and which round (“Sponsor v2 redline”, “University response v3”). When two redlines of the same contract are in Files, the name is how you and the assistant tell them apart.

Review before you rely on it

The assistant drafts quickly and cites its sources, but in testing it still:

miscalculated a cash-flow figure, even with the Calculator tool on;
labeled a clause “non-negotiable” when the playbook said “escalate”;
missed one of eight requested edits in a redlined document.

Treat its output as a strong first draft that a qualified person reviews before it is saved to memory or sent outside the university.

Current limits

Working together

Few notifications for team activity. Archiving and restoring a project notify every member, the owner hears when someone leaves, and sharing a conversation notifies the people you choose. New files and changes to instructions don’t notify anyone. Check Activity.
No comments or @-mentions on shared conversations. To hand work to a specific person, share the conversation, notify them, and add a note.
Activity is for editors and the owner only. Viewers don’t see it.
People appear by email address, not name or title.
Viewers can’t add files or save to project memory directly. They can propose a memory change for an editor to approve, share a conversation, or ask an editor to add a file.
The assistant reads a shared conversation’s messages, not its attachments or tool results. If a teammate’s answer depended on a file, add the file to Files so everyone’s conversations can use it.

Continuing someone’s conversation (“Continue in my own conversation”)

Attachments don’t come along. The copy says which files weren’t copied. Attach your own copy of any you need, or ask for it to be added to Files.

Files and documents

A file showing Ready can take a minute or two more before the assistant finds it in a search. It can be opened by name as soon as it shows Ready.
Reading by name is for text. PDF, Word, text, Markdown and HTML files open whole, in pages. Spreadsheets, presentations and images are listed but can’t be opened this way; attach those to the conversation instead.
Older redlines may still read flattened. A redline added to Files before tracked changes were supported (October 2026) keeps its old text, with deleted and inserted wording run together. Delete it and upload it again (see Word redlines in Files).
Documents the assistant creates are saved to your conversation only. There’s no “save to project” button. Download the file and add it to Files.
There’s no version history for files. Each upload is a separate file.

Memory and settings

Memory history is per file. Each file keeps every version, but the index (MEMORY.md) has no history, so copy it somewhere before a big rewrite.
No one-click revert for instructions. Copy an old version from History and save it.
Switching models inside a project conversation starts a new conversation in the project. The conversation so far doesn’t carry over.

Governance

The Share menu in a project conversation also offers Public link and Limited share, which share outside the project. There’s no project setting to turn these off.