# Meet Plexii, your assistant > Plexii is the assistant on every screen. It answers from your own work with sources, and proposes changes as cards you approve before anything changes. Source: https://plexiidesk.com/help/ai-assistant Section: Plexii assistant > Meet Plexii Plans: All plans Updated: 2026-10-11 Plexii is the assistant built into PlexiDesk. It sits on every screen, one click away. Ask it about your work and it answers from your own desks, documents and conversations, and shows the sources it used so you can check them. Ask it to do something and it proposes the change as a card. Nothing on your desks changes until you apply the card. Use Plexii when you want to find something across your workspace, get a first draft, plan a piece of work, or set up a desk without building it by hand. ## Before you start - **Every plan** includes Plexii. - **Plexii needs AI to run.** When you are signed in, Plexii runs on PlexiDesk credits, so there is no key to set up. If you prefer, add your own Anthropic key in **Settings** > **AI** and use that instead. See [AI credits and where your AI runs](https://plexiidesk.com/help) and [Add your own API keys](https://plexiidesk.com/help/api-keys). - **Signed out?** If you are signed out and have not added a key of your own, a note at the top of the conversation asks you to sign in, or to add your own Anthropic key. See [Create an account and sign in](https://plexiidesk.com/help). ## Open Plexii 1. Click the round Plexii button at the bottom right of the screen. Its tooltip reads **Plexii — click to open, hold to talk**. 2. The Plexii panel opens in the display mode you used last. The first time, it opens as a floating card in the corner. 3. Type your question or request in the box at the bottom, then press `Enter`. Press `Shift` `Enter` for a new line. To close the panel, click **Minimize to pill** (the minus sign) at the top right of the panel. The panel closes back to the Plexii button and your conversation is kept. While Plexii is working on an answer, a small dot pulses on the Plexii button. You can close the panel and carry on; the answer is there when you open it again. ### When the Plexii button is not shown - **While the panel is open.** The panel takes the button's place. Minimise the panel to get the button back. - **In focus mode.** When a widget is open in focus mode, its **AI Chat** tab is the assistant, so the button and the panel step aside. See [Open widgets full screen and side by side](https://plexiidesk.com/help/canvas-focus-mode). - **On the Plexii hub.** The hub is Plexii as a full page, so the button is not needed there. See [Use the Plexii hub](https://plexiidesk.com/help/plexii-hub). When you leave focus mode or the hub, Plexii comes back exactly as you left it. ## Talk instead of typing Press and hold the Plexii button, say what you want, then let go. Your words appear in the Plexii box so you can check them, and nothing is sent until you press `Enter`. If you were typing in a text field when you started, your words go into that field instead. On a Mac you can also hold `⌘` `⇧` `Space`; on Windows, hold the Plexii button. Talking needs speech-to-text set up first. See [Talk to Plexii: hold to talk](https://plexiidesk.com/help) and [Choose how speech is transcribed: Cloud or Local](https://plexiidesk.com/help). ## The panel at a glance The panel has three parts: - **The header**, along the top. From the right: - **Minimize to pill** (the minus sign) closes the panel back to the Plexii button. - **Display mode** switches between **Sidebar**, **Floating** and **Full screen**. - **What was I doing?** replays your last 30 minutes as a short summary. It uses your own Anthropic key, even when you are signed in. See [Catch up with 'What was I doing?'](https://plexiidesk.com/help). - **New chat** (the plus sign) starts a fresh conversation. - **Your conversations** (the speech bubbles) lists your earlier chats so you can search and reopen them. In **Full screen** the list sits down the left instead. - **The tabs**, under the header: the Plexii mark (**Plexii AI**) for your conversation, then **Attention**, **Calendar**, **Message** and **Agents**. - **The conversation**, with the box you type in at the bottom. To see Plexii as a full page, open the Plexii hub: press `⌘` `⇧` `K` on a Mac or `Ctrl` `Shift` `K` on Windows. You can also open the Plexii hub from the panel: click the Plexii wordmark at the top left of the panel. For every control, see [Open, move and resize the Plexii panel](https://plexiidesk.com/help/plexii-panel) and [Find, reopen and manage conversations](https://plexiidesk.com/help/plexii-conversations). ## What Plexii reads Plexii answers from your own work. It can see the desk you are on, and it searches your documents, spreadsheets, decks, diagrams, designs and drawings, your desks and tasks, tables, notes and other widgets, Brain knowledge, files, meeting transcripts and earlier Plexii conversations. With live web search, on Pro and Team, it searches the web as well. Each answer lists the sources it used, and you can open any of them to check. To point Plexii at one particular thing, type `@` and pick it. See [What Plexii can read and search](https://plexiidesk.com/help), [See what Plexii read: the trace and citations](https://plexiidesk.com/help), [Point Plexii at specific things with @](https://plexiidesk.com/help) and [Turn live web search on or off](https://plexiidesk.com/help). ## What Plexii can do for you - **Answer questions** about your work, with the sources it used. See [Ask Plexii a question](https://plexiidesk.com/help). - **Propose changes as cards**, such as adding widgets, building a table, writing a document, booking time, or drafting an email or a chat message. You review each card and apply the ones you want. See [Review and apply Plexii's changes](https://plexiidesk.com/help) and [Everything Plexii can create or change](https://plexiidesk.com/help). - **Turn a conversation into a desk** once an idea is ready. See [Turn a conversation into a desk](https://plexiidesk.com/help). - **Explore an idea with you** by asking questions first, in Discovery mode. See [Explore an idea with Discovery mode](https://plexiidesk.com/help). - **Work towards a goal in steps** with the Autonomous agent, on Pro and Team. See [Give Plexii a goal with the Autonomous agent](https://plexiidesk.com/help). - **Work on a web page** while you watch, on Pro and Team. See [Let Plexii work on a web page](https://plexiidesk.com/help). ## Ask from anywhere - **The Plexii button.** Click it on any screen to open the panel. - **The command palette.** Press `⌘` `K` on a Mac or `Ctrl` `K` on Windows, type your question and choose **Ask Plexii**. Plexii answers in the panel. See [Search and commands (Cmd+K)](https://plexiidesk.com/help/command-palette). - **The Plexii hub.** Press `⌘` `⇧` `K` on a Mac or `Ctrl` `Shift` `K` on Windows to open Plexii as a full page. Press the same keys again to go back. See [Use the Plexii hub](https://plexiidesk.com/help/plexii-hub). - **A widget's AI button.** Many widgets have their own AI on the title bar for work on that one widget. See [Use a widget's AI button](https://plexiidesk.com/help/widget-ai) and [AI Assist: rewrite, summarise and translate text](https://plexiidesk.com/help/widget-ai-assist). ## Plexii follows the screen you are on Plexii adapts to where you are. On a desk it offers to break the work into steps or suggest what to do next. In a document it offers to draft the next section, tighten the writing or summarise it. In your chats it offers to catch you up, and in your meetings to draft an agenda or pull out the action items. A small label above the box you type in names what the conversation is about, such as the desk it started on, and the suggestions in an empty conversation change to match the screen. A conversation keeps the label of the place it started, even when you move to another screen, so you always know what it was about. See [Find, reopen and manage conversations](https://plexiidesk.com/help/plexii-conversations). ## Tips - **Start a new chat for a new topic.** Click **New chat** (the plus sign), or press `⌘` `O` on a Mac or `Ctrl` `O` on Windows while Plexii is open. - **Use `@` to be specific.** Mentioning the exact document or widget you mean gets a more focused answer than describing it. - **Pick the model that suits the job.** A faster model for quick questions, a stronger one for long plans. See [Choose the AI model](https://plexiidesk.com/help). - **Check the sources.** Every answer lists what it read, so you can open the original before you rely on it. ## Common questions **Do I need an API key?** Not when you are signed in: Plexii runs on PlexiDesk credits. You can add your own Anthropic key in **Settings** > **AI** if you prefer. A few features, such as **What was I doing?**, use your own key even when you are signed in. See [AI credits and where your AI runs](https://plexiidesk.com/help). **Does Plexii change things without asking?** Not in a conversation. Every change arrives as a card, and nothing happens until you apply it. The Autonomous agent works differently: you give it a goal, it applies safe changes itself, and it asks for your approval before anything consequential, such as sending, deleting or scheduling. See [Give Plexii a goal with the Autonomous agent](https://plexiidesk.com/help). **Where did my earlier conversation go?** Click **Your conversations** (the speech bubbles) in the panel's header, or look down the left in **Full screen** or on the hub. See [Find, reopen and manage conversations](https://plexiidesk.com/help/plexii-conversations). **I can't see the Plexii button.** It hides while the panel is open, in focus mode and on the Plexii hub. Minimise the panel, leave focus mode or leave the hub, and it comes back. **Plexii can't answer or act.** See [If Plexii can't answer or act](https://plexiidesk.com/help). ## Everything in this section ### Meet Plexii - [Open, move and resize the Plexii panel](https://plexiidesk.com/help/plexii-panel) - [Use the Plexii hub](https://plexiidesk.com/help/plexii-hub) - [Find, reopen and manage conversations](https://plexiidesk.com/help/plexii-conversations) - [Choose the AI model](https://plexiidesk.com/help) ### Ask and get answers - [Ask Plexii a question](https://plexiidesk.com/help) - [Auto, Search and Ask: choose what Enter does](https://plexiidesk.com/help) - [See what Plexii read: the trace and citations](https://plexiidesk.com/help) - [What Plexii can read and search](https://plexiidesk.com/help) - [Point Plexii at specific things with @](https://plexiidesk.com/help) - [Turn live web search on or off](https://plexiidesk.com/help) - [Ask your workspace from a spreadsheet, deck or design](https://plexiidesk.com/help) ### Let Plexii make changes - [Review and apply Plexii's changes](https://plexiidesk.com/help) - [Everything Plexii can create or change](https://plexiidesk.com/help) - [Turn a conversation into a desk](https://plexiidesk.com/help) - [Explore an idea with Discovery mode](https://plexiidesk.com/help) - [Catch up with 'What was I doing?'](https://plexiidesk.com/help) - [What Plexii remembers about you](https://plexiidesk.com/help) ### Talk to Plexii - [Talk to Plexii: hold to talk](https://plexiidesk.com/help) - [Choose how speech is transcribed: Cloud or Local](https://plexiidesk.com/help) ### Agents and browsing - [Give Plexii a goal with the Autonomous agent](https://plexiidesk.com/help) - [Choose or create an agent role](https://plexiidesk.com/help) - [See and manage all your agents](https://plexiidesk.com/help) - [Let Plexii work on a web page](https://plexiidesk.com/help) - [Put what Plexii found onto a desk](https://plexiidesk.com/help) - [Allow, limit or revoke Plexii on websites](https://plexiidesk.com/help) ### AI in widgets, settings and plans - [Use a widget's AI button](https://plexiidesk.com/help/widget-ai) - [AI Assist: rewrite, summarise and translate text](https://plexiidesk.com/help/widget-ai-assist) - [AI settings](https://plexiidesk.com/help/settings-ai) - [AI credits and where your AI runs](https://plexiidesk.com/help) - [Add your own API keys](https://plexiidesk.com/help/api-keys) - [Keyboard shortcuts](https://plexiidesk.com/help/keyboard-shortcuts) - [What each plan includes](https://plexiidesk.com/help) - [If Plexii can't answer or act](https://plexiidesk.com/help)