Ask your workspace from a spreadsheet, deck or design
Ask your workspace sits at the top of the AI Assistant panel in Sheets, Slides and Design. Get an answer from your own work, with sources and things to create.
When you are working in a spreadsheet, a deck or a design, you often need something that lives elsewhere: a figure from a report, what was agreed in a meeting, a deadline from another desk. Ask your workspace answers that kind of question without leaving the file. It sits at the top of the AI Assistant panel in PlexiiSheets, PlexiiSlides and PlexiiDesign, reads across your documents, spreadsheets and notes on every desk, and shows the sources it used.
Before you start
- Every plan includes Ask your workspace.
- It needs AI to run. When you are signed in it runs on PlexiDesk credits, or you can use your own Anthropic key. See AI credits and where your AI runs.
- Your organisation can turn it off. If it is off, the panel shows Ask your workspace with a lock and a line saying why, instead of the box.
Open Ask your workspace
- In a spreadsheet, the AI Assistant panel is on the right when the file opens. If you have hidden it, click Assistant at the right of the toolbar.
- In a deck, the panel on the right always starts with the AI Assistant, above the Slide and Layout tabs.
- In a design, the AI Assistant panel is on the right when the design opens. If you have hidden it, click Assistant in the toolbar.
Ask your workspace is the first section of the panel, with the line Draws on every document, sheet and note across all your desks, and answers with citations.
To hide the panel in a spreadsheet or a design, click Collapse assistant at its top right, or click Assistant again.
Ask a question
- Click the box that reads Ask anything about your work….
- Type your question and press Enter, or click the send arrow.
- While Plexii works, the panel shows Reading across your workspace…. The answer appears as it is written.
On a fresh panel, three starters sit above the box. Click one to ask it straight away:
- Summarise what my workspace already says about this.
- What deadlines and dates are coming up across my work?
- Given everything on my plate, what should I focus on and schedule this week?
Ask a follow-up
Ask another question in the same box. Each new question and answer is added under the last one, and Plexii takes your last few questions into account, so "and who owns that?" works as a follow-up.
What you will see
Each answer shows:
- Your question, then the answer.
- Source chips for what the answer drew on. A document, spreadsheet, deck, diagram or design opens when you click its chip. Other sources, such as a desk note, are shown by name.
- Copy, which copies the answer so you can paste it into a cell, a slide or a text frame. It changes to Copied for a moment.
- I can create, when the answer suggests something worth making. These are cards for things like a new document, spreadsheet, deck, diagram or design, a new desk, a table, an entry in your Brain, or time on your calendar. Nothing is made until you apply a card. See Review and apply Plexii's changes.
If Plexii cannot find anything relevant, it says so rather than guessing.
Tips
- Ask about the work, not the file. This panel looks across your workspace. For help with the file itself, such as a formula, an insight from your data or a new slide, use the rest of the AI Assistant panel. See Insights and questions about your sheet, AI in PlexiSlides and Generate designs and copy with AI.
- Name things precisely. "What did the Acme pricing meeting agree on discounts?" finds the right notes faster than "what did we decide?".
- Build your Brain. Facts you keep in Ask Brain are part of what this panel reads. See Build your knowledge base in Ask Brain.
Common questions
Is this the same as Plexii? It reads the same workspace, but it is a lighter, in-file version. Its questions and answers are not saved as a Plexii conversation, and hiding the panel or closing the file clears them. For a conversation you can come back to, with mentions and web search, open Plexii from the Plexii button. See Ask Plexii a question.
Where is it in a document? In PlexiiDocs, the Assistant button at the top of the document opens Plexii itself, which can insert its answer into the page. To have Plexii read the document, mention it with @. See Draft and rewrite with AI in PlexiDocs and Point Plexii at specific things with @.
A source chip does nothing when I click it. Only documents, spreadsheets, decks, diagrams and designs open from here. Other sources are shown by name so you know where the answer came from.
It says to add an Anthropic API key. You are signed out and have no key of your own. Sign in to use PlexiDesk credits, or add your key in Settings > AI. See Add your own API keys.
Related tasks
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