This guide shows you how to ask a question, get an answer with its source material, and reuse the result.
Before you start
You need notes or processed meetings already in your AICHE library. Existing material is sufficient; you do not need to record something new to use Ask.
Cloud Ask needs a connection and an account with access to your library. On-device setup is optional. You do not need to download models or upgrade before asking a question.
Step 1: Open Ask and choose the material
Select Ask in the sidebar. The Ask screen searches your Notes and meeting transcripts by default. You can limit the search to Notes only or Meetings only using the scope control on the screen.
Notes and meeting transcripts are the working library for Ask. Do not expect to search raw audio, Write drafts or arbitrary files.
Step 2: Enter or speak a question
Enter a question in the input field and choose the send control. Use a question based on what you have recorded. For example: "What did we decide about the office move?" Wait for the answer before moving to the next step.
To ask by voice, choose Talk and use the recording control to speak your question. Ask transcribes and submits the question for you.
Step 3: Read the answer and its sources
Read the answer and the list of sources under Grounded in. Each source chip identifies whether it is a note or a meeting. These are the notes and meetings whose retrieved passages supplied context for the answer. They help you check the answer against the original material; they do not independently verify every sentence.
Select a source to open the original note and read the contributing passage. For meeting sources, open the meeting through Meetings and use transcript search to locate a specific passage.
If a search trace is shown, it briefly describes what Ask searched. There are no timing or result-count promises.
Step 4: Follow up or reuse the answer
Ask a follow-up in the same conversation to clarify or go deeper. For example: "Who agreed to contact the building manager?" The follow-up uses the same context as your original question.
Choose Copy, then paste the answer into another application. Asking a question does not edit the original note or meeting summary.
Question-and-answer history stays on this device. It is not automatically saved as Notes or synchronized through Cloud Sync.
Optional: run Ask on your device
Open Models, enable Answers, download the required models while connected and wait for Running here. Local models require AICHE Professional. Answers uses shared search and language models; the app tells you what it needs to download. Do not enable all five local capabilities just to use Ask.
For spoken questions to be transcribed locally too, enable Dictation and notes and wait for it to run. A typed question does not require the speech model.
Cloud Ask uses your question, relevant library passages and conversation context for the response. Keep this separate from encrypted Cloud Sync; not all cloud processing is end-to-end encrypted.
When an answer needs more context
If the answer seems incomplete or too broad, check the scope you selected, include a useful subject or meeting name in the question, and confirm that the relevant recording has finished transcription.
If you cannot find what you expected, check that the item has been transcribed into your library rather than still waiting in Later. A generic no-match message does not conclusively prove that nothing relevant exists.
See the companion guide: Answers from your notes and meetings on Linux.