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Version: 2026.09

Istari AI Chat

Experimental feature

Istari AI Chat is off by default. Enable it under Application Settings → Experimental Features → Istari AI Chat. The toggle is per browser and is remembered there. See Settings.

The toggle shows the Istari AI Chat sidebar entry and the header button. Opening /ai-chat directly still works when the toggle is off.

Istari AI Chat answers questions about your Resources, models, and the Istari Digital Platform. It has two surfaces that share the same saved conversations:

  • A panel you open from the page header. It docks to the right or bottom edge and resizes the rest of the web app around it.
  • A full Istari AI Chat page at /ai-chat, opened from the sidebar.

Enable Istari AI Chat​

  1. Click your avatar at the bottom of the sidebar.
  2. Select Application.
  3. Under Experimental Features, turn Istari AI Chat on.

The header shows an AI chat button (tooltip Open AI chat / Close AI chat), and the sidebar shows Istari AI Chat. Turn the toggle off the same way to hide both.

If the platform is not set up for chat, a toast reads Istari AI is not configured on this server. and the header button hides for the rest of the session. Ask an administrator to configure it, then refresh or sign in again.

Open the panel​

Click AI chat in the header. The panel opens on the right. It stays open as you move between pages, and it is hidden on the /ai-chat page, which is its own workspace.

From the panel header:

  • Dock right and Dock bottom choose which edge the panel uses. Drag the edge to resize it. Double-click the edge to reset the size.
  • Open in a separate window moves the chat out of the web app. Dock back into the app returns it. While the chat is in its own window, Close is hidden — dock it first, then close it. In Chromium, Application settings offers Popped-out window style: Floating (stays on top) or Standard window. See Settings.
  • Close hides the panel. The conversation stays in your list.

Open the Istari AI Chat page​

Click Istari AI Chat in the sidebar, or go to /ai-chat. The page title and breadcrumb are Istari AI Chat.

The page has three panes:

  • Conversations — your saved chats. Hide conversations / Show conversations collapses this pane.
  • Conversation — the transcript and the message box, with tabs for the chats you have open. Start new chat adds a tab.
  • Artifacts — Resources the conversation produced or referenced. Hide artifacts / Show artifacts collapses this pane. Open an artifact to preview it; you can widen that preview.

Save chat to your library stores the transcript as a Resource you can share. The button is available once the conversation has messages.

Conversations​

Both surfaces keep a conversation list. On the panel, Show history / Hide history replaces the transcript with the list until you pick a chat. On the page, the list is the left pane.

  • Click New to start a chat. Until you name it, the title field shows Name this chat… and the tab reads New chat. The row menu has Rename and Archive (or Unarchive). Press Enter to save a title.
  • Search conversations… filters the list.
  • Filter and group conversations offers Status (Active or All) and Group by (Date, Status, or None).

The conversation stays in your list when you close the panel or leave the page. Signing out clears the LLM key you entered for this browser and leaves the saved chats in place.

Send a message​

The message box is at the bottom. Its label is Message Istari AI, and the placeholder is Write a message.

  • Press Enter to send. Press Shift + Enter for a new line.
  • Click Send message (upward arrow) instead of Enter.
  • While a reply is generating, that button becomes Stop generating. A live activity label shows what the assistant is doing.
  • Model picks which model answers, when an administrator has published models for the picker. A model that needs your own key opens Enter your LLM key.
  • Upload files attaches Resources. Files the assistant cannot read yet can still be referenced; the box says so. Removing a chip drops it from this chat and leaves the Resource in your library. Clear all removes every attachment from the chat.

When a chat is empty, suggestion chips offer example prompts. Click one to send it.

Your messages sit on the right. Replies are on the left and render as Markdown. Hover a message to Edit message (yours) or Regenerate response (a reply). An error appears in the transcript under the message that failed, with Retry.

Set an LLM key​

Set your LLM key (or Update your LLM key once one is set) opens Enter your LLM key. The key stays in this browser tab for the session. It is not stored on the Istari Digital Platform, and signing out clears it.

  • Settings — turn Istari AI Chat on or off, and set custom instructions.
  • AI Chat Setup — IT administrator guide to deploying and configuring the AI service behind this feature.