Explorer overview¶
Explorer is the conversational interface of Actian AI Analyst. You ask an AI Analyst questions in natural language and get answers as summaries, tables and charts, backed by live queries against your data.
Studio vs Explorer¶
| Studio | Explorer |
|---|---|
| Data teams (setup and configuration) | Business teams (daily use) |
| Connect data sources, build the semantic layer | Ask questions, get insights |
| Test and debug analysts, manage suggestions and saved prompts, monitor conversations | Save results, build reports |
| Configure AI Analyst behavior | Use the AI Analysts your data team configured |
The Explorer sidebar¶
The sidebar shows the Explorer areas you have access to:
- New task: start a new conversation.
- Inbox: notifications and items the AI Analyst sent you. See Inbox.
- Artifacts: charts, tables and reports you saved. See Artifacts.
- Scheduled Insights: questions that run on a schedule. See Scheduled Insights.
- Starred, Conversations and Shared with me: your conversation history. See Managing your conversations.
If you have access to two or more Workspaces, open the menu at the top of the sidebar, point to your organization's name under Organizations, and choose a Workspace under Workspaces. Everything in Explorer belongs to the active Workspace.
Getting started¶
When you start a new conversation, Explorer asks Ask <analyst> a question:
- Use the analyst picker in that sentence (it reads Choose an analyst until you pick one) to choose which AI Analyst to ask.
- Type your question in the message box below it. Or, once you've chosen an analyst, pick one of up to three questions under Or try a suggested question:. When more are available, select View more to browse every suggestion by category. A picked suggestion is only loaded into the message box, so you can edit it first.
- Press Enter to send.
At any point in a conversation, type / at the start of an empty message to open your team's Saved Prompts.
Under the message box, a short notice reminds you that the quality and accuracy of AI answers depends on a number of factors. Select Learn more to read about it. It opens Accuracy and limitations.
For the full walkthrough, see Asking Questions.
Next steps¶
- Asking Questions: how conversations work, follow-ups, and managing your conversations
- How answers are built: see the steps and assumptions behind an answer
- Saved Prompts: save and reuse your team's best queries
- Plan Mode: let the AI Analyst outline its approach before starting
- Reports: build structured reports from your analysis
- Artifacts: save and revisit charts, tables, and reports
- Tips for Asking Questions: how to write effective questions