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Getting started in Explorer

Explorer is where you ask questions and get answers from your data. You don't need SQL or technical knowledge.

Info

If you only have Chat access (for example from the Viewer preset), you don't set up AI Analysts. Your data team does that in Studio. If no one at your company has done that yet, share the Studio quick start with whoever manages your data.

Step 1: Sign in

  1. Go to your AI Analyst address: the URL Actian or your administrator gave you.
  2. Enter your work Email and click Continue.
  3. If your company uses single sign-on, choose Continue with SSO. Otherwise, follow the invitation email from your team, or sign in with the method offered.

If your company uses single sign-on, you may be able to join the organization the first time you sign in, without an invitation email.

Step 2: Choose an AI Analyst

After signing in, Explorer opens a new conversation. You can return to this view at any time with New task in the sidebar.

  1. In the headline "Ask … a question", click Choose an analyst and select an AI Analyst. If you used Explorer before, the analyst you chose last time may already be selected.
  2. Or click one of the suggested questions below the input. Click View more to see all Suggested questions, grouped by category.

If you only have Chat, you see only AI Analysts that have been deployed to Explorer and shared with you in the active Workspace. Members with Edit also see drafts, marked Not deployed. If your organization has several Workspaces, you can switch Workspace from the organization switcher at the top of the sidebar.

Landing in Studio?

If you also have Studio access, you land in Studio when you sign in. Open the organization switcher at the top of the sidebar and choose Explorer.

Step 3: Ask your first question

Type a question in the message box and press Enter. Write naturally, as you would to a colleague.

Good questions are specific:

  • "What was our revenue last month, broken down by region?"
  • "Show me the top 10 customers by order value this quarter"
  • "How many new users signed up last week compared to the week before?"

For complex questions, turn on Plan in the message box. The AI Analyst then proposes a plan for you to review before it starts. See Plan Mode.

The note under the message box reminds you that answer accuracy varies. Check important numbers before you act on them. See Accuracy and limitations.

See Tips for Asking Questions for more examples.

Step 4: Explore and follow up

Explorer keeps the context of the conversation. After getting an answer:

  • Ask a follow-up question in the chat to drill deeper.
  • Ask the AI Analyst to build a report when you've gathered enough analysis — "Can you put this together into a report?"
  • Rate the answer with Good response or Bad response, or click Report a problem to report what went wrong.

Step 5: Use Saved Prompts

If your team has saved common queries, type / at the start of an empty message to open the Saved prompts menu, then type to filter and pick one.

See Saved Prompts to learn more.

Step 6: Save results

Charts, tables, and reports can be saved as Artifacts — named outputs that stay in your Explorer library and re-run their queries each time you open them. Click Save on any chart or table card. For a report, click the bookmark icon (tooltip Save artifact) in the header of the report panel. Find your saved results under Artifacts in the sidebar.

See Artifacts to learn more.

Step 7: Share results

Conversations are private (Only me) until you share them, so copying the browser address alone doesn't give a teammate access.

  1. In the conversation, click Share.
  2. In Share conversation, choose Everyone in this organization or Specific people (and add the people).
  3. Click Save, then Copy link and send the link.

People you share with can read the conversation but can't post in it. Conversations shared with you appear under Shared with me in the sidebar. See Sharing.

What else is in Explorer

The Explorer sidebar also gives you:

  • Inbox: see Inbox.
  • Scheduled Insights: questions that run on a schedule. See Scheduled Insights.
  • Your Conversations, including starred ones.

Your personal Profile, Security and Notifications settings are in the account menu at the bottom of the sidebar.

Troubleshooting

What you see What it means What to do
Chat needs an LLM endpoint No language model is connected for your organization yet. Ask an administrator with Manage inference to connect one under Settings → Inference, then click Try again.
"Your organization has reached its message limit — contact your admin to upgrade." The organization has used its message allowance for the current cycle. Contact your administrator.
"This analyst is no longer available to you. You can read this conversation, but can't send new messages." The analyst was undeployed, or you no longer have access to it. Start a new conversation with another analyst, or ask your data team for access.
No AI Analysts in Choose an analyst No analyst has been deployed to you in this Workspace. Check that you're in the right Workspace, then ask your data team to deploy an analyst to you.