Asking questions about multiple documents

Use the Content Assistant to ask questions about multiple documents in your repository. It provides accurate answers within the context of the selected document content.

Before you begin

You need to set up the Content Assistant in your CPE and Content Navigator environment. For more information, see the topic Setting up the Content Assistant.

About this task

After the Content Assistant setup is complete, you can start asking questions to the assistant about multiple documents in your repository.

Your administrator can set a default multi-document query mode for your desktop. However, you can override this setting by selecting your preferred mode in the Content Assistant settings panel. For more information about how administrators configure the default mode, see Configuring the default multi-document query mode for a desktop.

Procedure

  1. Log in to IBM® Content Navigator by using your credentials.
    Note: Use only HTTPS connection to access the IBM Content Navigator when the Content Assistant plugin is installed.
  2. Go to the object store where you want to use the Content Assistant.
  3. Select the documents about which you plan to ask questions to the Content Assistant.
    • Option 1 - Click Browse and select either an entire folder or multiple documents in the object store.
    • Option 2 - Select an existing search or click Search > New Search in the IBM Content Navigator console, then run the search.
    After you select the documents, you can ask questions about documents that are vector indexed. The vector index icon icon before a document name indicates that the document is vector indexed. The Content Assistant includes the number of indexed documents that you select in the current scope of a query.
    Note: When the number of selected documents exceeds 1,000 documents, you are prompted to use the Ask Your Repository search instead.
  4. Click the Chat icon for launching the Content Assistant icon on the Content Navigator web console.
    The Content Assistant opens.
  5. Optional: To change settings, click the Settings option icon in the Content Assistant panel.
    You can configure the following options:
    • Include documents filed in subfolders - If you selected a folder in step 3, enable this option to include files from all sub-folders within the selected folder.
    • Default multi-document query mode - Select your preferred mode (Precision Mode, Extended Precision Mode, or Full Content Mode). This setting overrides the default mode configured by your administrator for the desktop.
      Important: Precision Mode and Extended Precision Mode require indexed documents. If you attempt to query unindexed documents with these modes, you receive an error message. Full Content Mode works with both indexed and unindexed documents.
  6. Ask a question to the Content Assistant about the selected document content.
    • Option 1 - Type your own question in the query box.
      Tip: When you type a request that asks the Content Assistant to summarize all documents in your selection, the responses can be suboptimal. For better summary results, you need to access the watsonx ad hoc summary for your document selection. For more information, see the topic Accessing the watsonx ad hoc summary for your document selection.
    • Option 2 - Click the Suggestions icon icon to ask a commonly asked question.

      Select a question from the Suggestions page to ask a question to the Content Assistant. The page lists the commonly asked questions for your desktop and also lists queries from any recent interactions with the assistant.

    When you submit a question to the Content Assistant, the processing depends on your selected query mode:
    • Precision Mode - The Content Platform Engine initiates a vector search against the vector database in your environment. The vector database retrieves the most relevant content chunks based on the relevancy score threshold that you configured. If none of the retrieved document chunks meet the relevancy score threshold, the Content Assistant returns an error. For more information, see Adjusting the relevancy score filter level.
    • Extended Precision Mode - The Content Platform Engine initiates a vector search against the vector database and retrieves relevant content along with source document context and citations. This mode is designed for queries that require broad context across many documents.
    • Full Content Mode - The Content Assistant processes the complete content of your selected documents, including both indexed and unindexed documents.
    Note: If your prompt is blocked and an error message is displayed, Granite Guardian input moderation has identified the content as potentially unsafe. Contact your administrator to review the moderation settings. For more information, see Input moderation using Granite Guardian.
  7. Review the generated response.
    You can do one of the following actions:
    • Copy the Content Assistant response - Click the Copy to clipboard icon icon to copy the generated response to your clipboard.
    • View document excerpts - Click the Drop-down arrow icon to view up to six document excerpts for the generated response.
    • Provide feedback about the response - Click upvote icon or Downvote icon to submit your feedback about the response.