> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.speckle.systems/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Ask questions about your models with Speckle Intelligence

> Ask project-scale questions from Chat, ask about the model from the 3D viewer sparkle, and reuse organisation playbooks as skills.

<Note>
  This is 2026.9 preview documentation. Coverage here is incremental: a page exists only where
  2026.9 differs or is newly documented.
</Note>

Speckle Intelligence is the assistant in the Speckle web app. You ask in plain language. It reads
the models you have published and replies with answers, charts, and — in the 3D viewer — changes to
what you are looking at.

Use **Chat** in the project sidebar for project-scale questions. It is part of the default project
navigation, so it is available from most screens in a project: the project, models, a model page,
versions, issues, and similar. Use the sparkle in the main 3D viewer when you are looking at models
and want to ask about those loaded models. Reuse organisation playbooks — colour legends, cost and
carbon methods, formulas, house style — as [skills](/next/analytics/intelligence-skills).

There is no Current equivalent for this Chat surface. For how Speckle works today, see
[Compare Current and 2026.9](/next/whats-new) and
[Speckle's data model is changing](/workspaces/data-model-migration). Dashboards stay on
[Intelligence Dashboards](/analytics/intelligence-dashboards); this page does not cover them.

<Note>
  Speckle Intelligence Chat is available when your workspace plan includes it. On a self-hosted
  server, it is available only on Speckle Enterprise Server. For deployment setup, see [Enterprise
  license — Intelligence](/developers/server/deployment/enterprise-license#optional-intelligence).
</Note>

## How it works

Speckle Intelligence does not upload a Revit, Rhino, Tekla, or other host file to an AI so the AI
can rebuild the model in memory. You publish to Speckle as you do today. The assistant then runs
read-only queries against the Speckle data already stored for those published versions.

That small payload is deliberate. Speckle does not send the whole model into the AI as a giant
blob of text, because that would spend your AI credit — and Speckle's — on tokens the assistant
does not need. It asks for the facts it needs, keeps those results compact, and writes the reply
from them. The goal is to answer from your data without burning budget on a full-model dump.

For versions in the new data format, those queries can cover:

* Object properties on published models
* How parts relate to each other (containment, connectivity, levels, systems, materials)
* Where a model was published from (the source application on the version, and types in the
  published data)
* How the project has been updated (who published which version, and what changed between
  versions)
* Files in the workspace library, and registered tables such as CSV or XLSX uploads and
  warehouse connections (Snowflake, Databricks, Microsoft Fabric), when those exist

The assistant can still be wrong if it skips a query or misreads a result. If the data is not
there, it is instructed to say so rather than invent structure from a host file.

The assistant reads versions in Speckle's new data format. Versions in the old format cannot be
queried, so the assistant says there is no queryable data rather than giving partial answers.
Publish a new version after the project uses the new format, and questions about properties and
about what connects to what or what contains what both work. See [Speckle's data model is
changing](/workspaces/data-model-migration).

This page does not cover how Speckle handles AI providers or data security.

## Where to ask

On day one of 2026.9, Speckle Intelligence has two entry points. They are not the same job.

* **Chat** is in the default project navigation, next to **Browse** at the top of the project
  sidebar. Use it from the project, models, a model page, versions, issues, or another project
  screen for project-scale questions: the project as a whole, not only the model you have open.
* The sparkle at the top right of the main 3D viewer is for questions about the models loaded in
  that viewer.

The **Intelligence** item in the project or workspace sidebar currently opens dashboards, not Chat.

### Ask about the project

<Steps>
  <Step title="Open a project screen">
    Open any screen in the project you want to ask about. You should see **Browse** and **Chat** at
    the top of the project sidebar when Chat is available for the workspace.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Choose Chat">
    Select **Chat**. The page title is **Chat**. The empty state reads **Ask about** your project
    name, with the prompt to ask in plain language.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Ask a project-scale question">
    Type a question about the project, or pick a suggested starter if one is shown. You can attach a
    published model from the composer when the question needs a specific version.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Read the reply">
    Wait for the reply. You should see a conversation in the Chat history, titled from your
    question, and an answer that uses that project's data.
  </Step>
</Steps>

### Ask about the model in the viewer

<Steps>
  <Step title="Open a model in the viewer">
    Open the model in the main 3D viewer. You should see the sparkle control at the top right of the
    viewer window when Chat is available.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Select the sparkle">
    Select the sparkle. Chat opens beside the model. The empty state reads **Chat with your model**.
    The description is **Ask about the models loaded in the viewer, or attach their data to query
    it.** The composer placeholder is **Ask about this model…**
  </Step>

  <Step title="Ask about this model">
    Type a question about the models in front of you, or pick a suggested starter. The reply can
    change what you see in the viewer as well as answering in the conversation.
  </Step>
</Steps>

<Note>
  If **Chat** or the viewer sparkle is missing, your workspace may not include Speckle Intelligence,
  a workspace admin may have turned **AI features** off in workspace settings, or you may need to
  choose **Enable AI for this workspace** when the **Enable AI** dialog appears.
</Note>

## What changes in 2026.9

Today, Speckle Intelligence looks at properties on each object. In 2026.9, Chat queries versions
in the new data format. That is how it reads properties and how parts of a model relate to each
other — what connects to what, and what contains what. Versions still in the old format cannot be
queried.

That is the same change summarised on [Compare Current and 2026.9](/next/whats-new). Follow
[Speckle's data model is changing](/workspaces/data-model-migration) for dates and what to do next.

## What you can ask

Ask in the same language you would use with a colleague. If you type a question in a given
language, Speckle Intelligence usually keeps replying in that language for the conversation. Use
a [skill](/next/analytics/intelligence-skills) or an [AI
Rule](/next/analytics/intelligence-rules) when the language or dialect must stay fixed even if
someone asks in another language.

In **Chat**, ask at project scale: the project as a whole, not only one open model. Chat can
build a **Report** from a conversation. The viewer sparkle does not create a saved Report. It
answers beside the model with charts and changes to the view. After you save a report, edit sources,
tabs, version comparison, and share links on [Create and share Intelligence
Reports](/next/analytics/reports).

You can share a chat with people on the project so they can view it. They cannot continue that
conversation.

In the **3D viewer**, ask about the model in front of you. Starters can include **What's in this
model?**, **Give me a tour**, **What changed recently?**, and **Color it by category**. If you have
an object selected, you may also see **What is this?**

You can go further than a first overview. Try asks like:

* What models are in this project, and who published recently?
* Compare the two most recent versions and summarise what was added, removed, or changed
* What sits on this level, and what contains those objects?
* What connects to this system?
* Give me a report of quantities by category and level (use **Chat**, not the viewer sparkle)
* How do the models loaded in this viewer relate to each other?
* What is the history of the object I have selected?

Model questions need a version in the new data format. Those asks use properties and the
relational layer in the new format.

<Note>
  These are starting asks, not full tutorials. More detailed walkthroughs for Intelligence Chat will
  be available soon.
</Note>

Data Validation has its own assistant in the check editor; that flow stays on the Data Validation
guides.

## Skills

A **skill** is a reusable playbook you invoke with `/skill-name`. Use one for model-aware methods
(colour, cost, carbon, formulas) and for the same kinds of custom instructions you would save in
a generic AI chat tool — tone of voice, meeting notes, non-AEC analysis. Tuned to how your company
works, a skill also spends fewer AI tokens reinventing that wheel on every turn. Create skills in
workspace **Settings**, then **Skills** — including **Draft with AI** when you want Speckle
Intelligence to write the first draft. Arm them in Chat or in the viewer sparkle.

See [Reuse organisation playbooks with Intelligence skills](/next/analytics/intelligence-skills)
for how to create and share a skill, and a catalogue of playbooks teams put in them.

## AI Rules

An **AI Rule** is a standing instruction workspace admins set for every conversation. It applies
without a slash command — currency, language, disclosure, or any must-follow constraint. Members
can read the rules; only admins change them. In Chat, **Workspace rules** shows which enabled
rules apply.

See [Set standing AI Rules for the workspace](/next/analytics/intelligence-rules).

## FAQ

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="When should I use Chat instead of the viewer sparkle?">
    Use **Chat** in the project sidebar for project-scale questions, including building a saved
    **Report**. It stays in that navigation on most project screens. Use the sparkle when a model is
    open in the 3D viewer and you want to ask about the models loaded there. The sparkle does not
    create a saved Report. After you save one, see [Create and share Intelligence
    Reports](/next/analytics/reports).
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Why does Intelligence in the sidebar open dashboards?">
    In the product today, **Intelligence** in the workspace and project sidebars opens dashboards.
    Speckle Intelligence Chat is a separate surface: **Chat** next to **Browse** in the project
    sidebar for project-scale questions, or the sparkle at the top right of the main 3D viewer for
    the model in front of you. Dashboards are documented on [Intelligence
    Dashboards](/analytics/intelligence-dashboards).
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Does Intelligence upload my Revit or Rhino model to an AI?">
    No. You publish to Speckle as you do today, from Revit, Rhino, Tekla, or another supported host.
    Intelligence queries that Speckle data. It does not send the host file, or the whole model as a
    giant blob of text, to an AI so the AI can rebuild the model from scratch. Keeping what the AI
    sees compact is deliberate: it protects your workspace AI credit, and Speckle's cost, instead of
    spending tokens on a full-model dump.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="What happens if my project has not moved to the new data format?">
    Versions in the old format cannot be queried, so the assistant says there is no queryable data
    rather than giving partial answers. After the project uses the new format, publish a new
    version. See [Speckle's data model is changing](/workspaces/data-model-migration).
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="How do I start a new conversation?">
    Use **New chat** in the Chat history. That starts an empty conversation so the next question is
    not mixed with an earlier thread.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Does opening a report spend AI credit?">
    No. Viewing a saved report, or changing its interactive inputs, does not spend AI credit. Chat
    turns that create or edit the report do. See [Create and share Intelligence
    Reports](/next/analytics/reports).
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="What happens if the workspace AI credit is used up?">
    Actions that require **AI credit**, such as conversations, AI-based report editing, and document
    parsing, are blocked when the workspace credit has been used up. Stored conversations remain
    available. The composer shows that the workspace credit has been used up. To restore access, a
    workspace admin must update the workspace plan or contact us.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="How do I reuse the company's colour theme, cost codes, or carbon method?">
    Put that playbook in a **skill**, share it with **Workspace** visibility, and invoke it with
    `/skill-name`. See [Reuse organisation playbooks with Intelligence
    skills](/next/analytics/intelligence-skills).
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="How do I force every reply or Report into one language or currency?">
    Use an **AI Rule** so the constraint applies on every turn without arming a skill. See [Set
    standing AI Rules for the workspace](/next/analytics/intelligence-rules). If you only need that
    language for one conversation, ask in that language — Speckle Intelligence usually keeps it.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>