Ask the repository
What this page is — a plain-language question answered from your own indexed documents, with a numbered citation after each statement pointing at the passage it came from.
What it is for — so "what is our standard notice period for termination for convenience?" is answered in seconds, with the evidence, instead of by opening forty agreements.
The problem it solves — answering a policy question from past agreements means opening dozens of files and hoping you found the right clause.
Route: /org/papers/repository → Ask the repository · Permission:
Use AI drafting/extraction/Q&A for documents. · Utility: papers_doc_qa · Cost: 450 credits estimated, 1,800 maximum.
1. What it is
Ask retrieves the most relevant indexed passages across every document you can see, and the model answers
strictly from those passages, adding [N] after each supported statement. If the passages do not contain
the answer, it says so rather than guessing.
| Ask the repository | Semantic search | Portfolio Insights | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Returns | An answer with citations | Passages to read | An answer with matching documents |
| Reads | Indexed passages of finalized documents | Same | Captured fields and open obligations |
| Best for | "What do our documents say about X?" | Finding where something is written | "Which contracts renew in Q3?" |
| Cost | 450 credits est. | Not a utility run | 400 credits est. |
It only knows what is indexed — documents are indexed when they are finalized, or when someone presses Reindex. A draft contributes nothing.
2. Why you would use it
- Answers carry their evidence. Every
[N]is a link to the passage; verification takes a click. - Institutional knowledge is queryable. "Most of our executed NDAs use a three-year term" is an answer no single document holds.
- It admits ignorance. A question the corpus cannot answer gets "the documents do not contain it", not a plausible invention.
- Access is unchanged. It reads only what you could open yourself.
3. Step by step
- In the Repository, expand Ask the repository — it is folded by default.
- Type a question — one clear, specific question.
- Press Enter or Ask.
- Read the answer, then open the references before relying on it.
4. What you provide
| Input | Required | Good question |
|---|---|---|
| Question | Yes | Names a clause, a party, a year: "What is the notice period for termination for convenience in our Contoso agreements?" |
| Works well | Works poorly |
|---|---|
| "Which agreements name Singapore arbitration?" | "Should we renew this?" — judgement, not retrieval |
| "What liability cap do our 2025 MSAs use?" | "Is this cap reasonable?" |
| "What do our NDAs say about return of materials?" | Questions about drafts — not indexed |
5. What you get back
| Element | Holds |
|---|---|
| Answer | One passage of text in the documents' own words, with [N] after each supported statement |
| References | The numbered passages: snippet, section heading and page. Click one to open the document |
| Situation | Result |
|---|---|
| Nothing indexed in your scope | A plain answer saying so — no credits spent |
| Passages found but no answer in them | The answer says the documents do not contain it |
| Run fails — credits, permission, server | A red message; nothing charged |
6. Worked example
A deal lead preparing a negotiation asks:
"What notice period do we give for termination for convenience?"
The answer:
"Either party may terminate for convenience on 60 days' prior written notice [2]. During the notice period the customer remains liable for fees already accrued [2][5]. Two agreements use 90 days [7]."
The lead opens reference [7]: MSA — Fabrikam Inc · Termination · Page 9. It is a 2023 agreement on the old template — the outlier explains itself. They open [2] to quote the standard wording in their email.
They ask a follow-up, "Which of these were signed in 2026?". The answer says the passages do not state signature dates. That is correct: dates live in fields, so they switch to Portfolio Insights on the Analytics page for that question.
7. The admin contract
| Must be true | Where | What breaks without it |
|---|---|---|
| The role holds Use AI drafting/extraction/Q&A for documents. | Role editor | No Ask panel |
papers_doc_qa is active and enabled | Orbit AI Flow, /org/ai-utilities | Runs fail |
| Documents are finalized or reindexed | Lifecycle, Repository | Answers ignore them |
papers.ai_monthly_credit_cap has room | System Config | monthly AI credit cap reached… |
| A platform embedding model is configured | Orbit AI Flow | Retrieval degrades to full-text only |
8. Downstream
| When… | Then |
|---|---|
| A document is finalized | Future answers can cite it |
| A document is changed without re-finalizing | Answers quote the old wording until Reindex |
| You ask | One papers_doc_qa run is recorded in the AI usage table on Analytics |
9. Don't confuse this with…
| Semantic search | Returns passages; you draw the conclusion |
| Portfolio Insights | Reads fields and obligations, not wording |
| Document AI capabilities | Run on one document |
| Orbit Assistant | The platform chatbot, not your document corpus |
10. Troubleshooting
| Symptom | Cause |
|---|---|
| The answer ignores a document you know | It is a draft, or changed since indexing — Reindex |
| "The documents do not contain it" | They do not — or the detail lives in fields; try Portfolio Insights |
| A reference opens a document you did not expect | Read it — similar wording in an unrelated document |
| No credits were charged | Nothing was indexed in scope, or the run failed |
| The panel is missing | Your role lacks Use AI drafting/extraction/Q&A for documents. |