Ask a Sidekick privately beside a conversation
Ask a Sidekick privately beside a conversation in Cortex Chat: practical steps, setting explanations, result checks and troubleshooting.
Ask a Sidekick opens a separate assistant panel beside a human or group conversation. This supports drafting and analysis without posting the question directly to everyone in the shared thread.
Before you start
A direct conversation, a group and the private Ask a Sidekick panel are different audiences. Joining a group does not make someone a workspace administrator, and sharing an external file in a group does not override that file’s own access rules. Use names, membership and account context to confirm the intended conversation before sending. When inviting someone, distinguish an invitation that was created from one that was accepted. A public-looking display name is not enough to resolve an ambiguous recipient. Where a Sidekick helps draft a group response, decide separately whether the proposed text should actually be posted to the shared conversation.
Step-by-step
- Open the human or group conversation you need help with.
- Select Ask a Sidekick and inspect the assistant selected in the private panel.
- Ask for a draft or analysis, then decide separately whether any result should be posted to the group.
What the settings mean
| Control or state | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Direct conversation | A conversation with the selected person. |
| Group | A shared thread governed by its membership and settings. |
| Private assistance | The separate Ask a Sidekick surface. |
| External link | A destination that retains its own access and expiry rules. |
Check the result
The assistant reply appears in the private assistance panel, with the intended shared conversation still separate.
If it does not work
Check the active composer before sending. A private assistant result is not automatically a message to the group, and copying it into the group is a separate action.
Continue with the right context
Return to the Cortex Chat guide index to choose another task. Keep the current account, assistant and conversation in view when following the next guide. To use the product, open Cortex Chat.
- Find the right person in People & groups
- Invite a person to a conversation
- Create a group conversation
Last updated