# Chat with Anara

How Agent chat and Ask chat work, and what the agent can do for you.

Anara's chat is an agent. It decides which tools to use, searches your library, the web, academic databases, and connected apps, reads what it finds, and answers with citations to the exact passages. It can run several searches before it responds.

## Agent chat and Ask chat [#agent-chat-and-ask-chat]

Both run on the same engine, with the same models, source controls, and citations. The difference is where conversations live.

|            | Agent chat                                                                          | Ask chat                                                         |
| ---------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Use it for | Almost everything                                                                   | A conversation kept with one file or folder                      |
| Open it    | **Agent** button in the top right, or **Create > Agent**                            | Open a file or folder, then the **Ask** tab in the right sidebar |
| Scope      | Aware of what you have open, and can widen to your library, the web, and connectors | The file or folder it belongs to                                 |
| Past chats | **Chats** in the left sidebar                                                       | The title dropdown in that file's Ask tab                        |

If you are not sure, use Agent chat. To keep Agent chat strictly on the open file, turn off both library and web search below the input.

## What the agent can do [#what-the-agent-can-do]

* **Find:** search your library, the web, and academic papers; read full PDF pages and URLs; search connected sources.
* **Create:** write and edit notes, generate images, build charts and spreadsheets, and produce files such as Word documents and PowerPoint presentations.
* **Organize:** import papers, create folders, move files, and edit metadata. Imports and moves wait for your approval.
* **Plan and remember:** outline a multi-step plan before starting, ask you clarifying questions, and save preferences you ask it to remember across chats.

## Ask about a passage [#ask-about-a-passage]

In a PDF, select text and choose **Chat** from the floating toolbar to send that exact passage to the chat. This beats asking "what does page 7 say?".

## Manage chats [#manage-chats]

Chats save automatically. Pin the ones you return to, and search chat titles with Cmd+K. Click **Stop** to interrupt a response or **Regenerate** for a different answer.

<Cards>
  <Card title="Sources and @mentions" href="/guides/sources">
    Library, web, connectors, and @mentions.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Write better prompts" href="/guides/writing-prompts">
    Get more precise, better grounded answers.
  </Card>
</Cards>