User Guide

Introduction

BriefBot is an intelligent project assistant available from the left-hand sidebar menu. It helps users ask natural-language questions about project data and receive concise answers, tables, insights, charts, and downloadable files where supported.

The assistant is designed for Project intelligence across BriefSpec. It can help users understand Project health, requirements, phases, phase requirements, defects, service requests, action items, key decisions, RAID logs, time entries, test cycles, test cases, comments, and dashboard analytics.

BriefBot uses the signed-in user’s tenant, role, project access, and feature permissions. It answers using only the data that the user is allowed to access.

What BriefBot is not

BriefBot is not the floating Brief Help support widget, and it is not the project Support → Widget Support Chat inbox. Those surfaces handle live support, articles, and defect AI from the widget. BriefBot does not create defects, action items, or other project records from chat.

A related sidebar item, Reports (BriefBot Reports), uses the same AI plan entitlement for guided report generation. It is a separate screen from the BriefBot chat assistant.

Accessing BriefSpec BriefBot

Open BriefSpec and select BriefBot from the left-hand sidebar menu (spark / agent icon). In the expanded sidebar the label is BriefBot; when the sidebar is collapsed, the same item appears as an icon. BriefBot is a standard menu item—not a separate bottom button and not the floating chat widget.

If this menu option is available, clicking it opens the BriefBot chat screen. The empty state shows “How can I help you today?”, suggested questions, and a message composer at the bottom. The header shows BriefBot and actions such as Clear, Export conversation, and chart mode.

If the menu option is unavailable that means that the feature is not available for the user role. In that case, contact the organization administrator or the BriefSpec support team.

Access and Permissions

BriefBot access depends on three controls: Plan entitlement, Tenant AI enablement, and Role privilege. The feature must be included in the plan, enabled for the tenant, and part of the user’s role.

Plan Access

BriefBot requires the plan feature AI Insights Agent. If the current plan does not include this entitlement, the screen displays an upgrade message (for example, to access this feature, please upgrade your plan).

Tenant AI Enablement

If AI features are disabled for the tenant, the screen displays a tenant access message asking the user to contact the administrator or support team.

Role Privilege

If the user’s role hides BriefBot, the user cannot access the screen.

Project Access

The assistant only lists and uses projects that the user can access. Access is based on Project membership, Project role assignments, and Project view privileges.

Module Access

When a question needs module data, BriefBot checks the corresponding module permission. For example, defects require Defects access, time entries require Time Entry access, service requests require Service Request access, and so on.

Understanding the BriefBot

Header

The header shows the BriefBot title. Actions include Clear (start a fresh chat), Export conversation (select messages to download as Word), and the chart mode toggle (Backend PNG vs Interactive Chart.js).

Chat Area

The main area displays the conversation. User messages appear as “You” and assistant messages appear as “BriefBot”. Responses may include formatted text, tables, charts, and download cards.

Suggested Questions

When the conversation is empty, BriefBot displays suggested questions under “How can I help you today?”. Starters cover project health, open defects, in-progress phases, and open action items. Wording switches to “this project” when a project is already selected. BriefBot may also show up to two dynamic health-overview suggestions based on your recent projects.

Message Composer

The composer at the bottom is where users type their question. Press Enter to send. Use Shift+Enter to add a new line. Use + to set project scope, the microphone for voice input (where supported), and the Send button to submit. While BriefBot is generating a response, Send changes to Stop so you can cancel the response.

Voice Input

Where the browser supports speech recognition, the microphone button can be used to dictate a question. If voice input is not supported, the user is prompted to use a supported browser such as Chrome.

Stop / Cancel

When BriefBot is generating a response, use Stop in the composer to cancel a long-running reply.

Selecting Project Context

Many questions require a project. Users can either select a project before asking or mention a project ID in the question.

Project Picker

Click the plus button in the message composer to open the project picker. Search for a project and select it. The selected project appears as a project context chip above the message input.

Clear Project Context

Click the close icon on the project chip to clear the selected project and return to global scope.

Automatic Project Detection

If an answer uses one project, BriefBot can update the project chip automatically. If a response covers multiple projects, the composer may show multiple project IDs as context.

No Project Selected

If the user asks a project-specific question without a project context, BriefBot first finds the projects the user can access and asks the user to choose one from suggested options.

Project Access Questions

Users can ask questions such as “Do I have access to PRJ000025?”. BriefBot checks the accessible project list and confirms whether the project is available to the user.

Asking Questions

Users can ask BriefBot questions in normal language. The assistant decides whether live project data is needed, retrieves the relevant data, and presents the result in a readable format. 

Examples of useful questions include:-

Give me a health overview for project PRJ000025

What are the top priority open defects in this project?

Show in-progress phases for this project.

Show open action items for this project.

Summarize requirements by status.

Which activities have the most hours logged?

Show high priority service requests.

Which test cycle has the most failed test cases?

When BriefBot needs more details, it asks a focused follow-up question and displays clickable options. Select an option to continue the conversation without retyping the full answer.

Supported Project Areas

BriefBot can answer questions across several project modules, subject to role and project access.

Projects – list accessible projects and check project access.

Project Overview – summarize project health using counts and health indicators.

Plan – review plan tasks, status, owners, and overdue work where available.

Backlog / Requirements – query requirements, statuses, hierarchy, fit/gap, pillars, and epic/module breakdowns.

Phases – review phases, dates, status, completion, and phase requirement progress.

Phase Requirements – view build and review progress, assignees, dates, and requirement details.

Defects – summarize defects by status, priority, severity, assignee, and due dates.

Service Requests – summarize service request counts, priorities, statuses, and recent requests.

Action Items – review open, overdue, assigned, and priority action items.

Key Decisions – query decision log items, statuses, pillars, and modules.

RAID Logs – review risks, assumptions, issues, dependencies, priorities, and statuses.

Time Entry – summarize logged hours by user, activity, and date range.

Test Cycles and Test Cases – review test cycles, execution status, testers, assigned test cases, and project-level test case summaries.

Comments – read recent comments on supported items when permitted. Comment create, update, or delete is not available through BriefBot.

Project Health Overview

A common use of BriefBot is to ask for project health. The assistant gathers project data and presents a consolidated health snapshot.

Health responses may include traffic-light style indicators for areas such as Phases, Requirements, Defects, Action Items, Service Requests, Plan Tasks, Test Cycles, Test Executions, Key Decisions, and RAID Logs.

If a module(for example Phase) is not available for a project, BriefBot explains that the module is not available instead of showing it in the health table. If a module is available but has no data, the assistant may mention that there is no data yet.

Charts and Visuals

BriefBot can create charts when a question asks for a chart, graph, visual, bar chart, doughnut chart, pie chart, line chart, or similar visual representation. It may also produce charts for suitable numerical summaries depending on the data and prompt rules.

Charts appear directly below the assistant response. Use the chart mode control in the header to switch between Backend PNG (plotly) charts and Interactive (Chart.js) charts. Interactive charts also support Download PNG from the chart card.

Supported Chart Types

Supported chart types include bar, horizontal bar, stacked bar, doughnut, pie, and line charts.

Chart Downloads

When a chart is attached to an answer, the response can be exported to Word and the chart can be embedded in the exported document when available.

Downloading Responses and Exports

Assistant responses can be downloaded from the download icon shown on completed BriefBot messages.

Download as Excel

Use this option when the response contains tables. The system creates a formatted Excel file.

Download as Word

Use this option to save the response as a formatted Word document. Charts can be included in Word exports when available.

Large Dataset Exports

When a data result is too large to show fully in chat, BriefBot may provide an Excel download card. Click Download to save the details in an.xlsx file.

Conversation Management

Export Conversation

When the chat has completed messages, use Export conversation in the header. BriefBot enters selection mode so you can choose which messages to include. Use Select all, Selected (download the chosen messages as Word), or Cancel to exit without exporting. Per-message download icons on assistant replies still provide Excel or Word for a single answer.

Clear Chat

Click Clear to start a fresh chat in the current screen. This clears the visible conversation and resets the current session context.

Retry

If a response is interrupted or a connection error occurs, the message area may show a Retry option. Click Retry to send the last question again.

Suggested Follow-Ups

After many answers, BriefBot provides short suggested follow-up questions. Click one of them to continue the analysis.

Limited Update Actions

BriefBot is primarily a project data assistant. It is mostly read-only, but some limited actions may be available when the user explicitly asks for them and has the correct permissions.

Phase Requirement Build Status

BriefBot can update the Build Status of phase requirements when explicitly requested. Supported values are Not Started, In Progress, and Build Complete. The parent Phase must be In Progress.

Phase Requirement Assignee

BriefBot does not update phase requirement assignees from chat in the current product. Change assignees in the Phase module.

Comments

BriefBot can read recent comments on supported items when permitted. Creating, updating, or deleting comments is not supported through BriefBot; use the normal item screens. Attachments are not supported through this AI path.

BriefBot does not create or delete project records such as projects, requirements, defects, service requests, action items, phases, test cycles, or time entries. Unsupported updates must be completed in the normal BriefSpec screens.

Export and File Requests

Users can ask for files in natural language, such as “export the open defects to Excel” or “download the defect list”. For supported datasets, BriefBot generates a downloadable file instead of only displaying data in chat.

If a dataset is large, the assistant summarizes the data in chat and provides the Excel file through a download card. The card displays the export title and row count.

Security and Data Scope

BriefBot uses authenticated tenant context. It does not access data from other tenants. Project and module data is filtered according to the signed-in user’s access.

The assistant avoids exposing internal database IDs and uses user-facing labels such as Phase, Requirement, Test Cycle, Key Decisions, and RAID Logs. If the user does not have access to a module or project, BriefBot explains the access limitation in plain language.

BriefBot is intended for BriefSpec project intelligence. If a user asks an unrelated question, the assistant redirects the conversation back to BriefSpec project data.

Common Messages

BriefBot unavailable – shown when the user does not have permission to view the screen.

To access this feature, please upgrade your plan — shown when the current plan does not include AI Insights Agent.

AI-powered features are currently disabled for this tenant – shown when tenant-level AI access is disabled.

Could not load projects – shown when the project picker cannot retrieve accessible projects.

You do not have permission to use the AI assistant – shown when the chat endpoint rejects the request due to access.

Connection error. Please check your network and try again – shown when the chat stream cannot be completed.

Export is still generating, please try in a moment – shown when a large Excel export is not ready yet.

Recommended Usage

Select a project before asking detailed project questions. This helps BriefBot answer faster and reduces the need for clarification.

Ask specific questions when possible, such as “show open high-priority defects” or “summarize requirements by status”. Specific questions produce clearer answers.

Use follow-up questions to drill into the same project. BriefBot remembers recent conversation context and can continue from the previous answer.

Use charts when comparing counts or trends. Use Excel export when the answer requires a full list of records.

Review AI-generated insights before taking action. BriefBot summarizes live project data, but project owners should verify important decisions in the relevant BriefSpec module.

Do not confuse BriefBot with the floating SolvYa widget or Widget Support Chat. Use BriefBot for project intelligence questions; use those other surfaces for live support or widget-based defect AI.