Build an ask-your-docs assistant

What you'll build

An assistant that answers common questions from a small set of documents, and says so when it can't find the answer. A built-in project feature in your AI tool is enough to start.

The steps

1. 1
   Collect the questions

   Ask your team for the 20 questions they get most often, and write down the right answers.

2. 2
   Gather the documents

   Pick 5 to 10 current documents that cover them, and remove anything out of date.

3. 3
   Write the instructions

   Answer only from these documents, name the source, and say so if the answer isn't there.

4. 4
   Test all 20

   Add 5 questions the documents can't answer. It should decline those.

5. 5
   Fix the source first

   Wrong answers often come from unclear or conflicting documents. Fix those before the prompt.

6. 6
   Try it with three people

   Have them use it for two weeks, and collect anything it got wrong.

Practice material

Add three test types to your 20 questions:

Answerable: "How many days' notice do I give for leave?"
Expected: the answer, with the document named.

Not covered: "What's our policy on working from another country?"
Expected: says it isn't in the documents.

Conflicting: two documents give different answers.
Expected: shows both and says they conflict.

You're done when

• It answers your common questions correctly and names the source
• It declines all 5 uncovered questions
• Each document has an owner, so answers stay current