Guide

How to ask better questions of your documents

Étoiles understands plain language, so you do not need special syntax. A few habits still make the answers sharper and easier to check.

Six habits

1. Ask for one thing. "When does my cover renew and what does it cost?" is two questions. Ask them separately if the first answer looks mixed.
2. Name the thing you mean. "What is the notice period in my office lease?" beats "What is the notice period?" when your library holds several contracts.
3. Use the words you would use out loud. You do not need the document's own wording; Étoiles matches meaning as well as words.
4. Ask for a fact, not an opinion. Étoiles answers from what your documents say. "Is this a good deal?" is for you; "What are the payment terms?" is for Étoiles.
5. Narrow the library when you can. In Étoiles Cloud, group related documents in a collection and ask inside it.
6. Always read the cited passage. The citation is the point. If it does not say what the answer says, trust the passage.

Better and worse

When there is no answer

If your documents do not contain what you asked, Étoiles is built to say so. That is useful: it tells you the document is missing, or that you asked about something else. Rephrase once, and if there is still nothing, the information probably is not in your library.

Next, read how to check an AI answer against its source.