Scope Selection

The scope selector controls what context the Research AI Panel uses when answering your questions. Choosing the right scope ensures the AI draws from the most relevant documents and data.

Where to Find the Scope Selector

When Research Chat mode is active, the scope selector appears as a dropdown below the mode tabs. It shows an icon and label for the currently selected scope, along with a document count badge when applicable.

Available Scopes

Publication -- Focuses on a single publication. The AI answers using only the content of that specific paper. This scope is selected automatically when you open the panel from a publication detail page. It uses the Paper Chat system for citation-backed responses.

Document -- Targets a specific document, such as one you are editing in the Write workspace. The AI uses the document's content and any associated page context.

Project -- Covers all documents within a project. The AI searches across every publication and file associated with the project, making it useful for cross-paper analysis. The scope selector shows how many documents are available. You can also drill down into individual project documents via the dropdown.

Lab -- Spans all documents belonging to a lab. Similar to project scope but broader, covering the entire lab's research corpus.

Job -- Targets a specific job posting or application. The AI uses the job details and any related context from the current page.

Grant -- Focuses on a specific grant or funding opportunity. Useful when reviewing grant requirements or drafting proposals.

Global (All My Research) -- The broadest scope. The AI searches across your entire research library, including all projects, labs, and standalone publications. Use this when your question spans multiple areas of your work.

Automatic Scope Detection

The panel automatically sets the scope based on your current page:

• On a project page (e.g., /projects/42), the scope defaults to that project.
• On a lab page (e.g., /labs/7), the scope defaults to that lab.
• On a publication detail page, the scope defaults to that publication.

You can always override the automatic selection by choosing a different scope from the dropdown.

When to Use Each Scope

| Scope | Best for | |-------|----------| | Publication | Understanding a single paper's methods, results, or arguments | | Document | Getting help with content you are currently writing or editing | | Project | Finding connections across papers in a research project | | Lab | Surveying the full body of work in a lab | | Job | Preparing for job applications with context-aware assistance | | Grant | Reviewing grant requirements and aligning your proposal | | Global | Exploratory questions that might span multiple projects or labs |

Document Count Badge

For project and lab scopes, a badge next to the scope label shows the number of documents available. This helps you gauge how much context the AI has to work with. If the count is zero, the AI will have limited ability to answer document-specific questions -- consider uploading documents to the project or lab first.

Scope and Conversation History

Changing the scope resets the conversation. This is intentional: the AI's responses are grounded in the selected context, so carrying over history from a different scope could produce misleading answers. Multi-document scopes (project, lab, global) persist conversations server-side, so you can return to them later.

Tips

• Start with a narrow scope (publication or document) for specific questions, then broaden to project or global if you need wider context.
• On project pages, use the dropdown to select individual documents within the project for focused questions before switching to the full project scope for synthesis.
• The document count badge is a quick indicator of whether the AI has enough material to give you substantive answers.