Using the assistant in Excel

Tour of the chat pane

The Cx Assistant pane has three main areas:

• Top bar: the history toggle (≡) to open your chat list and project selector, the Cx logo, the account icon, and the new-chat icon. Help & support is in the ⋮ menu in the footer of the history panel.
• Middle: the conversation — your messages, the assistant's answers, a thoughts timeline while it works, and status lines showing which actions it is running.
• Bottom: the composer where you type, with buttons for attachments, voice input, mentions, the approval-mode picker, and the thinking-mode picker.

In personal mode (My Workspace), a banner under the top bar says so.

How to ask the assistant a question

Type your question or request in the composer at the bottom of the pane and send it. You can ask about your project (issues, assets, documents, project data) or ask the assistant to work on the open workbook — for example "Read the punch list on Sheet1 and create issues for the open rows".

While the assistant works, you will see its thoughts timeline and status lines for the actions it takes. To start a fresh conversation, click the new-chat icon in the top bar.

Chat history — finding your previous chats

Click the history toggle (≡) in the top bar to slide open the history panel. It shows:

• The selector at the top, where you pick a project or My Workspace.
• Your list of Excel chats — click one to reopen it, and use its menu to rename or delete it. Scroll down and load more to see older chats.
• A footer with your avatar, the light/dark colour-mode toggle, and a ⋮ menu with "Help & support" and "Sign out".

The list shows the chats of the project (or My Workspace) that is selected. Switch the selector to see the chats of another project.

Only chats you started in Excel appear here (see the section on host-locked chats).

Why some chats are missing — Excel chats are host-locked

Chats in the add-in belong to the app they were started in. Your history panel in Excel lists only Excel chats:

• Chats you started on the web or mobile app do not appear in Excel.
• Chats you started in the Word add-in do not appear either, and trying to open a Word chat from Excel is refused with a message that the chat belongs to the other add-in.

This is by design — Excel chats can act on your workbook, so they stay in Excel. To continue a web or mobile conversation, open it in that app.

How to switch projects

1. Click the history toggle (≡) in the top bar.
2. Use the selector at the top of the panel to pick a different project, or pick My Workspace to work without a project (personal mode).

The assistant then works in the context of what you selected, and the chat list shows the chats of that project. In My Workspace the assistant cannot see project data such as issues and assets — see "Personal mode — what works and what needs a project" in the getting-started help.

Approval modes — controlling when the assistant asks before editing

Before the assistant changes your workbook, you decide how much it should ask. Use the approval-mode picker in the composer — the setting applies per chat:

• Auto: the assistant runs actions without asking.
• Ask for critical: only critical actions, such as permanent deletions, ask first.
• Ask for edits: every action that writes to your workbook or project asks first. Reading never requires approval.

All workbook edits count as writes, so in "Ask for edits" mode nothing changes in your workbook without your confirmation.

In Excel, edits are applied straight to the workbook. There is no tracked-changes review as in the Word add-in, so use "Ask for edits" when you want to check each change before it happens.

The approval card — approving or declining pending actions

When the assistant needs your approval, the pending actions appear together in one approval card in the chat:

• Each row has a checkbox, so you can approve only some of the actions (partial approval).
• Use Approve to run the checked actions, or Decline all to reject the batch.
• Some rows offer a "don't ask again in this chat" option for that kind of action — tick it to auto-approve it for the rest of the conversation.

Attachments, voice input, and mentions

The composer supports more than text:

• Attachments: attach files to your message for the assistant to use.
• Voice input: dictate your message instead of typing.
• Mentions: reference project items directly in your message so the assistant knows exactly what you mean.

Citations — opening issues, assets, and documents from a chat

When an answer draws on project data, the assistant adds citation chips to its reply. Click a chip to open the source without leaving Excel:

• Issues open in an Edit Issue dialog inside the pane.
• Assets open in an Edit Asset dialog.
• Documents open in a document viewer.

This lets you check the source, and update issues or assets, right from the conversation.

The account view

Click the account icon in the top bar to open the account view (your chat stays open behind it). It has five tabs:

• Profile: your name, avatar, and personal details.
• Security: two-factor authentication, backup codes, and password change.
• Sessions: the devices signed in to your account, with the option to revoke them.
• Activity: recent account activity.
• Legal: terms and privacy documents.

How to contact support from the pane

To send a support ticket from the pane:

1. Click the history toggle (≡) in the top bar.
2. In the footer of the panel, click the ⋮ button and choose "Help & support".
3. Pick the reason that best matches your request from the reason chips.
4. Describe the details.
5. Submit the ticket.

The dialog also links to the public support centre at cx-assistant.com/en/support/excel if you prefer browsing help articles.

Permissions — the assistant respects your project role

Using the assistant in Excel requires the agents.excel permission, which every project role has by default.

Everything the assistant does with project data (issues, assets, documents, and so on) is checked against YOUR permissions in the active project. It can never read or change anything you could not read or change yourself. If the assistant reports it cannot do something in the project, ask a project admin to review your role.

Personal mode (My Workspace) needs no project role. My Workspace is yours alone, and the assistant sees no project data there.

Troubleshooting the assistant in Excel

Common situations and what they mean:

• You were signed out: sessions expire or can be revoked — sign in again from the pane.
• You see a "Personal mode" banner, or the assistant says it needs a project: the pane is in My Workspace, where the assistant cannot see issues, assets, or project documents. Open the history panel (≡) and pick a project in the selector. With no project yet, the pane always opens in personal mode.
• A chat is missing after you switched project: the chat list shows the chats of the selected project or My Workspace only. Switch back to find it.
• A chat is missing or refuses to open: it probably belongs to another app. Excel only shows Excel chats; Word, web, and mobile chats live in their own apps.
• A write timed out: the assistant is told the edit may still have landed, so it checks your workbook with a read before retrying. You may notice it verifying — this prevents duplicate edits.
• An action seems stuck: an action that cannot finish fails with a clear error after about 4 minutes, and the pane stays usable. This often happens when a cell is still being edited or a dialog box is open in Excel. Press Enter or Esc to leave the cell, close the dialog, and ask again. The edit may still have landed, so check the workbook first.