Using the assistant in Word

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. At the top of the conversation, a small bar lets you pick how edits reach your document: Direct, Review, or Preview.
• 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 document — for example "Summarise the open issues for asset UPS-001 and insert a table here".

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 Word 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 Word appear here (see the section on host-locked chats).

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

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

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

This is by design — Word chats can act on your document, so they stay in Word. 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 document, 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 document or project asks first. Reading never requires approval.

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

Approval modes decide WHETHER the assistant asks before it acts. The review modes (Direct, Review, Preview) decide HOW an edit lands in your document — see "Review modes". Picking Preview in the review bar switches this picker to "Ask for edits" for you.

Review modes — Direct, Review, and Preview

A small bar at the top of the conversation sets how the assistant's edits reach your document. It has three modes. Hover over a mode to read what it does.

• Review (the default): edits to existing text become tracked changes in Word. New content, such as a new section or table, becomes a proposal: it is placed in the document inside a blue box titled "Cx Assistant proposal". You then accept or reject the tracked changes, and keep or discard the proposal.
• Direct: changes are applied at once. The chat shows an Undo button under the change.
• Preview: the assistant asks before every change. The approval card shows what it is about to insert or rewrite. Approved changes are applied directly, with an Undo button.

Good to know:

• If Track Changes is already on in Word, every change from the assistant is a tracked change, in any mode. New content is then a tracked insertion, not a boxed proposal.
• The mode you pick is remembered on this computer and applies to the next change the assistant makes.
• The assistant never accepts or rejects its own changes. That decision is always yours.
• Comments are not part of the review flow. They are added straight away.
• On some older Word builds the changes are tracked, but they can only be accepted or rejected on Word's Review tab. On builds that cannot track changes for the add-in at all, edits are applied directly.
• The review bar exists in Word only.

How to review the assistant's edits — accept, reject, keep, or discard

After the assistant changes your document, a review card appears in the chat under that action. The card shows:

• How the change was made: "Tracked changes", "Proposal", or "Applied".
• A short count, for example "2 paragraphs edited".
• The changed text, with added words underlined and removed words struck through.

To review a change:

1. Click the target icon ("Show in document") on the card to jump to the change in Word.
2. For tracked changes, click Accept or Reject.
3. For a proposal, click Keep to make the content a normal part of the document, or Discard to remove it.

You can also review in Word itself: use Accept and Reject on Word's Review tab, or delete a proposal box. The next time the card checks the document, it shows "Handled in Word".

A pending change stays pending until you decide. Proposals and tracked changes are saved with the document, so you can decide later, even after closing and reopening Word.

How to accept or reject all changes at once

When changes from the current chat are waiting for you, a second strip appears under the review bar. It shows the count, for example "3 changes awaiting your decision".

1. Click "Accept all" to accept every pending tracked change and keep every pending proposal from this chat.
2. Or click "Reject all" to reject and discard them all.

This only touches changes the assistant made in this chat. Tracked changes from you or other authors are left alone.

How to undo a change that was applied directly

In Direct and Preview mode, changes are applied at once. To take one back:

1. Find the review card under that action in the chat.
2. Click Undo. The card then shows "Undone".

Good to know:

• If you edited a paragraph yourself after the assistant changed it, Undo leaves that paragraph alone.
• Some changes have no Undo button in the chat, such as formatting and table structure changes. Use Word's own Undo (Ctrl+Z) for those.
• The Undo button is available while the pane stays open. After you close and reopen the pane, use Word's own Undo or edit the text by hand.

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.

For document edits, the row also previews the change: the text that will be inserted, or the wording that will be replaced.

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 Word:

• 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/word if you prefer browsing help articles.

Permissions — the assistant respects your project role

Using the assistant in Word requires the agents.word 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 Word

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. Word only shows Word chats; Excel, 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 document 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 dialog box is open in Word. Close the dialog and ask again. The edit may still have landed, so check the document first.
• A review card says "Handled in Word": the change was already accepted, rejected, or removed in Word itself, so there is nothing left to decide.
• Comments don't work: comment features need a newer Word build (see the getting-started requirements).