How Brain works

In short: sources feed Brain, Brain learns facts from them, links the facts into a memory, and hands your AI assistant the evidence to answer with.

source (Slack, Notion, HubSpot, webhook, file)
  -> Brain reads it and learns facts
  -> facts are linked together in Brain's memory
  -> your assistant asks Brain and gets evidence
  -> your assistant writes the answer and cites it

1. Brain reads your sources

An admin connects sources. What Brain reads, and what each source needs before it starts, depends on the source:

Only admins can connect sources. Members do not see the Sources page.

The first build

A new organization has no memory yet. Brain reads nothing to answer from until an admin confirms the first build. In setup that is Continue at the end of the sources step. On Home it is Build my memory. Confirming saves the request, and Brain starts the build by itself once your content is prepared and at least one document is ready. The first build reads a first batch of what is ready, up to 25 documents, starting with uploaded files, then Notion, HubSpot, webhooks and Slack. Brain adds the rest after your memory is active, so with large imports the first answers may not cover everything. The first build takes longer than later updates, and Brain cannot answer company questions until it finishes.

After the build, content you add is added to your memory on its own. The Quickstart walks through it, including what to do if the build needs attention.

2. Brain learns from what it reads

Brain turns each document into memories. A memory is a single fact Brain has learned, backed by a source document or conversation you can trace back to. Some screens call a memory a claim. It is the same thing.

Where you see the status

Statuses for content

Learning takes a while, especially the first time. See Processing statuses for the full reference, including the statuses of follow-ups, sources and conflicts.

3. Brain remembers

Brain links related facts together, so it can gather what it knows about a person, an organization, a project or a decision. Each fact stays tied to the source it was learned from. Admins can browse these links in Synapses.

Only what Brain has learned is searchable. Brain keeps the original content so every fact can be traced back to it.

Removing a source keeps what Brain learned

When you use Remove source or Disconnect, Brain stops collecting from that source. It does not delete what it already learned from it. The knowledge stays in your memory. See Check source status.

People can add knowledge

People in your organization can tell their assistant a fact and ask it to save it to Brain. The assistant sends it with the add_company_knowledge tool, after you ask or confirm. The fact takes a few minutes to become available. Knowledge saved this way cannot be edited or removed from the app afterwards. See Tools reference.

4. Brain gives your assistant the evidence

When you ask a question, your AI assistant asks Brain. Brain does not write the answer itself. It sends back:

• the relevant passages and facts,
• the titles and references of the pages they come from,
• anything it looked for and could not find.

Your assistant writes the answer from that evidence and is told to cite what Brain returned. The wording, and whether the citations show up, depend on your assistant. The evidence comes from Brain. See Sources and citations.

Brain only sends what you are allowed to see. Access follows your role and the categories an admin has granted you.

When information changes

Companies change their minds. When a source clearly corrects or replaces an earlier fact, for example with a later date or an explicit correction, Brain marks the older fact as replaced, keeps it in the history and treats the newer one as current. Brain settles the clear cases itself. When two sources really disagree and Brain cannot tell which is right, it raises a conflict for an admin to settle under Conflicts. See Resolve conflicts.

When Brain does not know

If the evidence is not there, Brain says so instead of guessing. It can also ask a person. If a colleague is set up as a Brain contact, Brain can send them the question over Slack or a call. Their reply comes back to Brain, which checks it before adding it to what it knows.

You can follow the request's progress: members under My requests, admins under Ingest (Follow ingestion). What the colleague answers stays private. To set up who Brain can ask, read Brain contacts.

What counts as usage

Reading new content uses your organization's usage. That includes uploads, what your connected sources send in, answers sent back by colleagues, and knowledge saved through an assistant. Asking questions does not use it.

• Where to see it. Admins see a usage bar on Overview, with a More detail link to the Usage page. The Usage page shows the total for the period, what has been consumed, what remains, and daily use by source. See Plan and usage.
• When it renews. Usage renews every month and does not roll over. The Usage page shows the renewal date and time, and the Billing page shows the renewal date.
• When it runs out. Brain keeps answering with what it already knows. New content waits, shows as Paused, and is learned automatically once your usage renews or increases. You do not need to upload it again.

The Free plan includes €5 of usage a month. See Usage and limits and Plans and quotas.

Related

• What makes Brain different
• Sources and citations
• Quickstart
• Resolve conflicts
• My requests
• Follow ingestion