How It Works
In Chat mode, Omni’s AI assistant:
- Searches across all your connected sources
- Synthesizes information into a coherent answer
- Provides citations so you can verify the source
Conversations
Each chat is saved in your Recent chats sidebar. Click any previous conversation to continue where you left off.
Citations
Every AI response includes links to source documents. Click these to:
- Verify the information
- Read the full context
- Access the original document in its native application
Conversation Branching
You can edit a previous message to explore a different direction. This creates a new branch in the conversation, preserving the original thread while letting you take a different path. Use the navigation arrows on messages to switch between branches.
Retry Responses
If you’re not satisfied with an AI response, click the retry button to regenerate it. The assistant will produce a new answer using the same context.
When you ask a question, the assistant may invoke one or more tools to gather information or take action. The current toolset is:
| Tool | Purpose |
|---|
| search_documents | Search across all connected sources using filters like source, content type, author, and date |
| read_document | Fetch the full text of a document by ID |
| read_file / write_file | Read and write files inside a per-chat workspace |
| run_bash | Execute a bash command inside the omni-sandbox container |
| run_python | Execute a Python snippet inside the omni-sandbox container |
| send_email | Draft and send email (via the configured email provider) |
| Connector actions | Source-specific actions exposed by connectors, such as exporting a Notion data source, reading from an MCP-backed connector, or invoking provider APIs with user authorization |
File Attachments
You can attach ad-hoc files directly to a chat message by clicking the attach button in the input area (or dragging a file onto the input). The assistant can read the attached file alongside indexed documents — useful for one-off questions about something that isn’t connected to Omni as a source.
| Behavior | Details |
|---|
| Supported size | Up to 50 MB per file |
| Small text files | Inlined directly into the chat context so the assistant sees the full content |
| Larger or binary files | Copied into the chat’s sandbox workspace so the assistant can open them with read_file, run_bash, or run_python |
| Reuse across chats | Uploads are not pinned to a single chat — you can reference the same upload from any message in any chat |
Attachments are stored using the same content-storage backend as indexed documents (Postgres by default, or S3 if configured). They remain available until you delete them.
People Search
The AI assistant can look up people in your organization. Ask about someone by name or email, and the assistant will return matching profiles.
Omni automatically builds a basic people directory from emails and names found in indexed documents. For richer profile data (job title, department, manager, etc.), enterprise IdP connectors are available — contact hello@getomni.co for details. Memory
If your admin enables Memory, Omni can remember useful facts from prior chats and recall them in future conversations. Memory is scoped to your user account, and you can manage it from Settings → Memory.
| Mode | Details |
|---|
| Off | Omni does not read or write memories for you |
| Chat memory | Omni can remember facts from completed chat turns and use them in later chats |
| Full memory | Chat memory plus agent run context when your organization allows it |
Best Practices
- Ask follow-up questions - The assistant remembers context within a conversation
- Be specific - “What’s our PTO policy for employees in California?” beats “PTO policy”
- Request formats - Ask for bullet points, tables, or summaries as needed
