Ask Dockli gives you two conversation surfaces that share the same capabilities: the global assistant on the Dashboard, and the folder-scoped panel you open inside a folder. This page covers both, plus how to read the conversation and approve the actions Dockli takes.
Spark only
The AI Mode toggle and the folder AI button only appear on the Spark plan. On Essential they are hidden. See Plans.
The global assistant
Turning on AI Mode
On the Dashboard, the search bar carries a small ✦ pill labelled AI Mode at its right edge. Click it to switch the bar from federated file search into the assistant. The hero greeting reads “Hi, <name>. What can I help you organize?”, and the placeholder changes to “Ask Dockli to organize or summarize…”.
- With AI Mode off, the bar is normal search — the placeholder reads “Search files and folders…”. See Searching.
- With AI Mode on and text in the box, the ✦ pill morphs into a submit arrow (→). Press Enter or click the arrow to send.
- Click the ✦ pill again (when the box is empty) to leave AI Mode.
Sending prompts
Type a request and press Enter. Once you send your first prompt, the layout docks the input at the bottom of the screen and your conversation streams above it as a scrollable feed. The docked input’s placeholder becomes “Message Dockli AI…”. Press Enter to send and Shift + Enter for a new line.
You can also attach documents and dictate — see Attaching documents and Voice and dictation.
Suggestions
Before you type anything in AI Mode, Dockli offers a few starter prompts, such as “What are my tasks for today?”, “Prepare me for my next meeting”, “Summarise everything that happened today” and “Find and organise my Q4 budget files”. Click one to send it.
After an answer settles, Dockli may show suggestion tokens — small ✦-prefixed follow-up chips (for example Compose Another or Find a File). Click one to send it as your next prompt.
The folder-scoped panel
Open any folder in Dockli and you’ll find an AI Mode button for that folder. Click it and a panel slides out from the right edge, locked to that folder. The header shows the folder path with a yellow folder icon, and the empty state reads “Ask me anything about <folder>.” with the hint “I’ll only act on the files in this folder unless you name another destination. Try one of these:”
The panel offers folder-aware starter prompts:
- Rename all files in this folder with a 2025_ prefix
- Rename all folders in this folder with a 2025_ prefix
- Create an Archive folder here and move everything into it
- Summarise what is in this folder
- Email the files in this folder to someone
Everything you ask in the scoped panel defaults to that folder — you don’t have to name it. The input placeholder reads “Ask about <folder>…”.
The panel is tied to the folder
The folder-scoped panel closes automatically the moment you navigate away from its folder. Your conversation isn’t lost — it’s saved to chat history with the folder as a subtitle, and you can reopen it later.
Reading the conversation
Ask Dockli uses a clean “command and artifact” layout rather than chat bubbles.
- Your turn appears as a left-aligned command line with a terminal caret (
›) and your text — no bubble. - Dockli’s turn appears as a full-width artifact panel with the Dockli AI wordmark at the top.
Inside the artifact panel, from top to bottom:
The execution trail (chain of thought)
While Dockli works, it shows a collapsible execution trail — a live, CI-style list of the steps it is taking (searching, reading, ranking, acting). Each step ticks green as it completes. While running, the trail is labelled “Working…”; once the answer lands it collapses and re-labels to “Chain of thought”, with a step count (for example, “3 steps”). Click the chevron any time to expand or collapse it.
The answer
The answer renders as formatted Markdown — headings, lists, bold. When Dockli mentions a file or folder, it renders it as an inline citation chip (see below). A small Copy button sits in the top-right of the panel; click it to copy the full answer (rich formatting for Word/Outlook, plain text elsewhere). It briefly reads “Copied” after you click.
Citations, folder chips and preview
Dockli grounds its answers in real items and links them inline:
- File chips show a file-type icon and the file name. Click one to open it in an embedded preview pane that splits the conversation — a read-only, in-app viewer of the document. The preview toolbar offers Open File (opens it in Office or the browser to edit), View location (jumps to the file’s folder in Explorer) and a Close preview control.
- Folder chips show a yellow folder icon. Click one to navigate straight to that folder in Explorer.
Because chips are backed by the item’s real identity, they always point to the actual file or folder — Dockli never surfaces raw internal IDs in its prose.
Actions and confirmations
Ask Dockli can act on your files, not just talk about them: it can create, rename, move, copy, archive and delete items, individually or in bulk. How much it confirms depends on the action and on your Autonomous Mode setting.
Confirmation cards
When Dockli needs your approval, it pauses and shows a confirmation card inside the answer. The card states plainly what will happen and, where relevant, shows the destination with its source (OneDrive, SharePoint or Teams) and folder path. For example:
- Move — “Please confirm Dockli AI can move
<item>into the<destination>folder.” with a Confirm Move button. - Copy — “Please confirm Dockli AI can copy
<item>into the<destination>folder.” with a Confirm Copy button. - Create — “Please confirm Dockli AI can create a new folder named
<name>inside<destination>.” with a Confirm Create button. - Delete — a red, danger-styled Confirm Delete button.
Every card also has a Cancel button. Deletions always require this confirmation unless you turn on Autonomous Mode. Cross-account transfers between tenants always present a confirmation card as well, and copy only — nothing leaves the source until you approve it.
Autonomous Mode
Autonomous Mode is a setting in the account menu, under Settings. It controls how much Dockli confirms:
| Setting | In-app description | Behavior |
|---|---|---|
| Off (default) | “Off — Dockli AI creates, renames, moves and copies on its own, but asks before deleting.” | Dockli performs creates, renames, moves and copies for you, but always asks before deleting. |
| On | ”On — Dockli AI runs every action immediately, including deletions, with no confirmation.” | Every action, including deletions, runs immediately with no confirmation. |
The setting is read at the moment you send each request, so a change always takes effect on your next prompt. To open it: click your account avatar (top-right), choose Settings, and toggle Autonomous Mode.
Autonomous Mode removes the delete safety net
With Autonomous Mode on, Dockli deletes files without asking. Because Dockli acts within your Microsoft 365 permissions, deletions go to the recycle bin like any other delete — but there is no confirmation step. Leave it off unless you specifically want fully hands-free operation.
The Stop button
While Dockli is actively working, the microphone button becomes a Stop button (a rounded square). Click it at any time to abort the in-flight request — useful if a response is taking too long or you want to change course. The conversation returns to idle and you can send a new prompt.
The disambiguation picker
When your request could match more than one file or folder, Dockli doesn’t guess — it asks. A disambiguation picker floats just above the input with the question (for example, “Which one did you mean?”) and a numbered list of candidate cards, each showing a title and a description (location, date, size). Click the one you meant and Dockli continues with that exact item. Long lists paginate with Prev / Next; a Dismiss control closes the picker without choosing.