Type
@ mid-sentence, not just at the start. The picker filters as you type: @nda narrows every section to the items named for it; ↑↓ + Enter inserts.The chat input, left to right
Not every control is there for every team. Create new entries, Search files and the attach menu depend on your plan, on what your administrator has switched on, and on which sources you have connected.
The Tools menu
A single menu for everything you’d want to attach or create.1
Click + Tools
The menu opens above the input.
2
Pick what you want to do
See Starting work from Chat for what happens after you pick any Create new entry, and Reviews from chat for running a Review against a Playbook once you have one.
Search files: choosing what Libra searches
Search files appears once your team has Databases switched on. Everything in it is a switch rather than a one-off choice, so you can combine scopes and leave them on for the rest of the conversation:
Switching a database on is not the same as attaching its files. It adds a single search source, and Libra queries it on demand while it answers, so a database of thousands of documents takes up exactly one of your search sources, the same as a small one.
You can have at most ten search sources on at once — the current project, the databases you’ve switched on and Entire SharePoint all count towards the same ten. Turn on an eleventh and Libra says “You can search at most 10 sources at once” and leaves it off. Documents and folders you attach directly are not search sources and don’t count.
If Libra couldn’t get through everything you selected, the answer’s activity list says Some databases could not be fully searched — take that as a sign the answer may be missing something rather than as a normal step.
The @-mention picker
The fastest way to attach context, without leaving the input.1
Type @ anywhere in your prompt
The picker opens in sections: Assistants, Documents, Discoveries, Reviews and Playbooks. The Documents section is the broad one — it holds the current project as a whole, your databases, your folders and your individual documents.
2
Filter by typing
Each section shows its first five items, with View more to expand it — in the Documents section the current project comes first, then your databases, then folders, then individual documents, each group in alphabetical order. As soon as you type after the
@, the cap drops away and every section filters live by name.3
Pick with arrow keys + Enter, or click
The mention is inserted as a pill in your prompt. Send the message; the referenced item is now part of the chat’s context.
Working with responses
Below every response, the toolbar gives you the standard set of actions.
For the structured answer side, including citations, sources, and the cited-sources panel, see Citations & sources.
Quote part of an answer and ask a follow-up
To follow up on one specific part of a long answer, select the text you want to ask about. A small toolbar appears; choose Ask Libra and the excerpt becomes a quote chip above the message box. Type your question and send — Libra sees the exact passage you highlighted, so you don’t have to paraphrase it. Clear the quote with the ✕ on the chip; it never carries over into a different chat. The same Ask Libra action works when you select text in an answer in the Word and Outlook add-ins.Long-running responses keep going in the background
Chat responses, especially in Deep Thinking or Research mode, can take a minute or two to finish. You don’t have to wait — leaving the chat lets the response continue in the background, and Libra tells you when it’s done.
Send a long Research prompt, then jump to another project to keep working. The bell tells you when your answer is ready; click the row to jump straight back to the chat.
Tips for getting good answers
Be specific
Be specific
“Review the contract” is too vague. “Review the contract for non-compete clauses that may be unenforceable under California law” is something Libra can act on. Treat each prompt like a brief to a junior associate: context, scope, and outcome.
State the jurisdiction
State the jurisdiction
“Under German employment law”, “per New York state contract law”, “in a Swiss commercial context”: these phrases narrow the answer dramatically.
Ask for the format you want
Ask for the format you want
“Provide your analysis as a numbered list of issues”, “Format as a comparison table with columns Risk, Clause, Recommendation”, “Draft this as a partner-facing memo”. Format requests almost always pay for themselves.
Iterate
Iterate
Don’t try to nail it in one prompt. Start broad, then narrow. “Now focus specifically on Section 4.2”, “Give me a more formal version”, “Explain the reasoning behind your third point.”
Verify the citations
Verify the citations
Treat citations the way you’d treat a junior’s case cite: open the source and confirm it says what’s claimed. Verified citations (clickable, linked to a database) are more reliable than unverified ones (plain text). See Citations & sources for how Libra distinguishes them.
Use Research mode for sourced research
Use Research mode for sourced research
For questions that need case-law or statute citations, switch Research on and pick the sources that apply. See Research mode.
Press ↑ in an empty input to reopen your last message for editing — tweak it and send again instead of retyping. Shift+Enter drops a newline; Enter sends.
Next steps
Chat modes
Standard vs. Deep Thinking vs. Fast: pick the right depth for the question.
Starting work from Chat
Create a Review or Discovery without leaving the chat.
Citations & sources
Read the Cited Sources panel and verify Libra’s references.
Databases
Reusable sets of documents you can search from any chat.
Research mode
Sourced research from legal databases.