--- title: Ask Octarine description: Ask questions across your whole workspace from iPhone, grounded in your own notes --- Ask Octarine is a chat that can read across your whole workspace. Use it for questions that span many notes, such as "What did I decide about the launch last week?" or "Which tasks are still open?" It uses the AI provider and model you configure, and it builds its search index on the iPhone. ## Open Ask Octarine **Ask Octarine** is one of the default bottom navigation tabs, next to **Library** and **Inbox**. If you have customized the navigation, you can bring it back from **More → Customize**. See [Navigating the App](./navigating-the-app). Ask Octarine needs a connected provider and a selected model. If you haven't set those up, the chat shows **Connect an AI provider and choose a model to start**, which opens **Settings → AI**. See [AI Writing and Insights](./ai#set-up-a-provider). ## The Note Index The first time you open Ask Octarine, it indexes the workspace so it can find notes by meaning, not only by exact words. Indexing runs on the device using Apple's built-in language model. Nothing is downloaded, and your notes are not sent anywhere to be indexed. While the first index builds, a progress card takes the place of the composer and shows how many notes are done. You can: - Tap **Pause** to stop indexing and **Resume** to continue later. - Browse and reopen earlier conversations. You can't start a new conversation until the first index finishes. After that, Octarine indexes changed notes in the background as you work. > The meaning-based index uses Apple's English model. In other languages, exact-text search still works, but meaning-based matches may be weaker. ## Ask a Question Type in the composer or tap the microphone to dictate, then tap send. Tap **Stop response** to cancel an answer while it is being written. To answer, Octarine can: - Search notes by meaning or by exact text - Read notes and their outlines - Browse folders - Check recent notes, daily notes, tasks, and tags - Follow links and backlinks - Find notes similar to a given note It knows today's date, so questions such as "Recap my week from my daily notes" work as expected. Ask Octarine is read-only: it does not edit, move, or delete notes. Below each answer, expand the tools list to see what it searched and which notes it read. Answers refer to notes with wikilinks. Tap **Copy response** to copy an answer, or press and hold your own message to copy it. ## Choose a Model The model button in the header shows the selected provider's icon. Tap it to search your connected providers' models and switch. The model you pick here is also used by the editor's AI features. ## Chat History Conversations are saved on the device. Tap the history button in the header to open **Chats** and continue an earlier one. Octarine gives each chat a title after the first exchange. Swipe left on a chat to delete it. Tap **+** to start a new chat. ## Privacy The note index and chat history stay on the iPhone. When you send a message, your question, the conversation so far, and any note content Ask Octarine reads to answer are sent to your selected provider. That content is handled under the provider's terms and retention policy. #### Quick Answers ### Can Ask Octarine on iPhone search my whole workspace? Yes. It searches and reads notes across the current workspace. For questions about only the open note, use Insights in the editor. ### Why can't I start a new chat in Ask Octarine? The first note index is still building, or indexing is paused. Resume indexing and wait for it to finish. ### Does Ask Octarine change my notes? No. It only reads notes to answer your questions.