> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.saphion.co.uk/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Chat with Beacon > Ask questions, bring in files, choose how Beacon works, and decide who can open a chat. Beacon is your assistant in Saphion. Choose **Beacon** in the sidebar and type in the box. A new chat greets you with a prompt such as "What's on your mind today?". Beacon works inside your permissions. It can read and act only where you could yourself, and a request never gives it, or you, access you did not already have. ## What you can bring into a message Choose **Add** (the plus button) beside the box. The menu offers: * **Add files** to add files for Beacon to read. * **Skills**, a submenu of the skills you can run, to add one to your message. **Manage skills** opens your skills. You can also type `/` to run a saved procedure. See [Skills](https://docs.saphion.co.uk/beacon/skills.md). * **Connectors**, a submenu with a switch for each connected system, on until you turn it off for this chat. **Manage connectors** opens **Settings > Connectors**. See [Connectors](https://docs.saphion.co.uk/beacon/connectors.md). * **Project** to file the chat in a Project. See [Projects in Beacon](https://docs.saphion.co.uk/beacon/projects.md). Web search has no switch in the menu. Beacon decides for itself when to search the web, and it can always do so unless an Admin turns web search off for your Organisation. When you are on a page, the menu also tells you what Beacon can see on it. ## Mention your own things Type `@` in the box to mention something of yours. The list is grouped by kind (for example records, projects, people and files), each row showing the kind's icon, the name and what it is. With nothing after the `@` it shows what you opened lately; keep typing to narrow it. Choose a row and it sits in your message as a mention, which gives Beacon that exact thing to read. Beacon still works inside your permissions: you only see what you can open, and if you lose access before you send, the message says which mention is no longer available to you. ## Choose a model and effort The model menu beside the send button lists the models available to you, each with a short description. A model that is unavailable stays in the list and says why. * **Effort** sets how thoroughly Beacon works. Higher effort can improve thoroughness, but takes longer and uses your allowance faster. One level is marked Recommended. * **Fast mode**, where a model offers it, gives priority processing at twice the model cost. Speed varies. Your monthly allowance and when it resets are under **Settings > Usage & plan**. ## Images and files Beacon makes Ask Beacon to make an image from a description, or to change a picture you hold. Beacon can also make files such as Excel workbooks, Word and PDF files, and PowerPoint decks. What it makes appears in the chat and in **Creations**. ## Look after your chats Hover over a chat in Beacon's sidebar for **Pin**, or open its menu for these actions: * **Rename** the chat. Keep it short and recognisable. * **Pin** it so it stays at the top. * **Share** it. See below. * **Archive** it. It leaves your list and is kept under **Settings > Privacy & data**. * **Delete** it. You are asked once. A chat marked **Needs your input** is waiting for you to answer a question or approve a step. Beacon's sidebar sorts chats by Most recent activity or Newest created. ## Who can open a chat A chat is yours alone until you share it. Choose **Share** to decide: * **A Project**: everyone who can see that Project can open the chat. * **People and teams**: add the colleagues who should be able to open it. * **Copy link**: the link opens only for people who can already open the chat. Sharing waits until Beacon has finished its reply. ## Approvals and your permissions When Beacon wants to use a connected system's tools, you decide whether it may. Each tool is **Always allow**, **Needs approval** or **Blocked**. Your Organisation's Admin sets the ceiling, and you can only make a tool stricter for yourself. See [Connectors](https://docs.saphion.co.uk/beacon/connectors.md). Beacon can archive records and delete them into the Bin, and it asks you to confirm every time. Permanent deletion and emptying the Bin are always a person's act in the app. ## Memory and privacy **Settings > Memory** lists the facts you have asked Beacon to remember. They are private to you, and you can forget any of them there. Retention for your conversations, your archived chats and the links you shared are under **Settings > Privacy & data**. This documentation is built and hosted on [Mintlify](https://mintlify.com), a developer documentation platform.