> ## 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.
# Beacon
> Beacon is Saphion's assistant: what it can do, what it can never touch, and where to find it.
Beacon is the assistant built into Saphion. Ask it a question, hand it a file, or ask it to do a piece of work, and it answers in the chat or does the work in your Projects, records and connected systems. It works as you, so it can read and change only what you could read and change yourself.
> [!NOTE]
>
> Everyone with a Platform seat has Beacon.
A conversation with Beacon
## What Beacon can do
Beacon uses the same tools you do, each one limited by your permissions.
| Area | What Beacon can do |
| - | - |
| Your work | Find and read Projects, Actions, records, boards, dashboards, files, Activity and your calendar. Change records you can change. Build dashboards widget by widget, and add and change a board's fields and sections. Draft Actions, Updates and requests for you to review. |
| Comments, roles and Teams | Read the comments on many records at once, and comment with proper mentions of the people you name. Fill the roles on a Project or record you can change, such as its Project lead. Rename the Teams you own and add or remove their people. |
| Search | Search your Organisation, search the web, and look back through your earlier chats. Web search is on unless an Admin turns it off. |
| Files and images | Read files you attach. Make an image from a description, or change a picture you hold. Make Excel workbooks and PowerPoint decks, and other table files. |
| Connected systems | Read and act in the systems you have connected, such as Microsoft 365, within the limits you and your Admin set. |
| Memory | Remember facts you ask it to remember, and use them in later chats. |
## What Beacon will ask you first
How much Beacon asks depends on what it is about to do.
| Beacon wants to | What happens |
| - | - |
| Read, or change something in Saphion that you could change yourself | It does it as you. The change is recorded in Activity as "Beacon for" your name. |
| Archive records, or delete them into the Bin | It always asks you to confirm, every time. No setting skips this. |
| Share something with people or Teams | It shows a card naming who would get access and at what level, and shares only after you choose **Allow**. |
| Use a tool in a connected system | It follows that tool's setting: **Always allow**, **Needs approval** or **Blocked**. A tool that sends something to other people always needs approval. |
## What Beacon never does
* It never goes beyond your access. A request cannot give Beacon, or you, access you did not already have.
* It never permanently deletes anything, and it never empties the Bin. Those are always a person's act in the app.
* It shares an item only with people already in your Organisation, or with Teams, and only after you choose **Allow** on the card that names who and how. It never changes a Permission, and never invites people to your Organisation, deactivates them or changes their Organisation role. Filling a role on a record, or adding someone to a Team you own, gives the access that role or Team carries, as it would if you did it yourself.
* It never reads another person's chats. Only you can open your chats.
> [!NOTE]
>
> Beacon is AI and can make mistakes. Check consequential work, and use the sources it names.
## Open Beacon
Choose **Beacon** in the sidebar. The chat opens with a greeting and a box that reads "Ask anything or start a task…". Type, press Enter to send, and press Shift + Enter for a new line.
* **New chat** is the first row of Beacon's sidebar. The shortcut is Ctrl + Shift + O (⌘ ⇧ O on a Mac).
* On most other screens, a round **Open Beacon** button sits at the foot of the page. Press it to open a chat that can see the screen you are on. Drag the card to another position, and fold it back to the button with **Minimise Beacon**.
* A Project has its own Beacon screen. See [Projects in Beacon](https://docs.saphion.co.uk/beacon/projects.md).
## Find your way around Beacon
Beacon's sidebar lists your **Pinned** chats and favourite Projects, your **Projects**, and your **Recents**, and also has **Creations**, which lists what you and Beacon have made. Everything else you set up for Beacon lives in Settings.
| Area | What it covers | Where |
| - | - | - |
| [Chat with Beacon](https://docs.saphion.co.uk/beacon/chat.md) | Ask, attach files, choose a model and review a chat. | **Beacon** in the sidebar |
| [Projects in Beacon](https://docs.saphion.co.uk/beacon/projects.md) | Standing instructions, files and memory for one body of work. | A Project's Beacon screen |
| [Skills](https://docs.saphion.co.uk/beacon/skills.md) | Save a procedure you run again and again. | **Settings > Skills** |
| [Connectors](https://docs.saphion.co.uk/beacon/connectors.md) | Let Beacon read and act in Microsoft 365 and other systems. | **Settings > Your connections** |
| [Memory and privacy](https://docs.saphion.co.uk/beacon/memory-and-privacy.md) | See, pin or forget what Beacon remembers, and delete or archive chats. | **Settings > Memory** and **Settings > Privacy & data** |
| [Usage and plan](https://docs.saphion.co.uk/beacon/usage.md) | Your monthly allowance, and which models your plan lets you choose. | **Settings > Usage & plan** |
| [Saphion in other AI tools](https://docs.saphion.co.uk/beacon/other-ai-tools.md) | Use Saphion from Claude, ChatGPT or Codex. | **Settings > Saphion in other AI tools** |
## Ask Beacon
Beacon can explain itself. Try "What can you do in my Projects?" or "Which of my connected tools can you use right now?"
## FAQ
> **Can Beacon see my colleagues' chats?**
>
> No. Chats are private to the person who started them, including chats filed in a shared Project. See [Chat with Beacon](https://docs.saphion.co.uk/beacon/chat.md).
> **Why did Beacon say it could not do something?**
>
> Usually because you cannot do it yourself, because the tool is blocked in **Settings > Your connections**, or because your Admin has turned the connector or web search off. Beacon names the reason when it can.
> **Does Beacon learn from my chats?**
>
> Beacon remembers only what you ask it to remember. Those memories are listed in **Settings > Memory**, where you can pin or forget any of them. See [Memory and privacy](https://docs.saphion.co.uk/beacon/memory-and-privacy.md).
> **Who decides what Beacon is allowed to do?**
>
> You do, within your Organisation's limits. Your Admin sets the ceiling for each connected tool, and you can only make a tool stricter for yourself.
## Related
* [Instructions](https://docs.saphion.co.uk/admin/instructions.md): Standing guidance for Beacon at Organisation, Project and personal level.
* [Connectors for your Organisation](https://docs.saphion.co.uk/admin/organisation-connectors.md): For Admins: which connectors are available and how far Beacon may go with each tool.
* [Activity](https://docs.saphion.co.uk/work/activity.md): See what you, Beacon and your connected tools have changed.
* [Sharing and access](https://docs.saphion.co.uk/work/sharing-and-access.md): Why Beacon can open only what you can.
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