How Atlas grounds and cites answers

Atlas answers a project question by combining the conversation with relevant material it can find in that project. Citations connect parts of the answer to the material used to support them.

Atlas starts with the current project

Each chat receives an overview of the current project and its recent sources, notes, and chats. The current conversation, open items, map view, and @ mentions can add more specific context to a question.

This overview helps the agent decide what to search or read. It is not the full text of every item in the project.

Atlas searches for relevant material

The agent can search project titles, text, meaning, and highlights. It can then read the items or passages needed for the response. A processed source provides searchable text. A note or earlier chat can provide context that you saved in the project.

In Research mode, selected Web or Literature providers can add external results to the same response.

Citations connect claims to material

When the answer uses citable material, Atlas can place a numbered citation beside the related claim. The citation may point to a project source, note, earlier chat, or external URL.

The response also includes a source control that lists the unique cited items. Select a citation or a source-list entry to open its destination.

A citation lets you inspect the support

Opening the citation shows what Atlas connected to the claim. Read enough surrounding material to see whether the source supports the wording and whether it adds a qualification or limitation.

If the citation opens the wrong material or does not support the claim, ask a narrower question and mention the source you intended. See Follow citations back to a source for the complete checking workflow.