Building A Smart AI Research Assistant

While Chibi's Web Composer is excellent for quick research tasks, creating your own Research Assistant action gives you a powerful, customized tool that perfectly fits your specific needs. In this tutorial, you'll build an action to help you research any topic and organize the findings in a way that's useful to you.

What We're Building

We'll create a research assistant that:

  • Asks what you want to research

  • Uses Perplexity models for up-to-date information

  • Organizes the research into clear, useful sections

  • Provides source citations

  • Streams the results directly into your document

Step-by-Step Instructions

Step 1: Create a New Action

  • Click the "Actions" button in the sidebar

  • Click "New Action"

  • Name it "Smart Research Assistant"

Step 2: Add the Input Task

First, we'll add a task to get the research topic from the user.

  • Click "Add Task"

  • Choose "Ask for Input"

  • Set these properties:

    • Task Name: "Get Research Topic"

    • Placeholder: "What topic would you like to research? Be as specific as possible."

    • Task Variable Name: "Topic"

Step 3: Add the Research Task

Now we'll add a Stream Prompt task to perform the research and write results directly to your document.

  • Click "Add Task"

  • Choose "Stream Prompt"

  • Set these properties:

    • Task Name: "Perform Research"

    • Task Variable Name: "Research Results"

    • Add a line break after writing ends: On

  • In the prompt field, enter this prompt:

Perform comprehensive research on this topic: {{Topic}}

Follow these research guidelines:
1. Focus on finding verified, factual information from reliable sources
2. Look for different perspectives and viewpoints
3. Identify any recent developments or updates
4. Note any controversies or debates
5. Find relevant statistics or data
6. Identify key experts or authorities in the field

Format your findings like this:
### Key Facts & Overview
{Provide the most important facts and a broad overview}

### Recent Developments
{List any recent updates or changes in chronological order}

### Expert Insights
{Include quotes or insights from recognized experts}

### Statistics & Data
{Present relevant numbers, statistics, and data points}

### Different Perspectives
{Present various viewpoints or approaches to the topic}

### Sources
List the sources of information in a numbered list

Remember to:
- Be thorough but concise
- Use bullet points for easy reading
- Include dates for timely information
- Cite and number sources properly (use <a> HTML tags)

  • For AI settings, choose "Custom" and:

    • Select a Perplexity (online) model

    • Temperature: 0.7

    • Max Length: 2048

    • Top P: 0.9

    • For instructions, enter:

You are a topic research assistant. Your task is to gather and summarize information on various subjects, providing clear and concise insights.

Use a neutral and informative tone. Prioritize accuracy and relevance in your responses.

Support your findings with credible sources and ensure that the information is up-to-date.

Format citation links using <a> HTML tags.

Using Your Research Assistant

  • Click the "Run" button at the top of the action editor (or left side in the action list)

  • Enter your research topic when prompted

  • Watch as the research results stream directly into your document

  • Review and refine the results as needed

Pro Tips

  • Use the Perplexity models for their ability to access current information

  • Experiment with the temperature setting:

    • Lower (0.1-0.3) for more focused, factual research

    • Higher (0.7-0.9) for more creative connections and insights

  • Add a prefix or suffix in the Stream Prompt settings to automatically add dividers or notes around your research

Remember to experiment with the prompt to make it perfectly suited to your research needs. You might want to:

  • Add sections specific to your field

  • Modify the formatting to match your preferred style

  • Adjust the level of detail requested

  • Change the way sources are cited

  • Add specific questions you always want answered about your topics

Now you have a streamlined research assistant that can help you gather and organize information on any topic. Take some time to customize the prompt and settings to make it perfectly suited to your research style!

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