> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.charle.agency/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Overview

> Meet Alan, your AI assistant for CharleOS

Alan is your AI assistant built into CharleOS. Ask Alan about your schedule, tasks, clients, and more - in natural language. Alan can answer questions, provide scheduling recommendations, and help you navigate CharleOS.

## What Alan can do

### Answer questions about your work

Alan has access to CharleOS data and can answer questions like:

* "What's on my schedule today?"
* "Show me overdue tasks"
* "Which clients need attention?"
* "Who's on leave this week?"
* "What's the team's utilization?"

### Help with scheduling decisions

When you need to assign work, Alan provides intelligent recommendations:

* Suggests team members based on availability, workload, and skills
* Considers who's on leave and current commitments
* Explains why each person is a good fit
* Provides action buttons to quickly assign work

### Manage your annual leave

Alan can help you manage time off without leaving the chat:

* Check your leave balance and remaining days
* View your pending and upcoming leave
* Book time off (with confirmation before submitting)
* Cancel leave requests
* Managers can view pending team leave requests

### Access documentation

Alan can answer "how-to" questions by searching the CharleOS documentation:

* "How do I create a quote?"
* "What is a retainer plan?"
* "How does the priority system work?"

## Where to find Alan

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Sidebar" icon="sidebar">
    Click the sparkles button (bottom-right) or the "Ask Alan" button in the header to open the chat sidebar
  </Card>

  <Card title="Command Menu" icon="keyboard">
    Press ⌘K and type a question - Alan will appear as an option
  </Card>

  <Card title="Assistant Page" icon="browser">
    Visit `/assistant` for a full-page chat interface with saved conversation history
  </Card>

  <Card title="Slack" icon="slack">
    Use `/alan` in Slack or send Alan a direct message
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

## How Alan works

Alan is powered by AI and has access to:

* Your CharleOS data (tasks, clients, schedules, time entries)
* Team information (availability, workload, skills)
* Documentation and business logic
* Your permissions (Alan only shows data you have access to)

<Note>
  Alan respects your permissions - you'll only see data you have access to in CharleOS.
</Note>

## Quick start

### Ask a question

Open Alan and type a natural language question:

<CodeGroup>
  ```text Example: Schedule theme={null}
  What's on my schedule tomorrow?
  ```

  ```text Example: Task theme={null}
  Show me all P1 help desk tickets
  ```

  ```text Example: Assignment theme={null}
  Who should I assign this design task to?
  ```

  ```text Example: Client theme={null}
  What's the retainer status for Fargro?
  ```

  ```text Example: Leave theme={null}
  Book next Friday off as annual leave
  ```
</CodeGroup>

### Get scheduling help

When scheduling work, click "Ask Alan" in the scheduling dialog to get recommendations:

1. **Contextual recommendations** - Alan analyzes the specific task/ticket/block
2. **Availability analysis** - See who has capacity and when
3. **Action buttons** - Click to assign work directly from Alan's suggestions

### Browse conversations

All your conversations with Alan are saved:

* Access past chats from the chat history sidebar
* Continue previous conversations
* Review recommendations and decisions

## Alan in Slack

Alan is also available in Slack for quick questions on the go:

### Slash command

```
/alan What's the team working on today?
```

Responses are ephemeral (only you can see them).

### Direct messages

Send Alan a DM for multi-turn conversations. Type "clear" to start a new conversation.

### Channel mentions

Mention @Alan in a channel to ask questions. Alan will reply in a thread.

<Warning>
  When mentioning Alan in channels, sensitive data (financial info, day rates) is filtered. You'll get a DM instead if your query involves sensitive information.
</Warning>

## Next steps

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="What You Can Ask" icon="message-question" href="/user-guide/alan/what-you-can-ask">
    Explore example queries and use cases
  </Card>

  <Card title="Scheduling with Alan" icon="calendar-check" href="/user-guide/alan/scheduling">
    Learn how Alan helps with scheduling decisions
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

## Tips for working with Alan

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Be specific" icon="bullseye">
    "Show me P1 tickets for Fargro" is better than "Show me tickets"
  </Card>

  <Card title="Ask follow-ups" icon="comments">
    Alan remembers context - you can ask follow-up questions in the same conversation
  </Card>

  <Card title="Use action buttons" icon="hand-pointer">
    When Alan suggests assignments, click the action buttons to apply them instantly
  </Card>

  <Card title="Check the sidebar" icon="sidebar">
    Keep the Alan sidebar open while you work for quick questions
  </Card>
</CardGroup>