Grounding a thread

Thread Grounding is the source scope bound to an Ask Thread. With it unset, Ask answers across all workspace feedback; with it set, retrieval is constrained to the sources you chose — and so is the evidence behind every Ask Artifact in the thread.

The scope bar sits directly under the thread header and always shows the current state.

Add a source

1. In the scope bar, click Choose a source (or Add source if the thread is already grounded).
2. The picker opens with a filter box. Type to narrow the list of surveys by title.
3. Click a survey to add it. The picker stays open, so you can select several in a row.
4. Click Done to close it.

Each chosen source appears as a chip in the scope bar showing its title and how many responses it holds.

Grounding is multi-select — a thread can be bound to several surveys at once, and questions that compare them (“what’s the split between the two surveys I’ve grounded?”) are answered inside that scope.

Remove a source, or go org-wide

• Click the × on a chip to remove that one source.
• Open the picker and choose All feedback to clear every source at once and return the thread to org-wide. This clears grounded retros as well as surveys.

Ground a thread from elsewhere in the app

Two places hand you a pre-grounded thread:

• A survey’s detail page opens Ask with that survey as the intended source.
• A closed retro’s summary opens Ask with that retro as the source, which is how you “talk to” a finished retro board.

When grounding takes effect

Grounding is stored on the thread, and the thread has to exist first. Ask your first question, then set the grounding — from that point it persists, applies to every later turn, and survives reopening the thread days later.

Caution

A source picked in a brand-new thread before the first question is not yet attached to anything. Set grounding once the thread exists, and confirm the scope bar still shows the chips you expect before relying on the answer.

Retros: closed only

Only closed retros can ground a thread. The rule is re-checked on every question, so a retro that gets reopened silently drops out of the grounding until it is closed again.

On a thread grounded to retros only, the grouped-aggregate tool is withheld — it can only count surveys, and org-wide numbers presented next to a retro would read as though they were the retro’s. Ground a survey alongside the retro if you want aggregates.

Point a single question at something

Typing @ in the composer opens a mention popover with two groups:

• Surveys — every survey, with how many responses it holds
• Themes — the themes detected in the thread’s first grounded survey, with mention counts

Mentions steer one question. They do not change what the thread is grounded in — for that, use the scope bar.

Attach an image to a question

Click the paperclip, drag a file onto the composer, or paste one. Images only. Attached images ride along with the question as vision input and are cleared once it’s sent.