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This draft describes the intended Arc update. Interface labels, tool availability, and the procedure need release-build verification before publication.
In this exercise, you will use a chat to research a subject and prepare the outline of a collection plan. You will check a retrieved source, refine the question, and separate supported findings from suggestions that still need investigation.

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Before you begin

You need access to Arc and a permitted model. For the source lookup in this exercise, you also need an available web research tool. Use a public subject and public example material that you are authorised to share with the selected tools. The example asks how to collect public information about transport disruption in a city. Replace the city with one relevant to your exercise. You can start in a standalone chat; a prepared Vantage workspace is not required. The mockups below use illustrative conversation content and fictional source references. Use the citations returned in your own chat when checking evidence. Available models and tools may differ.
1

Frame a small research task

Open Chats and choose New chat. Select a permitted model in the message composer, then enter a focused request:
Help me plan research into public transport disruption in Bristol over the next month. Identify the questions a collection plan should answer, candidate public sources, access needs, and collection priorities. Separate retrieved facts from suggestions. Mark anything you cannot verify.
Cortex Chats with New chat selected and a focused Bristol transport research question entered in the message composer.

Illustrative mockup: enter your question in the composer, then use Send message.

Send the message using Send message. Read the response for the proposed scope and open questions. If the task is too broad, narrow it to one transport mode, area, or reporting period before asking for more research.
2

Research candidate sources

Use the permitted web research tools to investigate the proposed sources. Confirm that a web research tool is available for the selected model before asking it to retrieve sources. Inserting a prompt does not add a research tool or verify its suggested sources.Ask a follow-up such as:
Research official sources for this plan. For each source you retrieve, cite it and explain what information it provides. Keep suggested sources that you have not retrieved in a separate list. Flag unknown access or reuse requirements.
Check the visible tool outcome. An unavailable tool or an unsuccessful retrieval leaves that part of the research unfinished.
3

Check a material claim against its source

Choose one finding that affects the proposed collection priorities. Follow its citation and inspect the source. Check that the source supports the statement and applies to the subject and period you asked about.
Example chat response separating retrieved timetable material, sources not yet retrieved, and unknown requirements, with a follow-up question in the composer.

Illustrative mockup: follow the source reference and check what it supports before accepting the claim.

For example, a source confirming a published timetable does not by itself establish that the service is currently running without disruption.Ask Arc to distinguish what the retrieved source states from what the model inferred. If you cannot inspect the supporting material, keep the finding unverified.
4

Refine the plan with a follow-up

Continue in the same chat so you can build on the retained conversation. Supply any corrections you found, then request a tighter outline:
Revise the plan to cover buses only. Include the research questions, proposed source coverage, access needs, priorities, source references, and unresolved questions. Explain which parts are supported by retrieved material and which are recommendations.
Review unresolved questions rather than treating a confident answer as evidence. If the turn reaches a limit, inspect the retained results and request a smaller remaining task.
5

Inspect the collection-plan outline

Check that you can identify the purpose, proposed scope, candidate sources, access needs, collection priorities, and outstanding questions. Follow at least one reference again after the revision to check that it still supports the associated finding.
Example revised collection-plan outline for Bristol buses showing scope, research questions, source coverage, access needs, priorities, a reference, and unresolved questions.

Illustrative mockup: review the narrowed scope, supported material, recommendations, and unresolved questions.

Your result should make it clear what is known, what is proposed, and what still needs verification.

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What you have completed

You have a research conversation and a checked collection-plan outline. The conversation has not started collection or configured a workspace. A chat uses bounded tool calls; it does not start an autonomous agent session. For the wider collection-plan task, create a chat project to organise related chats and selected reference material, then create a collection-plan artefact. Model output becomes project reference material only when you explicitly select it. If your plan requires approval, obtain that approval before presenting it as an approved product.

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Continue your research

Check relevant prior work in your earlier chats and follow its source references. When sharing a chat with colleagues, check their access to the supporting material. See Key concepts for the distinction between a chat project, an artefact, and a workspace.