Create, revise, and export a chat artefact

Use a chat artefact when you want a document, slide deck, spreadsheet, or SVG diagram that you can inspect, keep in version history, and export. An artefact belongs to the chat where you create it.

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Before you begin

Open the chat containing the material you want to use. You need permission to contribute to that chat and an available artefact-creation tool for model-generated content. Reading or exporting an artefact requires access to its parent chat. If you are continuing the research exercise, use the checked collection-plan outline. Verify source references and keep unresolved questions visible before turning the outline into a saved output.

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Choose an output kind

Documents, slide decks, and spreadsheets support in-panel editing. SVG artefacts are view-only in the panel; request a revision through a permitted artefact tool instead. Export formats serve different purposes. Inspect the downloaded result in its intended application before distributing it. Do not assume that every format preserves the same layout or editing behaviour.

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Create and inspect the artefact

Ask for a saved artefact, not only a response in the conversation. For example:

Create a document artefact titled “Bristol bus collection plan” from the checked outline in this chat. Include its purpose, research questions, proposed source coverage, access needs, collection priorities, source references, and unresolved questions. Separate supported findings from recommendations. Do not add findings that we have not verified.

Check the tool outcome, then open the resulting artefact. Inspect its kind, title, content, and saved version. Compare material claims and references with the checked outline. A statement that the model created a file is not a substitute for inspecting the saved output. An uploaded file normally remains a reference attachment. The current source marks explicit upload-to-artefact import as not built. Do not assume that attaching a DOCX, PDF, or other file creates an editable artefact with version history.

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Revise and commit your changes

1. Open the artefact and inspect the version you intend to edit.
2. For a supported kind, use the panel editor to make your changes. The editing draft is autosaved separately for you; it is not yet a committed version, and the model does not see that draft buffer.
3. Commit the draft to create the next saved version. Read it back before asking the model to build on your changes.
4. If another committed version appeared while you were editing, inspect the newer content and resolve the conflict deliberately. The editor supports keeping your draft through a rebase or discarding it. Do not discard useful work without checking what the newer version contains.

You can also ask the model to revise the artefact through an available tool. For example:

Revise the collection-plan artefact using its latest committed version. Add a section listing the unresolved access questions. Keep the existing source references and distinguish unknown requirements from confirmed ones.

A stale model update cannot replace a newer committed user edit. If an update is refused, inspect the latest saved version before requesting another revision. Uncommitted changes in your editing draft are not the model’s starting point.

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Inspect an earlier saved version

Return to the saved version you need and inspect its content before reusing or exporting it. Earlier versions remain in the history when you save a revision. A saved version preserves its content and supporting assets together. Later changes to an external image must not silently change that version. Check images, charts, and supporting files as well as the text; missing material makes the output incomplete.

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Export the selected version

1. Select the saved version you intend to download. Commit any editing draft you want included first.
2. Choose a supported export format for the artefact kind.
3. Download and open the exported file. Check the content against the selected saved version, including tables, images, charts, and references.
4. If the result is incomplete or conversion fails, resolve the issue before sharing it. A successful download alone does not establish that the output is correct.

For a transfer that requires editable source and supporting assets, use the transferable bundle provided by the supported route. A rendered PDF alone is not evidence that you have every source file and dependency.

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Share the right output

To let permitted colleagues work in the original conversation, follow Share and co-write a chat. Chat access governs the artefact; sharing that chat does not share its parent project or other conversations. Before distributing an exported copy, check that the receiving audience is authorised for its content and security classification. Exporting does not lower the classification. Revoking chat access cannot recall a copy already delivered. For the collection-plan task, obtain any required approval before presenting the plan as an approved product. Saving or downloading a version is not approval. Arc artefact export is also distinct from a workflow’s Publish step: that step can publish without a reviewer unless the author routes it through a Verdict approval path. To continue in a workspace, see Take a selected artefact into Vantage. That page describes the planned download-and-upload route and its current implementation gap.