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Use this guide the first time you open Sofie. You will complete onboarding, learn the sidebar, ask a useful life sciences question, and save the result in the right place.

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What you need

  • A Sofie account from your organization.
  • Access to any Workspace, file, CoDraft, CoMeeting, or CoSheet you want Sofie to use.
  • A clear first task, even if the source material is incomplete.
Your organization controls which features, models, integrations, and shared Workspaces are available. If a button or page is missing, your account may not have access yet.

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Complete onboarding

Sofie uses onboarding details to understand how you work. Keep the information practical. You can improve it later with Memory and Directives.
1

Sign in

Open Sofie and sign in with the account your organization uses.
2

Review your profile

Add or update your Profile Photo. Confirm Your Name, then enter what Sofie should call you in What should we call you?.
3

Add professional context

Enter your Job Title and Function or Department. Useful examples are Quality Assurance Manager, MSAT, Manufacturing, Quality, or R&D.
4

Pick work interests

Choose the tasks you expect Sofie to help with, such as Tech Transfer, Risk Assessment, Report Drafting, SOP Alignment, Document Generation, Regulatory Insights, Change Control, Protocol Authoring, Process Mapping, Proposal Development, or Summarize Documents.
5

Finish onboarding

Click Finish. Sofie opens the main chat experience.
Use your actual role and function. “QA reviewer for sterile manufacturing” gives Sofie better context than “manager”.

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Learn the sidebar

The sidebar is the fastest way to move through Sofie.
Sidebar itemUse it for
New ChatStart a new conversation.
Chat HistoryReopen past conversations.
PromptsCreate and reuse Saved prompts.
SearchOpen Search Sofie across chats, Workspaces, and artifacts.
CoMeetingsView, search, and open meeting captures.
WorkspacesOrganize files, chats, artifacts, and teammates.
OrchestrateBuild or run repeatable workflows when enabled.
CreateStart a CoDraft, CoSheet, Template, Sequence, or other enabled creation surface.
User menuManage account settings and related options.
Sofie onboarding screen showing Workspaces for organizing shared work

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Start your first useful chat

Start with a specific task, the source material Sofie should use, and the output you want.
1

Click New Chat

Click New Chat in the sidebar.
2

Write a focused request

Describe the business process, source, output format, and review constraints.
3

Add the source

Click the + control to attach files, add context, or insert a Saved prompt.
4

Choose search settings

Click the sliders control if you need Workspace search, Web search, Deep research, or Plan Mode.
5

Send and refine

Send the message. Ask Sofie to revise, cite sources, turn the answer into a CoDraft, or save it to a Workspace.
First useful prompt: 
Task: Review the attached deviation summary for investigation gaps.
Context: This is for a fill-finish deviation in a GMP manufacturing process.
Output: Create a table with known facts, missing evidence, follow-up questions, and likely source documents to check.
Constraints: Do not conclude root cause. Flag assumptions separately.

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Add context the right way

Use the + control in chat when Sofie needs more than your message.
Context typeWhen to use it
AttachUpload files for the current message.
PromptsInsert a Saved prompt you use often.
CoDraftsAsk about or continue an existing document.
CoSheetsAsk about spreadsheet data or selected cells.
CoMeetingsUse a transcript, notes, or meeting summary.
WorkspacesGive Sofie project context and related files.
OrchestrationsRun or reference a repeatable workflow.
PlansContinue a plan created in the current conversation.
If the source material belongs to a team or project, put it in a Workspace. If it is a one-time file, attach it to the chat.

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Use search settings

The search settings menu controls how Sofie gathers context.
  • Turn on Workspace search when you want Sofie to search files in the selected Workspace.
  • Turn on Web search when you need current public information.
  • Turn on Deep research when you need slower, broader external source gathering. Deep research requires Web search.
  • Turn on Plan Mode when the request is complex and you want Sofie to break work into steps before acting.
Review external sources and generated summaries before using them in regulated, quality, clinical, or controlled work. Sofie helps prepare work for review.

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Find your work again

Sofie keeps related work accessible across the app.
  • Use Chat History for past conversations.
  • Use Search for global search across Sofie. See Search Sofie.
  • Use Workspaces for project files, related chats, CoDrafts, CoMeetings, CoSheets, templates, and activity.
  • Use pinned items for active work you open often.
  • Use Recent Chats inside a Workspace to return to conversations tied to that Workspace.

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Move from chat to an artifact

Chat is best for reasoning and iteration. Move to an artifact when the work needs structure.
If the output becomesMove it to
A document, report, protocol, URS, SOP draft, or narrativeCoDraft
Spreadsheet data, calculations, issue logs, or chartsCoSheet
Meeting minutes, transcript review, or action follow-upCoMeeting
A repeatable process with steps and review pointsOrchestrate
Shared project contextWorkspace

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Quick troubleshooting

Make sure you started the chat from the Workspace or added the Workspace through Add context. Turn on Workspace search before asking Sofie to search the Workspace files.
Add the source file, Workspace, CoMeeting, CoDraft, or CoSheet. Then ask for a specific output such as a table, checklist, report outline, or follow-up question list.
Ask Sofie to separate facts, assumptions, source gaps, and recommended next checks. Use this pattern for deviations, CAPA, validation, batch review, and regulatory work.