SYNTHEKOS answers from your organisation's own documents, running on one machine on your network. Two things make it different: it works with no internet, and it tells you plainly when it doesn't know. Here's how to use it well.
Go to the address your administrator gave you (often something like https://your‑box:6688 or a portal link) and sign in with your ID and password. You land in the chat.
Type your question and press Send. The answer appears with Sources underneath — the file(s) it came from. Always glance at the source: it's how you know the answer is real. If the source is a PDF, it's a link with a page number — click it and the actual page opens.
You: What is the minimum safe coolant flow? SYNTHEKOS: The minimum safe coolant flow rate is 2.8 litres per second. Sources: KESTREL-7-OPS.pdf (p.4) ← click to see the page
You don't have to trust the assistant — you can just look at what it cited.
At the top of the chat is a badge: GROUNDED, HYBRID or OPEN/FLOATING. Your administrator decides which you get.
Answers only from the loaded documents. If it isn't there, it says "I don't have that in the loaded materials." That's not a failure — it's the assistant refusing to guess. Use this for anything that matters.
Facts come only from the loaded documents, with the source. Where the documents say nothing, it may add general knowledge and says so; if they have nothing at all, the answer starts "Not in the loaded materials — from general knowledge:". Check the source line: no source means it came from the model.
May also answer from the model's own knowledge, like an ordinary chatbot. Friendlier, but it can be wrong and can contradict your documents. Not for anything that matters.
If it says it doesn't have something, the honest conclusion is: that information hasn't been loaded onto the box. Ask your administrator to add it — or, if you're allowed, teach it yourself (next).
Greetings and thanks — "hello", "thanks", "goodbye" — get a short polite reply even in Grounded mode. Those replies are fixed words with no facts in them, so they don't break the grounded promise.
If your administrator has granted it, a Teach link appears in the top nav. What you teach is saved to your own knowledge — grounded and cited like any source, and fully yours to change or remove. It's never fine‑tuning.
Open Teach (/learn), type the fact, and save it. It's indexed to your knowledge and cited in future grounded answers.
Click "Teach this" under any message to capture that text straight into your knowledge.
Say "remember that the barn roof was replaced in 2019". It reads the fact back and asks yes or no — nothing is saved until you say yes. Saying "start learning" lets you give several facts in a row; "stop learning" ends it. "What have you learned?" lists them.
The "My knowledge" list shows everything you've taught, each marked with who taught it and when. Edit an item when facts change, or delete it — it will no longer be used in answers. In the face you can also say "forget that…"; it asks before removing anything.
If your administrator has set it up, you can talk to SYNTHEKOS through a full‑screen animated face — the avatar. It answers from the same documents as your chat, in the same answer mode, and remembers the conversation. Open it with the Avatar link in the chat header (or you may land on it straight away); Chat takes you back.
Tap the microphone, speak, pause — it listens until you stop, then answers out loud. Tap Stop to interrupt it.
Switch to Continuous and just talk — after each answer it listens again by itself. Press Pause when you're done; it stays paused until you press the button again.
There's always a box at the bottom to type a question.
The microphone needs a secure (https) address. If the face says voice needs https, use the address your administrator gave you for remote use.
If allowed, a Documents panel appears in the sidebar. Upload .txt, .md or .pdf — they go queued → indexing → ready, then the assistant can answer from them. They're yours (other users can't see them) and apply to all your chats. Delete removes a file and it stops being used at once.
If procedures are loaded, a Procedures list appears. A procedure is a checked, step‑by‑step set of instructions written from a real manual and signed off by a human — the AI plays back what was verified, nothing more.
It answers for this step — the right bolt, not a search from elsewhere. Also try "why?", "it won't move", "how do I know it's right?", "what's next?"
Dangerous steps turn the panel red and refuse to advance until you Confirm — and your confirmation is recorded.
It reads the step aloud; you work; you say "next". Your hands are busy — that's exactly when you need it.
Close the laptop at step 12, come back tomorrow — you're at step 12. Every step and confirmation is logged.
If voice is enabled you'll see extra buttons. It's a walkie‑talkie, not a phone call — expect a short pause while it listens and thinks.
It reads its answers aloud in your computer's voice — for when your eyes are busy.
Click, talk, watch the level bar move (that means it's hearing you), then it shows what it heard. It does not send automatically — check it, then Send.
It just listens. Finish by saying "over", or by pausing, or by pressing Send. Hit Stop (red) to barge in; Clear if it misheard.
The sidebar lists your chats; + New chat starts fresh. It remembers what was said within a conversation.
Your questions, answers and sources are recorded on the box so there's an honest record if something goes wrong. Don't type what you wouldn't put in an email.
Grounded means it answers from your documents, but it can misread them. For anything involving safety or money, check the cited source.
Ask something type it, press Send Where an answer came from look at Sources under the answer Can I trust it? badge says GROUNDED = documents only See the actual page click the cited PDF source (p.N) Teach it a fact Teach link, or "Teach this" on a message Teach it by voice in the face: "remember that …", then yes Talk to the face Avatar link in the chat header Stop it listening Pause (in Continuous) Hear answers Speak: On Talk instead of type Dictate, then check what it heard Work hands-free Converse: On, say "over" when done Be walked through a job Procedures in the sidebar Move through steps next · back · repeat (type or say) Past a critical step read it, then Confirmed Start fresh + New chat
The administrator guide covers users, portals, corpus, procedures and audit.