Intro to Plane AI Sidecar
Video Placeholder Duration: 4-6 minutes Topics covered: What is the AI Sidecar, accessing it, contextual awareness, conversation features, practical uses
What is the AI Sidecar?
The AI Sidecar is your intelligent assistant that floats alongside your Plane workspace. It's a contextual AI panel that understands where you are and what you're working on, providing relevant help without you having to explain the context.
Think of it as having a smart colleague who's always aware of what you're looking at.
Accessing the AI Sidecar
Opening the Sidecar
- Look for the AI icon in the top-right corner of any project page
- Click to open the floating assistant panel
- The Sidecar appears alongside your current view
Alternative Access
- Use the AI icon in the left sidebar for full conversation view
- The Sidecar is available throughout Plane
Contextual Awareness
The magic of the Sidecar is its contextual understanding:
How It Works
When you're viewing a specific work item, you can ask:
- "What's the status of this?"
- "Who's working on this?"
- "What's blocking this?"
The AI understands "this" refers to the work item you're looking at — no need to specify.
Context Examples
| Location | Context Available |
|---|---|
| Work Item Page | That specific work item, its properties, comments |
| Project View | All work items in that project |
| Cycle View | Work items in that cycle |
| Dashboard | Workspace-wide data |
Conversation Features
Multi-Turn Conversations
The Sidecar maintains conversation history:
- Ask follow-up questions
- Reference previous answers
- Build on earlier context
Rich Responses
The AI can return:
- Markdown formatting — Structured, readable responses
- Code blocks — Syntax-highlighted code
- Lists and tables — Organized information
- Work item references — Clickable links
Input Options
- Text input — Type your questions
- Voice input — Click the microphone icon to speak
- File attachments — Share screenshots or documents for context
Ask Mode vs Build Mode
The Sidecar operates in two modes:
Ask Mode (Read-Only)
Query and search without making changes:
- "What work items are assigned to me?"
- "Show me high-priority bugs"
- "What's overdue in this cycle?"
- "Find duplicate work items"
Build Mode (Create/Modify)
Take action and make changes:
- "Create a work item for fixing the login bug"
- "Assign this to Alice"
- "Change the priority to High"
- "Add the backend label"
What You Can Ask
Project Queries
- "How many open work items are in this project?"
- "What's the progress on the current cycle?"
- "Show me work items created this week"
Work Item Queries
- "Summarize this work item"
- "What's the history of this item?"
- "Are there similar issues?"
Team Queries
- "What's Alice working on?"
- "Who has the most items assigned?"
- "What's blocked?"
Analysis Queries
- "What's the velocity of this cycle?"
- "How many bugs were fixed last week?"
- "What's our backlog size?"
Show Thinking
Want to see how the AI arrives at answers?
Enable "Show thinking" to see:
- Step-by-step reasoning
- Which data it's querying
- How it's interpreting your question
This transparency helps you understand and trust the AI's responses.
Conversation Management
Conversation History
Access your full conversation history from the sidebar AI icon:
- Previous conversations are saved
- Automatic titling based on content
- Mark conversations as favorites
Focus Selector
Switch context between:
- Current project
- Other projects
- Entire workspace
This controls what data the AI has access to for answering questions.
Practical Use Cases
Morning Standup Prep
You: "What did I complete yesterday and what's on my plate today?"
AI: Based on your activity, yesterday you completed:
- WEB-123: Fixed login timeout
- WEB-124: Updated user profile
Today you have 3 items in progress:
- WEB-125: API rate limiting (High priority)
- WEB-126: Dashboard redesign
- WEB-127: Documentation updateQuick Status Check
You: "Is this cycle on track?"
AI: The current cycle "Sprint 5" is 60% complete with 5 days remaining.
You have 4 items in progress and 2 items not yet started.
Based on velocity, you may want to prioritize WEB-130 and WEB-131.Duplicate Detection
You: "Are there any similar issues to this bug?"
AI: I found 2 potentially related items:
- WEB-89: Login fails intermittently (70% similar)
- WEB-102: Auth token expiring early (55% similar)
Would you like me to link them as related?Tips for Effective Use
Be Specific
Instead of: "What's happening?" Try: "What's the status of high-priority items in Sprint 5?"
Use Natural Language
The AI understands conversational requests:
- "Show me Alice's workload"
- "Find bugs from last week"
- "What needs my attention?"
Leverage Context
When on a work item, you can say "this item" — the AI knows what you mean.
Try Build Mode
Don't just ask — let the AI take action:
- "Create a bug report for..."
- "Update the priority to..."
- "Add a comment saying..."
Key Takeaways
- AI Sidecar is a contextual assistant that understands your current location
- Access it via the AI icon in the top-right corner
- Ask Mode queries data; Build Mode takes action
- Maintains conversation history for follow-ups
- Use natural language — the AI understands context
- Enable "Show thinking" for transparency
Next Steps
Learn about the specific actions the AI can take with Plane AI Actions.
Next Lesson: Intro to Plane AI Actions