Ask questions with Ask Parable
Start a useful question, check the answer, and manage the conversations you can access.
Ask Parable helps you explore your organization's connected data in a conversation. Start with a specific question, then check the result's scope before using it for a decision or follow-up.
Before you start
Check the organization selected in the workspace menu. Conversations and data access belong to that organization. If you switch organizations, return to the conversations available there.
You need permission to view chats to use the home chat experience, and permission to start chats to submit new questions. The data and actions in an answer have their own permissions. Giving access is separate: being able to ask a question does not give you access to individual donations.
See access and giving permissions and choose your workspace. Connect and import the relevant source before asking about its information; check sync progress when expected records are missing.
Start a useful question
- Open the home page in the intended organization.
- Type a question in the Ask Parable composer and send it.
- Include the period, campus, group, or definition that matters to you.
- Answer a clarification request when one appears, then inspect the result.
If the chat preview is enabled for you, a plain question typed on home may open that experience. See the preview controls before following the standard conversation instructions below.
Useful starting questions include:
| Your goal | Example question | Data to have available |
|---|---|---|
| Understand new profiles | “Show people added during September 2026.” | Imported People profiles. |
| Explore group participation | “Show group attendance from September 1 through September 30, 2026.” | Imported Groups events and attendance. |
| Review giving | “What was our total giving during September 2026?” | Imported Giving data and giving access. |
| Follow up on workflow delays | “Show overdue workflow cards.” | Imported People workflows and cards. |
These are requests to explore, not guarantees that a particular chart or complete dataset will be returned. If an answer uses a different definition from the one you intended, ask a follow-up that states the definition.
You can also open a home widget to start a fresh conversation about its result.
Check the result
An answer may contain text, a table, a chart, or a detail view. Inspect the period, filters, source, and any displayed query or limitation. An empty answer can mean no matching records, incomplete imports, or an unsuitable filter; an access error is a different state.
Distinguish an explanation or suggested action from an operation that actually ran. If you ask the standard experience to save a report, create a dashboard, or pin a report, it can perform that write immediately when your permissions allow it, without a separate confirmation dialog. Check the operation's status and success result, then open Reports or Dashboards to verify the item. A failed operation or a suggested next step is not a completed change.
Keep analysis as a report
Some query-result views offer Save as Report. Open it, review the report name and configuration, and complete the save. Saving a report containing SQL requires both report-creation and SQL-execution access.
Add to Dashboard, where offered, has further requirements to view the report and manage the dashboard. An answer returned only for analysis is not automatically a saved report or dashboard tile. If you ask for a save, the operation may complete in chat instead of using this dialog. Open Reports or Dashboards afterward to check the saved item you can access.
Copying response text or downloading a displayed view, where available, also does not create a saved report or guarantee a full-data export.
Return to a conversation
In the standard home composer, open the clock-shaped history button and select a conversation. Type at least two characters to search history. You can continue a conversation you are authorized to access; saved history is stored in Parable and is checked against your current permissions.
On a conversation page, the star beside its title adds or removes a favorite. The New chat button starts a separate conversation. Starting another question does not delete the previous saved conversation.
The trash control in the history list deletes a conversation immediately; it does not open a confirmation dialog. Use it only when you intend to remove that conversation.
Share a conversation
On a saved standard conversation, open Share chat. You must own the conversation and have permission to start chats to manage its sharing.
- With member-directory access as well, add a named person to give that person access to the shared conversation.
- Remove an existing viewer's access from the same dialog when needed. Removal, publication, and copying an existing link do not require member-directory access.
- Turn on Publish to web only when you intend anyone with the link to be able to open it.
- Use Copy share link or Open share link to check the resulting link.
Viewers only see content their own current Parable permissions allow. A public link does not grant private data access to an anonymous viewer. Changes to the owner's access can also make a link unavailable. If an older link asks you to have the owner share it again, request a fresh link.
Turning off publication removes the public audience. Named viewers can still have access until you remove them. Check both publication and the viewer list before treating a conversation as private again. Turning Publish to web on or off, or adding or removing a named viewer, makes previous share links stop working. To keep sharing, copy the current link from Share chat and send it again to everyone who should still have access.
Recover from a problem
| What you see | What to do |
|---|---|
| A temporary error with Retry | Retry once the connection or service has recovered. |
| An incomplete response with Retry original request | Use that control to retry the original request when it is available. |
| A permission error | Ask an administrator about the required access in the selected organization. Repeating the question does not grant access. |
| A usage or spending limit | Review usage and ask an administrator who can update organization settings about budgets or member caps. Buying credits requires billing-management access separately. |
| Missing or unexpectedly old data | Check the selected organization, period, source connection, and sync state. |
| A missing conversation or unavailable share | Check organization and access, or ask the owner for a current link. A failed load does not prove the conversation was deleted. |
Stop an answer with Stop generating when that control is available. A stopped or interrupted answer may be partial; check its status before using the result or submitting another action.
Choose personal and workspace settings
Open Settings → Personal → Ask Parable for your personal preferences. Under Personal preferences, choose a Default model from the available catalog and a Web search policy: Ask every time, Allow by default, or Never allow. Changes save as you choose them; check the success or error message. Web search sends search queries to an external search provider when permitted. These choices apply to you, not every member.
Personal preferences remain available even if your role cannot view chats. The Prompts and Share access tabs have their own chat-view access requirements. Saving or changing prompts also requires permission to start chats.
Open Settings → Workspace → Ask Parable for shared context and usage. Chat-view access allows you to read Custom context; changing it requires organization-update access and Save changes. Workspace Usage can be read with chat-view, billing-view, or billing-management access. Changing budget behavior, alerts, or the default member cap requires organization-update access and chat-view access to load the settings. Setting or clearing an individual member's cap also requires member-directory view or management access. Buying credits requires billing-management access. See billing and usage.
If your organization has the chat preview
Some users see a New chat entry that opens the preview experience. A plain question typed on home can also open it when the preview is enabled for you. Home requests with files, a saved prompt, or web search stay in the standard experience, as do clicks on most home widgets. The New Profiles widget can open the preview, and your campus selection carries into it. Availability depends on your organization's rollout and your access. An existing conversation reopens in the experience used to save it.
The preview has a header history control, a favorite star for a saved conversation, and a Chat actions menu with Copy chat ID and Delete chat. Its history can reopen conversations from either experience. Deleting from this menu is immediate.
The preview also has its own response and recovery controls, including Copy response, Retry loading chat, and Retry sending message when applicable. Use the controls actually shown. The standard report-saving and sharing instructions above do not promise that those controls are available inside the preview. The preview does not currently offer Share chat.
If a stop request is not confirmed, follow the displayed message and retry the stop. A preview entry does not mean every chat capability has been released to every organization.