AI Research Assistant
Redline includes a powerful AI research assistant that can search the web, analyze documents, create nodes, and help you investigate. The assistant has access to 34+ tools organized into tiers.
Getting Started
- Select an AI Provider in Settings (Redline AI works out of the box)
- Open the AI Panel on the left side of the screen (it's open by default)
- Ask a question or give a research task
- Watch the AI work - it uses tools to search and create nodes
Supported AI Providers
| Provider | Vision | Tools | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Redline AI | Yes | Yes | Included with license, no API key needed |
| Claude | Yes | Yes | Anthropic API key or OAuth login |
| OpenAI | Yes | Yes | API key required |
| OpenRouter | Varies | Varies | Access to many models |
| Ollama | Varies | Varies | Local, no API key needed |
Redline AI is included with every license and works immediately - no API keys or external accounts required. It provides access to Claude Sonnet 4 and Claude 3.5 Haiku with a monthly usage budget based on your license tier.
How It Works
- You ask a question or give a task
- AI selects appropriate tools based on your request
- Tools execute (search web, scrape URLs, etc.)
- Nodes are created on your board
- AI summarizes findings and continues if needed
Example:
"Research Elon Musk's involvement with OpenAI"
The AI might:
- Search Wikipedia for Elon Musk
- Create an Actor node
- Search for OpenAI
- Create an Organization node
- Web search for their relationship
- Create Event nodes for key dates
- Draw connections between nodes
Tool Tiers
Tools are organized into tiers for efficiency. The AI starts with core tools and can request more:
| Tier | Tools | When Loaded |
|---|---|---|
| Core | search_board, create_note, create_connection, update_node, get_cached_result | Always |
| Entities | create_actor, create_organization, create_event, create_location, create_prediction | On demand |
| Research | search_wikipedia, web_search, scrape_url, image_search, youtube_transcript, person_search, person_details | On demand |
| Social | social_search, fetch_social_post, create_social, search_social_users, get_user_timeline, get_user_profile | On demand |
| Media | create_media, create_embed, create_document, create_newsfeed, fetch_and_create_newsfeed, create_rssfeed | On demand |
| Narratives | create_narrative, add_to_narrative, create_narrative_link, search_narratives, update_narrative | On demand |
| Custom | Your custom tools | On demand |
The AI uses a special get_more_tools command to request additional tool tiers when needed.
Context Awareness
The AI assistant is aware of your board context:
Selected Nodes
Select nodes before chatting to give the AI context:
- Selected nodes are included in the prompt
- AI can reference and update selected nodes
- Useful for "Tell me more about this" queries
Search Results
The AI can search your existing board:
- Find related nodes
- Avoid duplicates
- Build on existing research
Conversation History
Previous messages in the conversation are remembered:
- Ask follow-up questions
- Refine previous requests
- Continue multi-step research
Vision Capabilities
With Claude or OpenAI, you can attach images to your messages:
- Click the image icon in the chat input
- Select an image file
- Ask about the image
Use cases:
- OCR text extraction from screenshots
- Analyze photographs
- Identify locations from images
- Extract data from charts
Vision features require a Pro license.
Conversation Management
New Conversation
Click "New Chat" in the AI Panel header to start a fresh conversation.
Conversation History
Past conversations are saved and accessible:
- Click the history icon in the chat header
- Select a previous conversation
- Continue where you left off
Token Usage
Token usage is tracked per conversation:
- Input tokens (your messages + context)
- Output tokens (AI responses)
- Total usage for the conversation
Tips for Effective Use
Be Specific
Instead of:
"Research this company"
Try:
"Create an Organization node for Palantir Technologies, find their key executives, and any government contracts"
Give Context
Instead of:
"Find more about this"
Try:
"I've selected the Elon Musk actor node. Find his companies and create Organization nodes for each"
Use Batch Operations
The AI can create multiple items at once:
"Create actor nodes for all the executives mentioned in this article: [URL]"
Leverage Narratives
Ask the AI to organize findings:
"Create a narrative grouping all nodes related to the FTX collapse"
Monitor RSS Feeds
Set up ongoing research:
"Create an RSS feed for the subreddit r/technology filtered for articles about AI regulation"
Troubleshooting
AI Not Using Tools
- Ensure your prompt clearly needs research
- Check that the AI provider supports tool use
- Try a more specific request
Slow Responses
- Complex research takes time
- Web scraping adds latency
- Consider breaking into smaller tasks
Wrong Information
- AI can make mistakes
- Always verify important claims
- Check sources and add your own notes
Rate Limits
- API providers have rate limits
- Wait and retry if you hit limits
- Consider a higher API tier