Getting Started with Assistants
Overview of assistants, the three configuration types, how to choose the right one, and common settings.
What is an Assistant?
An assistant is what your learners interact with. Every assistant is grounded in a course (its knowledge base) and can optionally follow a Thinking Path to deliver a guided, step-by-step experience.
Before You Start
Assistants live inside a Course. Create a course before you create an assistant. If you want to create a Nudge assistant (the most structured type), build your Thinking Path first.
Navigate to your course, open the Assistants tab, and click Create Assistant.
The Three Configuration Types
When you create an assistant, you choose a Configuration Type. This controls how the assistant reasons and responds.
| Type | What it is | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Prompt | A free-form assistant grounded in your course content. You write a single system prompt that defines its behaviour. | General course Q&A, FAQ-style assistants, exploratory conversations, getting something live fast. |
| Structured | An assistant built from discrete fields (Task, Rules, Global Context, Examples) instead of a single prompt. SLAN assembles them into a coherent system prompt for you. | Assistants with a well-defined task focus, clear guardrails without writing a long prompt, consistent behaviour across a specific type of interaction. |
| Nudge | A fully guided assistant that walks the learner through a Thinking Path step by step. The highest-structure option. | Guided application exercises, case analysis and decision walkthroughs, assignments where structure and rigour matter. |
Choosing the Right Type
| Situation | Recommended Type |
|---|---|
| General Q&A, FAQ, exploratory use | Prompt |
| Focused task with clear rules and constraints | Structured |
| Guided step-by-step learning workflow | Nudge |
| You want something live fast | Prompt |
| You want maximum structure and rigour | Nudge |
| You want to replace repetitive office-hour questions | Structured or Prompt |
| You want to guide learners through a case or assignment | Nudge |
Settings (All Types)
Every assistant has settings that apply regardless of configuration type:
- Access Level: Controls who can use the assistant (Private, Restricted, or Public). Cannot be more permissive than the course it belongs to.
- Conversation Starters: 1 to 5 starter prompts shown when a learner first opens the assistant.
- AI Model: The language model that powers the assistant. Defaults to Auto. Includes Temperature and Top-p controls.
For the full reference on each setting, including access level compatibility rules, cohort integration, and model options, see Assistant Settings.
Next Steps
- Prompt Assistants: Configure a system prompt.
- Structured Assistants: Fill in the structured fields.
- Nudge Assistants: Attach and configure your Thinking Path.
- Assistant Settings: Access level, AI model, conversation starters, and more.
- Deployment and Versioning: Test and deploy your assistant.