Getting Started


## What is Ask Steve? 
Ask Steve is a browser extension platform that enables you to add AI tools to your browser and then use them with 1-click. It can be used by:
* [Individuals](/individual)
* [Businesses](/business)
* [Site Owners](/site-owner)

## Installing Ask Steve
You can install Ask Steve in your Chrome or Edge Browser from the Webstore [here](https://quickstart.asksteve.to/browsers/).


## Working with Steve
* Once you install the Ask Steve extension you'll be dropped onto the [onboarding page](https://quickstart.asksteve.to) that will teach you how to work with Steve. 
* If you want additional information, check out the docs on the left side of this page.


Welcome to Ask Steve, the 1-Click AI Assistant and Tool Belt for Your Browser

Solutions

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## Ask Steve is the Last Mile UI for Enterprise AI
According to [May Habib at Writer](https://venturebeat.com/data-infrastructure/habib-at-vb-transform-writers-vision-for-full-stack-ai/), in a recent survey only 17% of AI execs rated their AI applications as “good or better”, and that if 50% of your employees use Copilot **once a week** to summarize an email, you’d be in the top decile of Microsoft Copilot adoption.

Why are companies struggling with employee adoption of the generative AI systems that they roll out? Especially when the number of people [using generative AI at work](https://archive.ph/bRiQG) **without their employer's consent** makes it clear that it can provide meaningful value?

One of the primary causes of low employee adoption is the **user interface**, which typically forces employees to go to a chatbot in a separate window or use one of many siloed copilots to get AI help. Instead a truly effective AI deployment should:

### Be available to employees everywhere they are already working
<Image
    className="rounded-2xl"
    src={'/assets/images/where-they-are.gif'}
    width={'715'}
    height={'400'}
    alt={'Animation showing a user using the Summarize Floating Skill Button on an earnings report'}
/>

### Be able to see their screens so they don't need to copy and paste
<Image
    className="rounded-2xl"
    src={'/assets/images/website-context.gif'}
    width={'715'}
    height={'400'}
    alt={'Animation showing a user using the Summarize Floating Skill Button on an earnings report'}
/>

### Give them 1-click access to help so they don't have to learn prompting
<Image
    className="rounded-2xl"
    src={'/assets/images/skill-button.gif'}
    width={'715'}
    height={'400'}
    alt={'Animation showing a user using the Summarize Floating Skill Button on an earnings report'}
/>

### Integrate with internal and external software systems
<Image
    className="rounded-2xl"
    src={'/assets/images/pane-of-glass.gif'}
    width={'715'}
    height={'400'}
    alt={'Animation showing a user using the Summarize Floating Skill Button on an earnings report'}
/>

### Be customizable for the company's brand
<Image
    className="rounded-2xl"
    src={'/assets/images/enterprise.png'}
    width={'715'}
    height={'400'}
    alt={'Animation showing a user using the Summarize Floating Skill Button on an earnings report'}
/>

### Be private and secure, so you know where your data is going
<Image
    className="rounded-2xl"
    src={'/assets/images/docs/architecture.png'}
    width={'715'}
    height={'400'}
    alt={'Animation showing a user using the Summarize Floating Skill Button on an earnings report'}
/>
<br />
<div style={{backgroundColor: 'yellow', color: 'black', padding: '1rem', fontWeight:'bold', borderRadius: '8px', maxWidth:'715px'}}>
    The Ask Steve platform empowers AI, IT, Data & Ops teams to quickly build and deploy such solutions and unlock the full potential of generative AI in their companies. 
</div>

## Learn More Today
You can [install the Ask Steve browser extension](https://quickstart.asksteve.to/browsers) in seconds and test it out for free. 

And when you're ready to learn more, [grab some time on our calendar](https://calendly.com/rajat-asksteve/30min) so we can learn more about your use case and see if Ask Steve can help you with **your** enterprise AI deployments!
<br />
<a href="https://calendly.com/rajat-asksteve/30min" target="_blank">
    <button style={{ color: 'white', padding: '1rem', fontWeight:'bold',  width:'315px', border:'1px solid white', borderRadius:'8px'}}>
        Schedule a Meeting
    </button>
</a>




Deploy AI to your Employees in Minutes, not Months with Ask Steve

Deploy AI to the Employees at your Business in Minutes, not Months with Ask Steve

## The Problem
Users are coming to expect AI help on every website that they go to, so it makes sense that you'd want to add AI to your site. But doing so is **a lot of work**. You need to learn to code, figure out what AI system to use, build an integration into your site, maintain it forever, and then **pay for it all**! It's easier just to do nothing. 

What if you could add AI capabilities to your website in minutes, without having to do any of those things? 

## The Ask Steve Solution
The Ask Steve browser extension gives users a 1-click AI assistant and tool belt for their browser. While it comes with a few default tools and has a library of 100+ more, **you can create & brand your own tools, just for your site, and give your users the ability to install them with 1-click**. So instead of building your own integration, leverage Ask Steve and then you don't have to learn how to code, you don't have to learn about all the different AI systems, you don't have to build an integration into your site, you don't have to maintain anything, and best of all, you don't have to pay anything, and neither do your users. Ask Steve has a free plan, and users use **their own** accounts with AI providers (which they can also get for free), so it's **TOTALLY FREE** for everyone. 

## Where Does it Work? 
It should work on any web site or application where you can paste in embed code, either into a placeholder on the page or into the page header. We have tested it on [Squarespace](https://squarespace.com), [Wix](https://wix.com) and a custom site. It does not work on Google Sites. 

## What's the Catch? 
There is no catch! You get AI capabilities on your site for free. Your users get to use them for free. And Ask Steve gets more users. We built our product and made a free plan because we want people to use it! If you have concerns about how any of the data is used, [this page](/docs/permissions) explains the permissions that we ask for and how we treat user data. 

## Tell Me How!
1. [Install Ask Steve](https://quickstart.asksteve.to) and go through the onboarding to learn how to use it.
1. Copy, remix or create the custom [Skills](/docs/skills) that you want for your site.
1. Be sure to add [Buttons](/docs/floating-skill-buttons) for them and style the buttons with your colors and logos.
1. Be sure to put in the URLs for your site that you want the buttons to appear on, otherwise they will appear on every site the user goes to.
1. In the Ask Steve extension Settings, go to the [Widget](/docs/widgets) page to configure an embeddable widget that your users can use to add your Skills & Buttons. 
1. Click the `Installation Instructions` link for instructions on how to add the Widget to a page on your site.
1. Tell your users to go to the page with the widget to install Ask Steve and your custom Skills & Buttons. They can do this in just a few clicks and a matter of seconds.
1. Your users now have the AI superpowers **that you created** available on **your site**, **for FREE**!


Add FREE AI superpowers to your website with NO CODE

Add FREE AI Superpowers to your Website or Web Application with NO CODE

Learn how Steve can help you get tasks done better & faster.

Working with Steve

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## What is a Skill?
A Skill is either an LLM macro (aka a "reusable prompt") or a call to an external API.  It's a set of detailed instructions for Steve on how to do something, and can include variables like data from the current page or from the user. So any time you have a task that you do repetitively, that requires very detailed instructions that you don't want to type in every time, or that needs to interact with external systems or logic, make a Skill. 

Here's an example LLM Skill that instructs Steve to suggest visuals for some text that was written. 

> **Name:** Suggest accompanying visuals\
>\
> **Instructions:** I'm writing some text and I'd like you to suggest some visuals to accompany it that will help reinforce and illustrate my key concepts and messages. 
>
>\
> Here is the text that I've written: 
>[[Text to Analyze]]
>
>\
> Can you list some visuals (tables, graphs, infographics, etc.) that would add value and comprehensibility to this article. Describe each one in detail. Thanks!

Note that **[[Text to Analyze]]** is a variable that grabs the text selected on a page, or the whole page if there is no selected text, so you can use the same Skill on any page or selected text without having to edit it!

Make a Skill once and then you can access it from anywhere in Ask Steve including the [Context Menu](/docs/context-menu), the [Chat](/docs/chat), the [Writing Helper](/docs/writing-helper), and [Floating Skill Buttons](/docs/floating-skill-buttons). 

Technically, an LLM Skill is just a set of instructions written to Steve in English. When writing an LLM Skill, you should treat Steve like you would a human intern, and provide very specific and detailed instructions. 

To learn how to create API Skills, visit [Calling APIs and Webhooks](/docs/webhooks).

Steve has 100+ Skills in the [Skill Library](https://quickstart.asksteve.to/browsers/library.html) which you can access from the extension options. You can see all the Skills you have installed by clicking on the Ask Steve toolbar icon and then clicking `⚡Skills` in the sidepanel. 

## Adding Skills
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    src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/64wRZ8YsXZc?si=YCrAStaKtuA3sKdr" 
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    allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share; fullscreen" 
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    allowFullScreen 
    style={{ position: 'absolute', top: 0, left: 0, width: '100%', height: '100%' }}>
  </iframe>
</div>
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* You can add more Skills from our [Skill Library](https://quickstart.asksteve.to/browsers/library.html)
* You can also install customized [Packs of Skills](https://quickstart.asksteve.to/packs.html)



## How do I Create a New Skill?
1. From the ⚡Skills tab in the sidepanel, press the `NEW` button. 
2. Type in a `Name` for your Skill
2. If you want the Skill to appear as a button on every page that you can trigger with 1 click, then check `Add Button`.
3. Add your `Instructions`. 
5. Press the `RUN` button to try out your Skill on the current page or selection. If it doesn't do what you want, then change it and keep iterating until it works the way you want it to.\
This ability to quickly iterate on your Skill until it does what you want is part of what makes Ask Steve so powerful!
6. Hit `SAVE`. Congratulations! Your Skill is now available to use.

## Optional Skill details
* If you open the `Description` section, you can also add a description of what your skill does and assign it a Category. These can be useful to remind yourself what a Skill does, and are also helpful when sharing Skills with others. 
* If you have checked the `Add Button` checkbox and saved your Skill, a Button Settings tab will appear that enables you to configure a [Floating Skill Button](/docs/floating-skill-buttons). Click [here](/docs/floating-skill-buttons) to learn more about these settings. 

## Editing a Skill
Select the Skill that you want to update, make your desired changes, then press the `UPDATE` button. 

## Deleting a Skill
* Select the Skill you want to delete, press the trashcan icon and then confirm deletion.
* If you want to delete a bunch of Skills at once, you can do so from the [Import/Export page](/docs/export).
* You should feel free to delete any Skills that you don't want or need! You can always add them back later from the [Skill Library](/docs/library)

## Page Variables in Skills
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<br />
Skills are most valuable when they're able to take information from the page that you're on and use it. The way we do that is with **Page Variables**. You can add a Page Variable to your Skill by typing in something surrounded by `[[double brackets]]`. When Steve sees this, he knows that he needs to grab some information from the page - either whatever text is selected or the whole page if nothing is selected. See the simple example below: 
> Pretend that I'm a junior high school student and you are an award winning teacher.
> Explain the following to me in clear and understandable language: [[Text to explain]]

This Skill has one Page Variable, "Text to explain". You can have up to 10 Page Variables in a Skill. Here's a more complicated example where the Skill will need to grab multiple pieces of data from the page:

> Write me a summary of this accident. Here are the details: 
>
>\
> The car make is: [[Car Make]], the model is: [[Car Model]] and the year is: [[Car Year]].
> The accident happened on [[Accident Date]] in the city of [[Accident City]]

This Skill will take 5 pieces of data from the page and use them to write a summary. Take a look at the various Skills that ship with Steve, and try adding your own!

**NOTE:** Any Skill with more than 1 Page Variable can only be used by [Floating Skill Buttons](/docs/floating-skill-buttons). This is because only Skill Buttons can grab more than one piece of content from a page.

## User Variables in Skills
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Sometimes you will want to create a Skill that requests information from the user, and you can do that with **User Variables**. User Variables are surrounded by `{{double curly braces}}` in your Skills. When you trigger the Skill, Steve will ask you to fill in the variable and then will execute the Skill. User Variables are free text by default, and you can have as many of them as you want.

A good example here would be a recruiter who is recruiting for multiple positions. They can create one "Write a candidate outreach" Skill and attach a Skill Button for it to a page. Then when they press the button, it can ask them for the specific Job Requisition, which they can paste in. That way they don't have to create a different Skill for each job they're trying to fill. Here's an example of what that might look like: 
> Your name is Riley Hunter and you're a recruiter at Roadrunner Software. You are reaching out to a candidate about a requisition that you're trying to fill. 
>
>\
> This is the job requisition: \{\{Job Requisition\}\}
> and this is the candidate's resume page: [[Resume Page]]
>
>\
> Please write me a personalized outreach letter to the candidate that explains why they'd be a good fit for this job. 

You can see in this example that the candidate's resume is being pulled from the current page, and then Steve will ask the recruiter for the Job Requisition. 

#### Multiple Choice in User Variables
If you want to give users options to select from instead of a free text field, you can do so as follows: 
* If you want the user to pick a **single option**, put them in a pipe-separated list inside parens after the User Variable, like this: `{{Pick a color}}(Red|Blue|Yellow|Green)`. If there are 5 or less options, Steve will show them as radio buttons. If there are more than 5, Steve will show the options in a dropdown list. The value of the User Variable will be whatever option was picked. 
* If you want the user to be able to pick **multiple options**, put them in a double-pipe-separated list, like this: `{{What days are you available?}}(Sunday||Monday||Tuesday||Wednesday||Thursday||Friday||Saturday)`. Steve will show the options as checkboxes. The value of the User Variable will be an array of the selected options. 

## Premium Features
Click on the **Premium Features** label to edit premium Skill features.
1. **PREMIUM PLAN ONLY:** You can set whether this is a call to an LLM or a call to an API/Webhook. Calls to API/Webhooks work differently, as detailed on the [API/Webhooks](/docs/webhooks) page. 
2. **PREMIUM PLAN ONLY:** If you have selected **LLM**, then you can select a different [Model](/docs/models) to power this particular Skill. This is useful when certain Models are better suited for Skills - because of their capability, or their cost, or some other reason. 
3. **PREMIUM PLAN ONLY:** If you have selected **API / Webhook** then you will need to enter a URL that can receive a POST request. You can also adjust the headers that are sent in case you need to send an authentication or API Key, add static variables to the body, and configure custom response and error paths. See more details  on the [API/Webhooks](/docs/webhooks) page.


## Tips for Writing Good LLM Skills
* Look at all the Skills that Steve ships with and use those as a starting point. 
* Tell Steve who he is, what he does, and that he's good at it. Even AI interns like positive reinforcement!
> You are a superstar recruiter named Riley Hunter and you work at Roadrunner Software. 
* Be very precise and descriptive with your instructions
* If you're writing a long or complex Skill, put the text that you want processed or analyzed near the beginning, then give the detailed instructions about what to do with it. 
* If you can provide examples for Steve to learn from, that is ideal. Give Steve examples of the INPUT that you want to give him, and the kind of OUTPUT that each INPUT should generate. 
* Experiment & iterate! Writing good Skills is about trying different things and approaches until Steve gives you the results that you want!
* If you really want to go deep on how to write good LLM prompts (which is basically what a Skill is), then there are plenty of online resources. [Try this one!](https://learn.codesignal.com/preview/courses/74/understanding-llms-and-basic-prompting-techniques)

## How do I Use a Skill? 
* By pinning the Skill so that it appears on every page as a [Floating Skill Button](/docs/floating-skill-buttons) and then pressing it.
* By selecting some text on a page and then bringing up the [Chrome Context-Menu](/docs/context-menu) (right-click) and selecting `"Ask Steve to..."` and then a Skill. Or if you want Steve to help with the whole page, just right-click anywhere on the page. 
* From the [Chat](/docs/chat) you can press the lightning bolt icon and then either select a Skill from the dropdown or start typing its name and then selecting it. (A shortcut is to click into the Chat field and press the `SPACE` key and then start typing the name of the Skill)
* By bringing up the [Writing Helper](/docs/writing-helper) in an editable text field and either selecting the Skill from the dropdown or starting to type in its name and then selecting it. 

## Pro-Tips
* You can use emoji in Skill names. Floating Skill Buttons will try to use an emoji if there is one in the name, otherwise it will use the first number or letter in the name.
* When filling out the User Variables dialog, pressing `COMMAND-ENTER` (Mac) or `CONTROL-ENTER` (Windows or ChromeOS) in a free text field will submit it. 


Create Reusable AI Macros that you can write once and use over and over

Create Reusable AI Macros using Ask Steve, the 1-Click AI Assistant and Tool Belt for your Browser

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    src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/hlER510DU6c?si=1rgQCY_p-b6u8glF" 
    title="YouTube video player" 
    frameBorder="0" 
    allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share; fullscreen" 
    referrerPolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" 
    allowFullScreen 
    style={{ position: 'absolute', top: 0, left: 0, width: '100%', height: '100%' }}>
  </iframe>
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## What Are Floating Skill Buttons?
* When you want 1-click access to a Skill on every web page (e.g. Summarization), then you can check `Add Button` and it will appear above the purple lightning bolt tab as a Floating Skill Button.
* The topmost Floating Skill Buttons are those that are specific to the current site. These are followed by all the buttons that show on all sites. Within each section they are sorted top-to-bottom in alphabetical name order. You can rearrange the buttons by renaming your Skills.
* If there is an emoji anywhere in the name of a Skill, it will be used on the Floating Skill Button. 
* If there is no emoji, the first letter or number in the Skill name will be shown.
* By default Ask Steve has 3 Skills with added buttons:
1. `- Summarize this 📖` which can summarize any web page, PDF, YouTube video, Google Doc or Google Slide deck. Note that the "-" in front of "Summarize this 📖" moves this button to the top.
1. `Chart this for me 📊` which takes whatever information you give it and returns a chart to help you visualize it
1. `Do something ✨` which lets you type in an arbitrary request

## Adding and Removing Floating Skill Buttons
* Press the purple lightning bolt tab to open the Ask Steve sidepanel
* Go to the Skills tab
* Select the Skill you want to edit and check `Add Button` if you want to add a Floating Skill Button, or uncheck it to remove a Floating Skill Button. 
* Press `UPDATE` to save. 
* The changes will take effect immediately.

## Button Settings
Once you have saved your Skill with `Add Button` checked the `Button Settings` tab will appear. On that tab you can change the following: 
* **Button background color**
* **Button text color**
* **What URLs the button should appear on**. This enables you to create buttons that only appear on LinkedIn profiles for instance. And using the options above, you can give these buttons LinkedIn's colors. All buttons that match a specific site are shown first, followed by buttons that don't have a URL specified. 
* **Advanced Options: Inputs**: For any Skills with 1 [[Page Variable]](/docs/skills#page-variables-in-skills), by default Steve will use any selected text on the page, or the whole page if nothing is selected.<br /><br />You can override that here by clicking on the page variable and then mousing to the section of the page that contains the data that you want to use.<br /><br />For Skills with more than one page variable, this step is required - you will need to specify where to get the data for each page variable. 
* **Advanced Options: Output**: By default Steve puts the results on the current page in a floating panel. If you want your button to write the results back into a control on the page, you can specify that here and use your mouse to select the control.

## Pro-Tips
* Skills that have buttons added and that aren't limited to a specific URL are also moved to the top of the [Context-Menu](/docs/context-menu)
* Right-click on any Floating Skill Button to temporarily hide them all
* Permanently hide the purple lightning bolt tab and all the Floating Skill Buttons on the [Settings](/docs/settings) page.



Add 1-Click AI Buttons to your Browser with Ask Steve

## What is the Writing Helper? 
The Writing Helper adds Steve to most multi-line text fields. You can ask him to write content for you or edit the content that's already in the field. It brings the power of AI right to where you work!

## The Quick Basics
* Watch the video below for a quick introduction. 
* Type whatever you want Steve to do, or pick a Skill from the list. 
* If there's no text it will help you write something. If there is, it will help you rewrite or analyze it. 
* `Enter` gives you the results in a floating panel so you can review and edit if you like. 
* `Command-Enter` (or `Control-Enter` on Windows/ChromeOS) attempts to overwrites the existing text if you're feeling lucky. This doesn't work on all sites. 
* `Command-Z` (or `Control-Z` on Windows/ChromeOS) while the Writing Helper is open tries to UNDO back to the last text. 
* Temporarily get rid of it with a right-click, permanently turn it off in the [Settings](/docs/settings). 
<br />
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    allowFullScreen 
    style={{ position: 'absolute', top: 0, left: 0, width: '100%', height: '100%' }}>
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## Bringing Up the Writing Helper
You can bring up the Writing Helper over any editable text field in the following ways: 
* All platforms: Click on the little Writing Helper icon in the upper right of any multi-line text field.
* **Mac:** Press `Command-Shift-K`
* **Windows & ChromeOS:** Press `Control-Shift-K`

If you don't like the default keyboard shortcut, you can change it! Press the puzzle piece icon in the Chrome toolbar, select `Manage Extensions` from the menu and then `Keyboard shortcuts` on the Extensions page in the left navigation menu. From there you can change the shortcuts for Ask Steve.

## Using the Writing Helper
* You can start typing in the name of a Skill and then pick it from the list. 
* Alternately you can select a Skill from the dropdown menu.
* Or if you don't have a Skill for what you want, just type whatever you want Steve to do!
* Pressing `ENTER` in the Writing Helper tells Steve to do what you asked. By default Steve will put his response in a floating panel on the page. 
* If you want Steve to attempt to overwrite the existing content with his response, press `Control-ENTER` (ChromeOS, Windows) or `Command-ENTER` (Mac) instead. This doesn't work on all sites.

\
Once Steve completes your request, the Writing Helper stays open so that you can type in another request, so that you can iterate until the content is to your liking. To make it go away: 
* Click anywhere outside the box.
* Press the `Esc` key
* Press `Backspace` until it goes away

**NOTE:** If there is already text in the text field, Steve will assume that your request is about that text and will work with that text.

### Undo
If you press `Command-Z` (Mac) or `Control-Z` (Windows, ChromeOS) **while in the Writing Helper**, Steve will attempt to restore the previous text. The formatting will likely be messed up. See below on how to fix it!

### Fix Formatting
Sometimes Steve will mess up the formatting of text. You can always just ask him to `fix the formatting` and he will do so. 

## The Writing Helper icon
* This icon appears in the top right of any textarea or contenteditable text field
* If you want to make it disappear temporarily, right-click on it
* To remove it permanently from all text fields, turn it off in the [Settings](/docs/settings)

## Pro Tips
### Using a Page Variable
If the text field is empty, you can add a page variable to your request, and Steve will use that to help create the text that he puts in the text field. 
As an example, let's say you're on the page for a support case, and you want Steve to fill in an empty text field with a summary of the case. 
1. Open the Writing Helper in the empty text field
2. Write `summarize this: [[p]]` in the Writing Helper and then press `ENTER`
3. Steve will read the page, summarize it, and put the results in the text field. 
\
\
**NOTE:** This only works on empty text fields. If the text field already has text in it, Steve will read that instead. 



Get AI help writing and rewriting right where you already are

Get AI Help with Writing and Rewriting Right Where You Are with Ask Steve


<div style={{ position: 'relative', paddingBottom: '56.25%', height: 0, overflow: 'hidden', maxWidth: '100%', height: 'auto' }}>
  <iframe 
    src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/2aP1j7_ZODU?si=kIvK6LOmsOK8DXIl" 
    title="YouTube video player" 
    frameBorder="0" 
    allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share; fullscreen" 
    referrerPolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" 
    allowFullScreen 
    style={{ position: 'absolute', top: 0, left: 0, width: '100%', height: '100%' }}>
  </iframe>
</div>

## Chatting with Steve
Chat is a great way to find specific information on long web pages or to get quick answers on general topics. 

* Press the lightning bolt tab to open the sidepanel and access Chat. 
* You can ask Steve questions about anything and he'll try to answer 
* Including the current page that you're viewing
* To reset the conversation and Steve's memory, press the trash can icon in the upper right. This can be helpful if Steve seems confused.
* To copy a response, mouse over it and then press the Copy icon. 

## Skills in Chat
### Run a Skill on the current page or selection
* To use a Skill on the current page, press the lightning bolt icon in the chat field. You can then use the dropdown to pick a Skill or start typing in the name of one and then select it. 
* If there is selected text on the current page, Steve will use that for the Skill. 
* To get back to normal chat press the `ESCAPE` key or just hit `BACKSPACE` several times.
* **NOTE**: A shortcut to open the Skill selector is to type a `SPACE` in the chat input.

### Run a Skill on a previous Chat response
Sometimes you might want to run a Skill on one of Steve's previous responses. To do so: 
* Mouse over the response and press the lightning bolt icon
* The selected response will be highlighted and now you can pick the Skill you want to run on it. 

## Pro-Tips
* You can Chat with a Google Doc - either the whole document or a selection. [video](https://youtu.be/-tpV5Dl-MTU)
* You can Chat with a Google Slide deck - either the whole deck or a selection. [video](https://youtu.be/43118FC6UOs)
* You can Chat with a PDF - either the whole document or a selection. [video](https://youtu.be/oYkGbrtlDUY)
* You can Chat with a selection in Microsoft Word Online, but not a whole document 
* You can Chat with a selection in Microsoft PowerPoint Online, but not a whole document 
* You can Chat with a YouTube video. [video](https://youtu.be/_JEzgl5SNbE)
* You can Chat with a downloaded file, see [File Chat](/docs/file-chat)





Chat with any web page, PDF, YouTube video, Google Doc or Google Slide deck

Use AI to Chat with any Web Page, PDF, YouTube Video, Google Doc or Google Slide Deck


<div style={{ position: 'relative', paddingBottom: '56.25%', height: 0, overflow: 'hidden', maxWidth: '100%', height: 'auto' }}>
  <iframe 
    src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/mqGTH_EOK10?si=mqRZFU88kwPucpDD" 
    title="YouTube video player" 
    frameBorder="0" 
    allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share; fullscreen" 
    referrerPolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" 
    allowFullScreen 
    style={{ position: 'absolute', top: 0, left: 0, width: '100%', height: '100%' }}>
  </iframe>
</div>

## Get Help with Selected Text
* Select any text on a page, whether it's in an editable text field or not, and then right-click to open the browser context menu. 
* Select `Ask Steve to...` and then pick a Skill
* The results will be shown in a floating panel on the page.

## Get Help On Any Page
* Go to any page and open the browser context menu by right-clicking somewhere on the page. 
* Select `Ask Steve to...` and then pick a Skill
* Steve will read the whole page and then execute your request and put the results in a floating panel on the page.

## Quick Access to Certain Skills
* By default every Skill is put in the Category folder that it was assigned to.
* Skills where you have selected `Add Button` and that are not limited to specific URLs appear at the top level of the menu for fast access.

## Pro-Tips
### Use Steve on Steve
* You can use the context menu on any of Steve's floating panel responses. He will put the response in a new floating panel. 
* You can use the context menu on any of Steve's chat responses. He will put the response in the chat. 


Run Ask Steve Skills on any Web Page, PDF, YouTube Video, Google Doc or Google Slide Deck with the Context Menu

Run AI Macros on any Web Page, PDF, YouTube Video, Google Doc or Google Slide Deck with the Context Menu


<div style={{ position: 'relative', paddingBottom: '56.25%', height: 0, overflow: 'hidden', maxWidth: '100%', height: 'auto' }}>
  <iframe 
    src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/gW_ADqpBBj4?si=5R9OJeDH_VnA3Q6P" 
    title="YouTube video player" 
    frameBorder="0" 
    allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share; fullscreen" 
    referrerPolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" 
    allowFullScreen 
    style={{ position: 'absolute', top: 0, left: 0, width: '100%', height: '100%' }}>
  </iframe>
</div>
<br />
<div style={{backgroundColor: 'darkviolet', padding: '1rem'}}>
**The Standard Plan is limited to 1 Notebook.<br />
Premium and Enterprise Plans have unlimited Notebooks.**
</div>

\
To access the Notebook Settings, click on the `Notebooks` link in the left navigation of the Extension Settings.  Or [click here](https://quickstart.asksteve.to/browsers/notebooks.html). 

## What are Notebooks?
There are often times when you want to run a Skill on information that's spread across multiple web pages, PDFs and YouTube videos. Now you can use Ask Steve to collect all that information into a single Notebook that you can use your Skills on.

Your first Notebook ("My First Notebook") is automatically created for you. 

## Creating a Notebook
* Go to the [Notebooks](https://quickstart.asksteve.to/browsers/notebooks.html) page in the extension Settings. 
* Press the `ADD NEW NOTEBOOK` button.
* Enter a name for your Notebook.
* Press the `SAVE` button. 

## Adding to a Notebook
* Right-mouse-click on any page or text-selection and then select `Ask Steve to...` then `Add to Notebook` and then select the Notebook you want to add to. 
* The Notebooks in this menu will be placed in alphabetical order. So you can change the order by changing the names. 
* You can use [Keyboard Shortcuts](/docs/keyboard-shortcuts) to quickly add the current page or text-selection to the first notebook in the list
* You can add anything that Ask Steve can read, which is most web pages, PDFs, YouTube videos, Google Docs and Google Slide decks.

## Going to a Notebook
* From the [Context-Menu](/docs/context-menu) on any page, select `Ask Steve to...` then `Go to Notebook` and then select the Notebook you want to go to. 
* From the [Notebooks](https://quickstart.asksteve.to/browsers/notebooks.html) page in the extension Settings, select the Notebook from the list on the left side, then press the purple `GO TO NOTEBOOK` button. 
* You will also get a link to the Notebook any time you add notes to it. 

## Using a Notebook
* The Notebook page is a web page like any other web page that you can use Ask Steve on. 
* So you can [Chat](/docs/chat) with the page or selection, run [Skills](/docs/skills) on the page or selection, use [Floating Skill Buttons](/docs/floating-skill-buttons) or the [Context-Menu](/docs/context-menu), etc. 

## Editing a Notebook
* Go to the Notebook page as described above. 
* Make any edits you want, add or remove information, etc. and your Notebook will be Autosaved after 1 second. 

## Deleting a Notebook
* Go to the [Notebooks](https://quickstart.asksteve.to/browsers/notebooks.html) page in the extension Settings. 
* Select the Notebook you want to delete. 
* Press the trashcan icon and confirm deletion. 

## Where are Notebooks Saved?
They are saved on your computer. Nothing goes to the cloud or gets stored on a server.


Quickly collect information from multiple sources so Steve can analyze it for you

Quickly Collect Information from Multiple Sources into a Notebook so you can use AI on it


## Why One-Time Requests?
[Skills](/docs/skills) are great for when you know ahead of time what you're going to need help with, but that's not the case a lot of the time. One-time requests enable you to ask for anything, at any time. And if you find that you're making the same one-time request over and over, you can always make a Skill!

Here are all the ways to make a one-time request with Ask Steve:
* Run the "Do something ✨" Skill from a [Floating Skill Button](/docs/floating-skill-buttons)
* Right-click to open the [Context-Menu](/docs/context-menu) on a page, on some selected text, or in an editable text field, and then select `Ask Steve to...` and then `Do something ✨`
* Press the Ask Steve toolbar icon to open the sidepanel to access [Chat](/docs/chat), and then type in your question.
* Open the [Writing Helper](/docs/writing-helper), type in your request and then press `ENTER`



All the ways that you can make a one-time request to Steve

Make One-Time AI Requests with Ask Steve. Ask for Anything that You Could Ask ChatGPT or Gemini


You can change any of these shortcuts by going to chrome://extensions in your browser and then clicking on "Keyboard shortcuts" in the left navigation menu. 

## Mac
* `Command-Shift-K`: Brings up the [Writing Helper](/docs/writing-helper) when pressed in any text field where you can type.
* `Command-Shift-X`: Adds the current page or text selection to the 1st [Notebook](/docs/notebooks) in your Notebook list.

## Windows, ChromeOS
* `Control-Shift-K`: Brings up the [Writing Helper](/docs/writing-helper) when pressed in any text field where you can type.
* `Control-Shift-X`: Adds the current page or text selection to the 1st [Notebook](/docs/notebooks) in your Notebook list.


Get things done fast with Ask Steve's keyboard shortcuts

Keyboard Shortcuts for Ask Steve, the 1-Click AI Assistant and Tool Belt for your Browser


<div style={{backgroundColor: 'darkviolet', padding: '1rem'}}>
**This is only available on the Premium Plan.**
</div>
<br />
<div style={{ position: 'relative', paddingBottom: '56.25%', height: 0, overflow: 'hidden', maxWidth: '100%', height: 'auto' }}>
  <iframe 
    src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/g7f_vh6uN0Q?si=I44j-wf1cSMMX5AG" 
    title="YouTube video player" 
    frameBorder="0" 
    allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share; fullscreen" 
    referrerPolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" 
    allowFullScreen 
    style={{ position: 'absolute', top: 0, left: 0, width: '100%', height: '100%' }}>
  </iframe>
</div>
<br />

## Why Call an API or Webhook? 
* This gives you the ability to call your own APIs that can do pre- and post-processing. 
* As an example, you could configure your own internal API that Steve calls with an account number that he pulls from a page. Your API can use that account number to pull relevant data about that account from internal systems, directly make an LLM call with the new augmented data, and then pass the result back to Steve. 
* Or you could send the input to an LLM for processing, and then write it out to a Google Sheet or to Salesforce. 
* Or you could proxy all requests so that you can log them, or filter any sensitive information out. 
* You can do this with your own code running on a server somewhere, or with any visual workflow builder like [n8n](https://n8n.io/), [Pipedream](https://pipedream.com/), [Activepieces](https://www.activepieces.com/), [Make](https://www.make.com/), [Zapier](https://zapier.com/), [Gumloop](https://www.gumloop.com/) etc. that supports Webhooks. 
* This enables you to do a lot more than just call an LLM! 

<div style={{backgroundColor: 'indigo', color:'white', padding: '1rem', marginTop: '20px'}}>
**Check out [this Blog Post](/blog/tutorials/make-lead-to-sheets) for a detailed walkthrough showing how to connect Ask Steve to a Make.com API**
</div>

<br /><br />
<img src="../assets/images/docs/webhook-chart.png" />

## How to Call an API or Webhook
Ask Steve can interface with any API or Webhook on the back-end. 
* To point a Skill to an API/Webhook instead of an LLM, follow the instructions [here](/docs/skills#advanced-options) when setting up your Skill.
* API/Webhook Skills behave as follows: 
1. All requests are made via POST
2. In the Skill configuration, the default header is to set the Content-Type to "application/json", but you can add anything else to the header that you need, including an API key or Authentication key. 
3. The body of the POST request contains a property for every [Page Variable](/docs/skills#page-variables-in-skills) and [User Variable](/docs/skills#user-variables-in-skills). All other text in the "Instructions for Steve" area are ignored. You can also include additional static variables in the body in the Skill configuration. 
5. The default behavior is that your API/Webhook should return an object with a "message" property (string) if it was successful, and an "error" property (string) if it was not. This is what will be shown to the user. You can change this if desired in the Skill configuration. 
6. You can include simple HTML formatting in the return values. URLs will be hyperlinked automatically, and text can be hyperlinked by using [Markdown formatting](https://anvilproject.org/guides/content/creating-links). 

## System Variables
The following System Variables can optionally be sent to your API or Webhook if you include them in your instructions in single brackets, e.g. [_url], [_html], [_timestamp].
1. **_html**: has a stripped down version of the HTML of the current page. Most non-text nodes are removed. This is helpful if you need to do some analysis of the page structure. 
1. **_language**: has the language of the browser making the API call, as returned by navigator.language
1. **_os**: has the operating system of the computer making the API call, as returned by [chrome.runtime.getPlatformInfo](https://developer.chrome.com/docs/extensions/reference/api/runtime#method-getPlatformInfo)
1. **_preferences**: has the user's [Preferences](/docs/preferences). 
1. **_prompt**: has the full prompt - so all the text in the Skill with all the variables replaced, as if you were sending a single prompt to an LLM. All page and user-input variables will be replaced, and all System Variables will be removed. 
1. **_skillName**: has the name of the Skill being called.
1. **_timestamp**: has the timestamp of the API call. This is a numeric value (integer) representing the number of milliseconds since the Unix epoch, as returned by the Javascript Date.now() function. 
1. **_title**: has the title of the current page. 
1. **_url**: has the URL of the current page. 
1. **_userAgent**: has the user agent of the browser making the API call, as returned by navigator.userAgent



> **Example Instructions:** *This Skill captures [[leads]] and sends them to a Webhook. [_url][_title]*
>
> The POST body will have the specified property "leads" with the selected text or current page. The system variables "_url" and "_title" will also be added. All other text is ignored and not sent to the API/Webhook. 

> **Example Instructions:** *This Skill captures a [[headline]], [[author]] and [[article]] then asks the user for \{\{what do you want to do with this\}\} and then sends them to a Webhook*
>
> The POST body will have the three specified page variables, "headline", "author", "article" and the user-input variable "what do you want to do with this". All other text is ignored and not sent to the API/Webhook. 

## Inserting Variables into the Header or Body
You can insert any variable into the Header or Body. Any variables that don't have a placeholder in the Header or Body will be sent as top level variables in the Body as described above. 
> Example Header:
> \
> `{`
> \
>  `"Content-Type": "application/json"`
> \
>  `"Authorization": "Bearer {{What is your API Key}}`
> \
> `}`
> \
> This will take the User Variable "What is your API Key" and insert it into the Header.
<br />
> Example Body:
> \
> `{`
> \
>  `"model": "mistral-moderation-latest",` 
> \
>  `"input": ["[[Text to Moderate]]"]`
> \
> `}`
> \
> This will take the Page Variable "Text to Moderate" and insert it as a String in an Array as the value of the "input" key. 

Extend the capabilities of Ask Steve by calling any API or Webhook

Extend the Capabilities of Ask Steve, Your 1-Click AI Assistant, with APIs and Webhooks


<div style={{ position: 'relative', paddingBottom: '56.25%', height: 0, overflow: 'hidden', maxWidth: '100%', height: 'auto' }}>
  <iframe 
    src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/_6E6V41WZhA?si=s1VJ04AMS0C5Yq96" 
    title="YouTube video player" 
    frameBorder="0" 
    allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share; fullscreen" 
    referrerPolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" 
    allowFullScreen 
    style={{ position: 'absolute', top: 0, left: 0, width: '100%', height: '100%' }}>
  </iframe>
</div>

Ask Steve can work on your local (downloaded) files via our [File Chat](https://quickstart.asksteve.to/viewer) page. This page extracts the text out of your files so that Ask Steve can use it. 

## Accessing File Chat
* You can open File Chat from the bottom of the Ask Steve [Context Menu](/docs/context-menu)
* Also from the sidebar in the extension [Settings](https://quickstart.asksteve.to/browsers/options.html)
* Or by clicking [here](https://quickstart.asksteve.to/viewer/)

## Using File Chat
* Click where it says "Click here to select a file" to pick a file. 
* Alternately you can drag and drop a file onto the purple dropzone. 
* You can also paste an image file into this page and it will be processed.
* You can also paste any text into this page. 

## Supported File Types:
* pdf, docx, pptx, jpg, png, gif
* For PDFs, the page tries to extract any text in the file. If it can't find any, it turns each page into an image and then OCRs it. 

## Processing
* All the processing is done in your browser. Your files never leave your computer. 



Use AI to Chat and Interact with Your Local (Downloaded) Files


Ask Steve formats the results from the LLM or API in the following ways:

## Hyperlinks 
* Any URLs are automatically hyperlinked.

## Markdown
* Markdown is supported. We use the [Showdown](https://showdownjs.com/) library.

## HTML
* HTML is supported. 
* All `<img>` tags are automatically linked to the source image. 

## Parsing Logic
* If the return value starts with ``` then the whole message is parsed as a code block.
* Otherwise all the Markdown is converted to HTML and then the message is rendered.



How to Format the AI Results from Ask Steve with HTML, Hyperlinks and Markdown

Settings


## Accessing the Ask Steve Login page
You can access the Login page in the following ways: 
* Right-click on the Ask Steve toolbar icon and select `Options`
* Click on the Ask Steve toolbar icon or lightning bolt tab to open the sidepanel, then press the gear icon in the upper right
* Following [this link](https://quickstart.asksteve.to/browsers/options.html)

## Sign Up / Login
* Here's where you can see your current plan and can create an account or login. You'll need to login in order to upgrade to Standard or Premium. 
* You can create an account with an email and password, in which case a confirmation email will be sent to you. 
* You can also login with your Google account, in which case no email confirmation is needed. 

## Setting Up a Free Model
* Once you login you can add your API Key for a free model. This will switch you from the QuickStart plan to the Standard plan.
* You can get your **FREE** Google Gemini API Key by following the instructions [here](https://quickstart.asksteve.to/get-gemini-key.html). **Free Gemini is not available in the EU, UK or Switzerland** ([details](/docs/where-it-works#countries)).
* You can get your **FREE** Mistral La Plateforme API Key by following the instructions [here](https://quickstart.asksteve.to/get-mistral-key.html). **This is available worldwide.**
* Sign up for the Premium Plan if you'd like to connect to other public models (OpenAI, Cohere, Anthropic, etc.), an on-premise model, a local model running on your own computer, or to a non-model API.



Login to Ask Steve and set up your first model

How to Login to Ask Steve, the 1-Click AI Assistant and Tool Belt for your Browser


To access the Settings page, click on the `Settings` link in the left navigation of the Extension Settings.  Or [click here](https://quickstart.asksteve.to/browsers/settings.html). 

## Change the Ask Steve Sidepanel Theme
* **Light:** Use the light theme
* **Dark** Use the dark theme
* **System:** Use whatever theme your OS is set to use

Whenever you close and reopen the sidepanel, it will check for the latest theme setting and use it. 

## Show the Ask Steve Tab
<img src='/assets/images/docs/tab.png' alt="Tab"/>
* By default Ask Steve shows a tab on every page that gives you quick access to the Ask Steve sidepanel. It's purple with a lightning bolt. 
* Pressing the button opens the Ask Steve sidepanel.
* You can grab the drag handle on the tab up and down the right edge of the page and Steve will remember where you placed it.
* If you'd like to turn off the tab, uncheck the `Show Tab` checkbox and press `SAVE`. This also removes any [Floating Skill Buttons](/docs/floating-skill-buttons).
* If you'd like to temporarily hide the tab because you need to take a screenshot or it's just in your way, right-click on it. It will disappear from the current page until the page is reloaded. This also hides any [Floating Skill Buttons](/docs/floating-skill-buttons).

## Show the Ask Steve Writing Helper
<img src='/assets/images/docs/textbug.png' alt="Writing Helper"/>
* By default Ask Steve shows a little icon in every textarea that gives you quick access to writing and rewriting help with the [Writing Helper](/docs/writing-helper).
* Pressing the icon opens the Writing Helper.
* If you'd like to turn off the icon, uncheck the `Show Writing Helper` checkbox and press `SAVE`
* If you'd like to temporarily hide the icon because you need to take a screenshot or it's just in your way, right-click on it. It will disappear from the current textarea. 



How to Configure Ask Steve, the 1-Click AI Assistant and Tool Belt for Your Browser


<div style={{ position: 'relative', paddingBottom: '56.25%', height: 0, overflow: 'hidden', maxWidth: '100%', height: 'auto' }}>
  <iframe 
    src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/9ufq_o3o4aM?si=H0fOQOUwSXAOWreS" 
    title="YouTube video player" 
    frameBorder="0" 
    allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share; fullscreen" 
    referrerPolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" 
    allowFullScreen 
    style={{ position: 'absolute', top: 0, left: 0, width: '100%', height: '100%' }}>
  </iframe>
</div>
<br />
To access the Skill Library page, click on the `Skill Library` link in the left navigation of the Extension Settings. Or [click here](https://quickstart.asksteve.to/browsers/library.html).

## Installing a Skill
* Click the row for any Skill that you're interested in. You can review the notes and the instructions/prompt for Steve.
* If you want to install the Skill, click on the `INSTALL` button.
* The Skill will be added to your Skills list. If you want to edit it, go to [Skills](/docs/skills) tab in the Ask Steve sidepanel. 

\
**NOTE:** Existing Skills are overwritten, so if you have made any customizations, they will be lost.

## Installing Curated Skill Packs
We have created curated Skill Packs for certain roles and tasks. You can install them [here](https://quickstart.asksteve.to/packs.html).


Find and install new Skills, then customize them and make them yours!

Find New AI Skills (Macros) in the Ask Steve Skill Library


<div style={{ position: 'relative', paddingBottom: '56.25%', height: 0, overflow: 'hidden', maxWidth: '100%', height: 'auto' }}>
  <iframe 
    src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/mBLL0Bm7yqo?si=PAHAwscaJ01tF24V" 
    title="YouTube video player" 
    frameBorder="0" 
    allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share; fullscreen" 
    referrerPolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" 
    allowFullScreen 
    style={{ position: 'absolute', top: 0, left: 0, width: '100%', height: '100%' }}>
  </iframe>
</div>

To access the Import/Export/Delete page, click on the `Import/Export` link in the left navigation of the Extension Settings.  Or [click here](https://quickstart.asksteve.to/browsers/manage.html). 

## Export
* To export Skills select the items that you want to export, and then press the `EXPORT` button. 
* Selecting/deselecting the checkbox in the header row will select/deselect all the items.
* A .json file will be downloaded to your computer. You can use this as a backup, or to share Skills with coworkers. 

## Import
* To import Skills press the `IMPORT` button, read and acknowledge the warning, and then select a .json file to import
* Only Ask Steve .json files will work
* It's good practice to export/backup your current configuration before importing new Skills. 

## Delete
* To delete Skills select the items that you want to delete, and then press the `DELETE` button. 
* Selecting/deselecting the checkbox in the header row will select/deselect all the items.
* Confirm deletion and your items will be deleted. 
* You should feel free to delete any Skills that you don't want or need! You can always add them back later from the [Skill Library](/docs/library)

## Pro Tip
The Ask Steve .json files are just text files that can be edited, so if you need to make bulk changes you can export, make your changes, and then re-import.  


Import, export and bulk delete your Skills

Manage your Ask Steve AI Skills - Import, Export and Bulk Delete


<div style={{ position: 'relative', paddingBottom: '56.25%', height: 0, overflow: 'hidden', maxWidth: '100%', height: 'auto' }}>
  <iframe 
    src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ExK8BhN6TSQ?si=4KrWMFVYengJ7zsf" 
    title="YouTube video player" 
    frameBorder="0" 
    allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share; fullscreen" 
    referrerPolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" 
    allowFullScreen 
    style={{ position: 'absolute', top: 0, left: 0, width: '100%', height: '100%' }}>
  </iframe>
</div>
<br />
To access the Preferences page, click on the `Preferences` link in the left navigation of the Extension Settings.  Or [click here](https://quickstart.asksteve.to/browsers/preferences.html). 

## What are Preferences?
* You can tell Steve facts or instructions that you want him to always keep in mind. 
* An example of a fact might be *My name is Inigo Montoya and the six-fingered man killed my father*
* An example of an instruction might be *Always respond in Spanish*
* An example of something more involved might be your whole resume.
* Every request you make to Steve includes your preferences. This way you can tell Steve something once and he'll "know" it every time he helps you out.  

> For example: If I save a memory with my name, job title and company, then in any Skill I can ask Steve to use them and he will know what they are. 

## Editing your Preferences
* On the [Preferences Page](https://quickstart.asksteve.to/browsers/preferences.html) update your preferences and then save them. 

## Pro-Tips
* Try to keep your preferences on the shorter side, as they take up some of the limited room in your LLM request
* Preferences don't always work like you'd expect - some models are better than others at using them. You will need to experiment!




Have Steve remember facts and instructions about you

Tell Steve, Your AI Assistant, Things About You That He Should Remember

<div style={{backgroundColor: 'darkviolet', padding: '1rem'}}>
* **This is only available on the Premium Plan.**
* **You need to have your own account (paid or otherwise) with the LLM service/model provider.**
</div>


To access the Models page, click on the `Models` link in the left navigation of the Extension Settings. Or [click here](https://quickstart.asksteve.to/browsers/models.html).

## What Does the Model Do? 
* The model is the LLM service that Steve uses to help you accomplish all your tasks. 
* During your QuickStart trial Ask Steve uses Google's Gemini 1.5 Flash model.
* After that, you can use the same model with your own API Key, or Mistral's free La Plateforme model.
* All models have different characteristics and are better or worse at various tasks.
* Generally the better the model, the slower and more expensive it is. 
* **When you use the free Gemini or Mistral models, those companies reserves the right to use your data for training purposes and to make their products better.** 
* If your data is sensitive or you are concerned about privacy, you should sign up for a Premium Ask Steve account and then connect Ask Steve to an account at a provider that doesn't use your data. 
* Switching out Steve's model is like switching out his brain. 

## QuickStart Model
* The QuickStart plan uses Google's Gemini 1.5 Flash model.
* When you are on the QuickStart plan, your requests are sent to the Ask Steve server, which sends them along to Google, and then sends the results back. Your requests go through our server, but we never save anything. 

## Add a New Model
* To add a new model, press the `ADD NEW MODEL` button. A dialog will open with a number of model templates that you can select from, and a place for you to enter your API Key for that model if you have it already. Press `OK` and the interface will be filled in with the template details. 
* Edit any of the details that you need to
* To test the model, scroll down to the `Test Your Connection` area and press the `TEST` button. A sample query will be sent and the response shown below. 
* Once you are satisfied that everything is working correctly, press the `SAVE NEW MODEL` button. Steve will switch to using this new model, as indicated in the dropdown list at the top of the page. 

All requests are made via POST. The data fields for a model are as follows: 
* **Name:** So that you know what model this is. This is shown to users in error messages. 
* **URL:** The URL endpoint for this model
* **Context Window:** The size of the context window for this model. This can usually be found on their documentation pages. If in doubt, put in 32000
* **Header:** The JSON header that is sent in the POST request. This should be formatted according to the service provider's documentation. This typically includes the API Key or other authentication for the service. 
* **Body:** The JSON body that is sent with the POST request. This should be formatted according to the service provider's documentation. 
* **Response Path:** In bracket notation, the path to the field in the response object that contains the actual response. This will be in the service provider's documentation. Note that one-shot responses and streaming responses usually have different paths, even from the same service provider. 
* **Error Path:** In bracket notation, the path to the field in the response object that contains any error messages. This will be in the service provider's documentation.
* **This is a Streaming API:** If you are calling a streaming API, this needs to be checked, as streaming responses are parsed differently than non-streaming responses. 

## Edit a Model
* Select the model that you want to edit from the `Steve is using:` dropdown. 
* Make your edits
* Press the `UPDATE` button
\
\
**NOTE:** This also changes the current model. Change it back when you're done editing via the `Steve is using:` dropdown. 

## Change the Current Model
* Select the model that you want to change to from the `Steve is using:` dropdown. 
* This is automatically saved, so now Steve will use this model.


## Delete a Model
* Select the model that you want to delete from the `Steve is using:` dropdown. 
* Press the `DELETE` button and confirm deletion
* Select whatever model you want Steve to use now

## Pro-Tips
### Call Any API
* If you want to call an API or Webhook from a Skill, see the details [here](/docs/webhooks)

### Change the Temperature
* The `temperature` setting of a model usually ranges from 0.0 to 1.0 or 2.0, where 0 tells the model to provide more factual answers, and the upper limit tells the model to provide more creative responses. The value can be set to a value somewhere in that range (e.g. 0.3)
* The default model and all our templates use a temperature of 0, as most use cases will benefit from more factual responses. 
* When adding a new model, you can set its temperature to something else, depending on how you're going to use it. 
* You can even add the same model multiple times, each with a different temperature, and then assign Skills that need more creativity to higher temperature models. 

### Connect to a Model Running On Your Own Machine
* See details on how to set this up [here](/docs/local-models)

Connect to other models where you have accounts

How to Connect Ask Steve to Cloud-Based AI Models

<div style={{backgroundColor: 'darkviolet', padding: '1rem'}}>
**This is only available on the Premium Plan.**
</div>

## What is a Local Model?
When you run a local model, the LLM runs on your own computer. Then Steve can use that model instead of using one in the cloud. The primary benefit of this is that **your requests never leave your machine, so all your data is kept private**. The secondary benefit is that it's FREE. We have tested Ask Steve with [LM Studio](https://lmstudio.ai/) and [Ollama](https://ollama.com/), but you should be able to use any system that can expose a model via a local web server.

### What are the downsides? 
* You have to download big model files (e.g. 3+GB)
* You need to have a fast machine
* The models your local machine can run generally aren't as good as the ones you can access in the cloud
* It can be slower, even though it's running locally

## How Do I Use LM Studio With Ask Steve?
1. Download and setup [LM Studio](https://lmstudio.ai/)
2. Open LM Studio. From the home page download a model. Try `Llama 3 - 8B Instruct`.
3. Once it's downloaded, go to the [Local Server](https://lmstudio.ai/docs/local-server) page in LM Studio and select the model you just downloaded from the dropdown at the top. If it doesn't start automatically, press the green Start Server button. This will start up a local server on port 1234 with the selected model.
4. Finally, go to the [Models](https://quickstart.asksteve.to/browsers/models.html) page in Ask Steve Settings, press `ADD NEW MODEL` and select `Local: LM Studio` from the menu. You won't need an API Key since it's running on your own machine. Press `TEST` to ensure it works, then `SAVE NEW MODEL` to save it. 
5. Congratulations! Steve is now using a model running completely on your own computer!


## How Do I Use Ollama With Ask Steve?
1. Download and setup [Ollama](https://ollama.com/)
2. Download a model. For example, this terminal command will pull Meta's Llama 3: `ollama pull llama3`
3. You will need to enable the Ask Steve extension to connect to Ollama. To do this you need to configure the Ollama server with the environment variable OLLAMA_ORIGINS, and it needs to be set to "chrome-extension://gldebcpkoojijledacjeboaehblhfbjg”. For Microsoft Edge it should be "chrome-extension://hiefenciocpoafbgoocochpolfjfmjfg"
4. Instructions for how to do so on various platforms are [here](https://github.com/ollama/ollama/blob/main/docs/faq.md#how-do-i-configure-ollama-server). So on Chrome on a Mac you'd issue this terminal command: `launchctl setenv OLLAMA_ORIGINS "chrome-extension://gldebcpkoojijledacjeboaehblhfbjg"` to give Ask Steve access to Ollama. 
5. After setting OLLAMA_ORIGINS, you will need to restart the Ollama server. On a Mac you can do this by quitting and restarting Ollama from the Mac Taskbar. 
6. Finally, go to the [Models](https://quickstart.asksteve.to/browsers/models.html) page in Ask Steve Settings, press `ADD NEW MODEL` and select `Local: Ollama - Meta Llama 3` from the menu. You won't need an API Key since it's running on your own machine. Press `TEST` to ensure it works, then `SAVE NEW MODEL` to save it. Note that this assumes you downloaded the Llama 3 model. Change the "model" parameter in the body if you downloaded a different model. 
7. Congratulations! Steve is now using a model running completely on your own computer!




Connect to a model running on your local machine via Ollama or LM Studio

Connect Ask Steve to a Local AI Model for Ultimate Privacy and Security

<br />
<div style={{backgroundColor: 'darkviolet', padding: '1rem'}}>
**This is only available on the Premium Plan.**
</div>


## Connect Ask Steve to an AI Worker
[MindStudio](https://mindstudio.ai) enables you to quickly create AI workers, and now you can easily trigger those workers directly from Ask Steve. Instead of using the normal API/Webhook interface, you can use the new custom-built interface to make wiring up MindStudio AI workers a breeze. See the video below for a quick walkthrough. 

<div style={{ position: 'relative', paddingBottom: '56.25%', height: 0, overflow: 'hidden', maxWidth: '100%', height: 'auto' }}>
  <iframe 
    src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/5p8kADzf9YI?si=MS0OZlFOYLDazUdV" 
    title="YouTube video player" 
    frameBorder="0" 
    allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share; fullscreen" 
    referrerPolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" 
    allowFullScreen 
    style={{ position: 'absolute', top: 0, left: 0, width: '100%', height: '100%' }}>
  </iframe>
</div>

## Manage your Connections
You can manage your MindStudio connections from the [Connections](/docs/connections) page in the Settings. 


Use Ask Steve to trigger a MindStudio AI Worker

How to Connect the Ask Steve browser extension to MindStudio AI Workers

<br />
<div style={{backgroundColor: 'darkviolet', padding: '1rem'}}>
**This is only available on the Premium Plan.**
</div>
<br />

To access the Connections page, click on the `Connections` link in the left navigation of the Extension Settings.  Or [click here](https://quickstart.asksteve.to/browsers/connections.html). 

## What is a Connection?
The Connections page is where you can add, edit and delete your connections to other services. If you want to add, edit or delete a connection to a model, go to the [Models](/docs/models) page in the Settings. 

## Add a New Connection
Press the `CREATE NEW CONNECTION` button in the upper right of the screen and enter in the appropriate details. 

## Delete a Connection
Press the trashcan icon on any connection to delete it. If the connection is in use, you will get a message asking you to delete any Skills that use it first. 

## Edit a Connection
Click anywhere on the connection except the service logo or the trashcan icon to open it for editing. 

## Search Connections
You can use the search box at the top of the page to quickly filter the connection list. 

## Visit Service
Click on the service logo to visit their site. 



Manage your Connections between Ask Steve and other AI services

Manage Your Connections between Ask Steve and Other AI Services


To access the Widget page, click on the `Widget` link in the left navigation of the Extension Settings.  Or [click here](https://quickstart.asksteve.to/browsers/widgets.html). 

## What is a Widget?
If you're the owner of a web site or web application and want to provide AI capabilities to your users, the Ask Steve Widget enables you to quickly and easily embed an install flow in your site or app that enables users to install Ask Steve and your custom [Skills](/docs/skills) and [Buttons](/docs/floating-skill-buttons) with just a few clicks. You can learn more on the [Site Owners](/docs/site-owners) page. 

## Configuring Your Widget
The list on the left has all the Skills that you have created, copied or imported from other sources. Click on any of these Skills and press the `ADD >>` button to add it to your Widget. You will see the code below update. Press `REMOVE` to take a Skill out of your Widget configuration. 

When you're done picking what Skills to add to your Widget, select what kind of site you'll be embedding the Widget in from the `Code for:` dropdown. You will see a link with Installation Instructions appear. 

The page always remembers your last Widget configuration, so you can quickly edit/update it at any time without having to reselect everything. 

## Installing Your Widget
Press the `COPY TO CLIPBOARD` button to copy your Widget code and install it according to the Installation Instructions. 

## Widget Variables
* **showInstall**: (Defaults to `true`) This variable determines whether the Widget has a link to install the Ask Steve extension or not. On some sites like Wix, the link to install Ask Steve doesn't work due to browser security measures, so you need to add your own installation link to the page that the widget is on, as detailed in the Installation Instructions. 
* **showIfUpToDate**: (Defaults to `false`) This variable determines whether the Widget will appear if the user's Skills are all up to date. For a site like Wix where you put the Widget in a dedicated placeholder on the page, this is set to `true` so there's not an empty spot on the page. For sites like Squarespace where the widget floats up from the bottom of the page, this is set to `false` so that it only appears if needed. 
* **skills**: This is the configuration data for your Skills. 

## Where Does the Widget Work? 
It should work on any web site or application where you can paste in embed code, either into a placeholder on the page or into the page header. We have tested it on [Squarespace](https://squarespace.com), [Wix](https://wix.com) and a custom site. It does not work on Google Sites. 

## Pro-Tip
If the Widget doesn't work on your site, you can use our [Developer API](/docs/api) to create your own installation flow. 






How to Add AI Superpowers to Your Web Site or Web Application with Ask Steve

Other



## Websites are very... variable
Ask Steve will work on most websites, but given how powerful the web platform is and all the different ways that people can build sites and apps, it doesn't work everywhere. 
* It will most likely not work in web applications with complex layouts
* Sites that make excessive use of iframes and Shadow DOMs may cause problems

### Known Sites Steve Has... Issues
* Figma
* XHTML sites, like the [SEC's document viewer](https://www.sec.gov/ix?doc=/Archives/edgar/data/1652044/000165204424000022/goog-20231231.htm). On sites like this, Steve does what you ask him, but then can't write his response to the page. You can always see his response by opening Chrome DevTools (Chrome > View Menu > Developer Tools) and then going to the Console tab and looking for the text where Steve is waving 👋. 
* Salesforce: When sending an email, Salesforce doesn't "see" any of Steve's changes until you manually edit something in the email. So always be sure to edit Steve's work! 

### Chrome Security Policies
* If you're using Ask Steve at work, your company may have set policies in Chrome that prohibit either the installation of certain extensions or the use of extensions on specific URLs. 
* In this case, you would need to ask a company administrator to add Ask Steve to the allowlist. 
* You can see what policies your browser is enforcing by opening `chrome://policy` and then looking for `Extension Settings`


## Browsers
Since Ask Steve is built for Chrome, it will at least partially work in most other Chromium-based browsers.
* **Chrome:** Works great. Install from the [Chrome Web Store](https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/ask-steve-add-ai-superpow/gldebcpkoojijledacjeboaehblhfbjg?hl=en&authuser=0)
* **Edge:** Works great. Install from the [Edge Add-Ons Store](https://microsoftedge.microsoft.com/addons/detail/ask-steve-add-ai-superp/hiefenciocpoafbgoocochpolfjfmjfg)
* **Vivaldi:** Mostly works. The FAB to open/close the sidepanel does not. Install from the [Chrome Web Store](https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/ask-steve-add-ai-superpow/gldebcpkoojijledacjeboaehblhfbjg?hl=en&authuser=0)
* **Brave:** Untested
* **Opera:** Untested
* **Arc:** Does not support the sidepanel so you cannot [Chat](chat) with a page or create or edit [Skills](skills) or [Skill Buttons](skill-buttons). You can still use the [Context Menu](context-menu) and the [Writing Helper](quick-action-box). You can try to use a supported browser to create/edit your Skills and Skill Buttons, [export](export#export) them and then [import](export#import) them into Arc. Install from the [Chrome Web Store](https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/ask-steve-add-ai-superpow/gldebcpkoojijledacjeboaehblhfbjg?hl=en&authuser=0)
* **Safari:** Not supported
* **Firefox:** Not supported

Ask Steve works on most websites, but not all of them

Where Does Ask Steve, the 1-Click AI Assistant and Tool Belt for your Browser, Work?


## Your Privacy
We take your privacy very seriously.
* We don't track what websites you visit
* We don't track what you're asking Steve for
* We don't track the Skills that you create
* We don't store your API Keys on our servers
* You can read our full privacy policy [here](/privacy).

## Our Philosophy
* Respect the user's privacy (see above)
* Try to keep Ask Steve servers out of the loop as much as possible
* Store as much data on the user's machine as possible
* Connect directly to the LLM provider whenever possible
* Be as transparent as possible about your data, how we use it, and where we send it (see below)
* Ask Steve was created by [Rajat Paharia](https://www.linkedin.com/in/rajatrocks/) who formerly worked at Google and IDEO.


## Extension Permissions
* When you install Ask Steve it will ask for permission to *"Read and change all your data on all websites"*. It needs this permission in order to be helpful on any web page. If you are uncomfortable with this then you should press `Cancel` and not install the extension. 
* If you want to limit what sites Ask Steve can work on, you can go into `chrome://extensions`, press the `Details` button on the Ask Steve tile, and then under `Site access` control what sites you want to give Steve access to.
* At any time you can disable Ask Steve via the toggle on the Manage Extensions page and enable it manually on sites you want to use it on.
* In an enterprise deployment, your administrator can configure certain sites to be allowed/disallowed via the `runtime_allowed_hosts` and `runtime_blocked_hosts` keys in [ExtensionSettings](https://support.google.com/chrome/a/answer/9867568?hl=en). You can use this to prevent Ask Steve from having access to sensitive internal pages. 
* The Ask Steve extension id on Chrome is: **gldebcpkoojijledacjeboaehblhfbjg**
* The Ask Steve extension id on Edge is: **hiefenciocpoafbgoocochpolfjfmjfg**

## Saved Data
### Your API Keys
* Ask Steve asks you to enter your LLM provider API keys so that it can connect to those providers.
> These keys are stored in the extension's [Local Storage](https://developer.chrome.com/docs/extensions/reference/api/storage) on your computer and are not sent to Ask Steve's servers.
* The API keys are only sent to the service provider in order to authenticate your requests. 
* The API Keys are not encrypted and are sent with every request to the service provider, so someone else with access to your computer could discover them. 

### Other Data
All other configuration data is stored in Local Storage on your computer. It is never stored anywhere else. This includes but isn't limited to: 
* Skills
* Model configuration
* Chat history

> If you'd like to see what is being stored in Local Storage, do the following: 
> * Go into `chrome://extensions`
> * Enable `Developer mode` via the toggle in the upper right
> * Press the `service worker` link in the Ask Steve tile. This will open Chrome DevTools
> * On the Console tab, paste `await chrome.storage.local.get()` and then press `ENTER`
> * The contents of Local Storage will be printed out and you can inspect them

## Network Requests
### Your LLM Requests
* We send your request directly to the LLM service provider. 
* When you are on the QuickStart plan, your LLM requests are sent to to **quickstart.asksteve.to** which proxies them to Google's Gemini or another provider. The QuickStart proxy doesn't look at or store your request, it just passes it through. 
* If you are working with sensitive information and don't want to send it to a third party LLM, consider connecting Ask Steve to a [Local Model](/docs/local-models), in which case nothing will leave your machine.


### Login and Authentication
* Ask Steve uses Firebase (from Google) for login and authentication. Requests are made to Google's servers (*.googleapis.com) when you login, create a new account, or visit any of the Settings pages.
* We don't ask for or store any PII beyond what is provided at login. 
* This can be disabled for enterprise deployments.


### Configuration Files
Ask Steve loads various configuration files from **quickstart.asksteve.to**, including but not limited to:
* **models.json** - contains all the model templates
* **skills.json** - contains the out-of-the-box Skills
* **buttons.json** - contains the out-of-the-box Skill Buttons
* This can be disabled for enterprise deployments. 


> If you'd like to monitor all the network requests that Ask Steve is making, do the following: 
> * Go into `chrome://extensions`
> * Enable `Developer mode` via the toggle in the upper right
> * Press the `service worker` link in the Ask Steve tile. This will open Chrome DevTools
> * Switch to the Network tab. From here you can see all the network requests that Ask Steve makes

## Other
The LLM service may use your data for training or to make their products better. If you are on the QuickStart plan or are using the Google Gemini or Mistral La Plateforme free tier, they reserve the right to use your data. If this concerns you, you should sign up for Ask Steve's Premium Plan and connect to a paid service or internal corporate service that explicitly states that they will not use your data. You can also connect to a [Local Model](/docs/local-models) running on your own machine. 






What permissions does Ask Steve ask for and how does it use your data?

How AI Extension Ask Steve Uses Your Data and the Permissions it Asks For


## Standard (Free!)
* When you first install Ask Steve you are put on our QuickStart trial. This gives you 100 requests that you can use to try out working with Steve and see if you find him helpful.  Responses from Steve come all at once.
* Ask Steve asks you to enter your own free Google Gemini or Mistral La Plateforme API Key to enable the Standard plan.
* [See how to get your own Google Gemini key here](https://quickstart.asksteve.to/get-gemini-key.html). 
* [See how to get your own Mistral La Plateforme key here](https://quickstart.asksteve.to/get-mistral-key.html). 
* You continue to have access to all the functionality, with the only limits being what service provider imposes. The free Google Gemini API Key has [the following limits](https://ai.google.dev/pricing). The Mistral La Plateforme free tier has [the following limits](https://console.mistral.ai/limits/).
* **Free Gemini is not available in the EU, UK or Switzerland** ([details](/docs/where-it-works#countries)). If you are in one of those regions, you should use Mistral's La Plateforme. 
* Steve's responses are streamed, so you can work even faster.  
* Both of these free offerings reserve the right to use any data that you send them for training. **If you don't want your data used for training, consider signing up for the Premium Plan.**
* Community support

## Premium
<div style={{backgroundColor: 'darkviolet', padding: '1rem', marginBottom: '10px'}}>
<a href="https://asksteve.to/pricing" style={{fontWeight: 'bold', color:'black'}}>Upgrade to Premium</a>
</div>

* [Connect to any paid model](/docs/models)
* [Connect to any on-premise model](/docs/models)
* [Connect to any local model](/docs/local-models)
* [Connect to any API](/docs/webhooks)
* [Assign specific models to specific Skills](/docs/skills#advanced-options)
* Email support



## Enterprise
* Central team billing
* Central team user management
* Central team Skill Library
* Custom Skill packs for your users
* Backup to server
* Integration services
* On-premise deployment
* Email support


Review the Pricing Plans for Ask Steve, the 1-Click AI Assistant and Tool Belt for Your Browser


> Want to revisit the onboarding pages? [Follow this link!](https://quickstart.asksteve.to)

Want to run through the onboarding again?

Revisit the Onboarding Pages for Ask Steve, the 1-Click AI Assistant and Tool Belt for your Browser


## What is the Ask Steve Developer API?
We have exposed some APIs in the Ask Steve browser extension so that you can programatically add Skills to the user's Ask Steve installation. You can call these APIs via the `chrome.runtime.sendMessage` function. We use these same APIs in our [Widget](/docs/widgets).

## Getting the Extension Id
There are different Ids for the Chrome and Edge versions of Ask Steve. Here is how you can get the correct one. 
```
const chromeExtensionId = 'gldebcpkoojijledacjeboaehblhfbjg';
const edgeExtensionId = 'hiefenciocpoafbgoocochpolfjfmjfg';
var extensionId = chromeExtensionId;

// Detect the browser
const userAgent = navigator.userAgent;
if (userAgent.includes('Edg/')) {
    extensionId = edgeExtensionId;
}
```

## APIs
### isExtensionInstalled
No arguments, returns `{"status": true}` if the extension is installed. 
```
try {
    const response = await chrome.runtime.sendMessage(extensionId, {type: "isExtensionInstalled"});
    if (!chrome.runtime.lastError && response.status) {
        extensionInstalled = true;
        console.log('Extension installed');
}
} catch (error) {
    console.log('Extension not installed or unreachable', error);
}
```
### areSkillsUpToDate 
Called with an object that has a `skills` property on it with all the [Skills](/docs/skills) that you want to compare. If any of the Skills don't exist or have been modified, this will return `{"status": false}`, otherwise it will return `{"status": true}`

```
try {
    // are the skills already installed and up to date? 
    const response = await chrome.runtime.sendMessage(extensionId, {type: "areSkillsUpToDate", data: asksteve_data});
    if (!chrome.runtime.lastError && response.status) {
        console.log('Skills are up to date');
    }
    else {
        console.log('Skills are not up to date');
    }
}
catch (error) {
    console.log('Extension unreachable', error);
}
```

### addSkills
Called with an object that has a `skills` property on it with all the Skills that you want to add. This will return `{"status": true}` if successful, `{"status": false, "error": MESSAGE}` if not. 
```
await chrome.runtime.sendMessage(extensionId, { type: "addSkills", data: asksteve_data });
```

Some notes about adding Skills: 
* The user will be shown a confirmation dialog where they can choose whether to install the Skills or not. 
* All Skill Ids and Connection Ids will be prepended with the hostname of your site if it's not already there. This way your Skills won't overwrite anyone elses, and they can't overwrite yours. 

### removeSkills
Called with an object that has a `skills` property on it with all the Skills that you want to remove. This will return `{"status": true}` if successful, `{"status": false, "error": MESSAGE}` if not. 
```
await chrome.runtime.sendMessage(extensionId, { type: "removeSkills", data: asksteve_data });
```

Some notes about removing Skills: 
* The user will be shown a confirmation dialog where they can choose whether to remove the Skills or not. 
* All Skill Ids and Connection Ids will be prepended with the hostname of your site if it's not already there. This way you can't remove someone else's Skills, and they can't remove yours.


## Questions? Need Help?
Ask them in the [User Community](https://groups.google.com/g/ask-steve).

APIs for enabling your users to quickly add Skills

The Developer API for the Ask Steve AI Browser Extension


We would appreciate any support that you can give us so that we can continue to make Ask Steve even better! Here are some ways that you can help us: 
* Signing up for our [Premium Plan](/pricing)
* Writing a good review on the Chrome or Edge Web Store [here](https://quickstart.asksteve.to/browsers/)
* Sending us a testimonial about how you're using Ask Steve [here](https://forms.gle/KAEAeCLsGeLAGqKk8)
* Spreading the word and telling your friends and coworkers about Ask Steve
* Sharing tips, tricks and Skills in our [User Community](https://groups.google.com/g/ask-steve)





Ways to Support Ask Steve, the 1-Click AI Assistant and Tool Belt for your Browser


## v2.0.6 - January ??, 2025
* For [site owners](/docs/site-owners) - added the ability to create a [Widget](/docs/widgets) that can be embedded on a website to enable fast install of Ask Steve and custom skills. 
* For [site owners](/docs/site-owners) - added [Developer API](/docs/api)
* When the extension has been updated, the user is now notified that they need to reload the page if they want to use Ask Steve. 


## v2.0.5 - January 22, 2025
* Added support for creating and managing Connections to other services. 
* Added an integration with [MindStudio](https://mindstudio.ai)
* Added the ability for any site to install Skills.
* Turned off Google Analytics logging for now. 
* Enable mixing of HTML and Markdown in the response
* Fixed bugs


## v2.0.4 - January 16, 2025
* Made the resize handle on the edge of the floating panel more visible. 
* Code is now properly formatted while streaming down.
* Site-specific buttons are highlighted to make it clear that they're special
* Fixed minor bugs

## v2.0.3 - Skipped

## v2.0.2 - January 14, 2025
* Added full Markdown support in the Floating Panel and Chat.
* Added the ability to configure [Floating Skill Button](/docs/floating-skill-buttons) icons. You can put in a URL to a file somewhere online, or pick a file from your computer that will be encoded and stored locally. Nothing is stored on a server.
* Added a live preview of Floating Skill Buttons so you can see your edits before you save them.
* Fixed minor bugs

## v2.0.1 - January 10, 2025
* If you're on the free Standard plan and using Google Gemini, Ask Steve tries to use the streaming API first and if that fails, it tries the non-streaming API as a fallback. If that fails, try [Mistral](https://quickstart.asksteve.to/get-mistral-key.html) :)
* The Writing Helper icon now only shows in text fields that are > 40px in height.
* All site-specific [Floating Skill Buttons](/docs/floating-skill-buttons) show at the top of the button area, and the ones that show on all sites are on the bottom. This makes it easy to find the buttons for a specific site since they're not mixed in with the rest. 
* Fixed minor bugs


## v2.0.0 - January 06, 2025
The latest release continues our efforts to make the power of Ask Steve accessible with 1-click. See the latest demo video [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGzzIctzPhw). This is primarily achieved by adding several new capabilities to the new [Floating Skill Buttons](/docs/floating-skill-buttons). 

* Added several new capabilities to [Floating Skill Buttons](/docs/floating-skill-buttons)
* Added a Skill notes field where you can enter a description for the Skill
* Added a "Copy Skill" button to make it easy to create variations or backups of an existing Skill
* Added the ability to change the background and text color of a Floating Skill Button
* Added the ability to define what URLs a Floating Skill Button should show on, so you can have buttons just show on specific sites. 
* Added the ability to select the source of the [Page Variable](/docs/skills#page-variables-in-skills) inputs for a Floating Skill Button
* Added the ability to select the output destination for a Floating Skill Button
* Updated the [Skill Library](https://quickstart.asksteve.to/browsers/library.html) so that it displays as a list and you can search on the name or the notes of a Skill.
* Updated the [Skill Packs](https://quickstart.asksteve.to/packs.html) to use the new Floating Skill Buttons
* Simplified the sidepanel UI to focus on the most important and frequently used controls, and hide the rest in collapsible sections.
* Updated the positioning of the Tab and Floating Skill Buttons to always be anchored to the bottom of the window.
* Threw away lots of code
* Fixed many minor bugs


## v1.2.7 - December 31, 2024
* Added better tooltips to Floating Skill Buttons
* Fixed minor bugs


## v1.2.6 - December 30, 2024
* Pinned Skills now show up as buttons above the Tab for 1-click access on any page. 
* Pared down the list of out-of-the-box Skills
* Updated the onboarding flow
* Fixed minor bugs


## v1.2.5 - December 22, 2024
* You can now include variables in the header or body of an [API/Webhook](/docs/webhooks#inserting-variables-into-the-header-or-body) 
* Added a help button to the [Writing Helper](/docs/writing-helper)
* You can hide the Ask Steve tab with a `Control-click` as well as a right-click
* Set a maximum width on the floating panel so you can't get into a state where it always covers the whole screen
* A number of bug fixes


## v1.2.4 - December 18, 2024
* Added a [Writing Helper](/docs/writing-helper) icon to textareas and other contenteditable controls. Click on it to get writing or rewriting help in the control. Press `ENTER` to get the results in a floating panel, or `COMMAND-ENTER` (Mac) or `CONTROL-ENTER` (PC, ChromeOS) to write over the existing text.
* Temporarily hide the Writing Helper icon by right-clicking on it. 
* Permanently hide the Writing Helper icon on the [Settings](/docs/settings) page. 
* Added Shortcut buttons to the Tab that opens the Ask Steve sidepanel. Hover over the tab for a second and buttons to quickly trigger your top 2 pinned Skills will appear.
* Fixed minor bugs 


## v1.2.3 - December 9, 2024
* Added the ability to have multiple and single selection controls when requesting [User Input](/docs/skills#multiple-choice-in-user-variables). 
* Updated the User Input UI
* Can now `Command-ENTER` (Mac) or `Control-ENTER` (Windows, ChromeOS) to submit the User Input form. 
* You can now return img tags in responses. The images are embedded and a link to open the image in a new window is automatically added.
* You can now resize the floating panel and it remembers the last size.
* Updated the [Skill Library](/docs/library)
* Remove all extraneous control characters from content submitted to LLMs and APIs. 
* Fixed minor bugs


## v1.2.2 - November 26, 2024
* Fixed minor UI bugs


## v1.2.1 - November 25, 2024
* Changed the keyboard shortcuts to be more useful ([video](https://youtube.com/shorts/wOdr-Q7jImc?feature=share)):
* `CMD/CTRL-SHIFT-1` runs the first pinned Skill on the current page or selection. Pinned Skills are in alphabetical order. It used to capture the page or selection into the first [Notebook](/docs/notebooks). 
* `CMD/CTRL-SHIFT-2` runs the second pinned Skill on the current page or selection. Pinned Skills are in alphabetical order. It used to capture the page or selection into the second Notebook. 
* `CMD/CTRL-SHIFT-X` captures the current page or selection to the first Notebook. It used to open/close the Ask Steve sidepanel.
* `CMD/CTRL-SHIFT-K` has no change - it opens the [Writing Helper](/docs/writing-helper) in an editable text field
* You can change any of these shortcuts or add your own open/close shortcut by going to `chrome://extensions/shortcuts` and adding a shortcut for "Activate the extension".
* Added support for [Google Apps Script](https://youtube.com/shorts/f0UEc401acg?feature=share)
* Added support for [PDFs](https://youtube.com/shorts/OKJY9IDQrQY?feature=share) without having to download the PDF first
* Changed PDF Chat to [File Chat](https://quickstart.asksteve.to/viewer) which now supports pdf, docx, pptx, jpg, png, and gif, as well as pasting an image or text. ([video](https://youtube.com/shorts/gol7lFHSw1E?feature=share))
* Added support for [YouTube videos](https://youtube.com/shorts/CW_HoT3qKb8?feature=share)
* Better code formatting in Chat
* Skill Buttons now use selected text (if there is any) instead of the whole page
* If you start a Skill Button name with an emoji, the default ⚡ will be removed
* Added "Open File Chat" to the context menu so you can get there quickly from anywhere
* Created a [Google Apps Script Skill Pack](https://quickstart.asksteve.to/)


## v1.2.0 - November 16, 2024
* Added support for Chatting with Google Docs. See demo video [here](https://youtube.com/shorts/hHxU7_81seM?feature=share)
* Added support for Chatting with Google Slides. See demo video [here](https://youtube.com/shorts/-HUWHBDWp14?feature=share)
* You can Chat with a selection in Microsoft Word or PowerPoint online, but not a whole document. 
* Added a [PDF Chat tool](https://quickstart.asksteve.to/viewer) where you can pick a PDF or image file and have it turned into text so you can use it with Ask Steve. See demo video [here](https://youtube.com/shorts/3QhSskiZVoc?feature=share)
* Chat now works on blank tabs.
* Added the ability to add static body variables and specify the result and error paths for an API call. See updated docs [here](/docs/webhooks). Removed special-purpose code for Zapier, since now you can specify ["status"] as the result path.
* Sidepanel no longer totally resets when you switch tabs. 
* Other minor updates


## v1.1.9 - November 10, 2024
* Added support for [Zapier webhooks](https://zapier.com/blog/what-are-webhooks/). Zapier webhooks return right away with a status of "success" and then process asynchronously. So you can trigger Zapier workflows from Ask Steve, but cannot return any data. 
* Ask Steve is now live on the [Edge Add-Ons store](https://microsoftedge.microsoft.com/addons/detail/ask-steve-add-ai-superp/hiefenciocpoafbgoocochpolfjfmjfg)
* Updated all store copy and assets


## v1.1.8 - Skipped

## v1.1.7 - October 28, 2024
* Added a new [System Variable](/docs/webhooks#system-variables) for API calls/webhooks: [_imageUrls] sends an array with the URLs of all the images on the page. 
* Made the z-index of Skill Buttons higher so they don't get hidden on pages
* Changed the top menu item to "Do Something" instead of "Ask me what to do"
* Changes in plan are now detected automatically and don't require logging out and back in
* Added a link to the extension settings sidebar to manage your subscription
* Notebooks now show linebreaks from the original page
* Other minor updates


## v1.1.6 - October 14, 2024
* Added several more optional [System Variables](/docs/webhooks#system-variables) to API calls/webhooks to enable more use cases. "_url" used to be automatically included but now needs to be explicitly added.
* Added new [Notebooks](/docs/notebooks) functionality.
* Added new [Preferences](/docs/preferences) functionality. 
* Removed old Memories functionality. 
* Added more [Keyboard Shortcuts](/docs/keyboard-shortcuts)
* Updated the context-menu. Changed the "ONE-TIME REQUEST" menu item to "Ask me what to do", added separators, etc. 
* Other minor updates. 


## v1.1.5 - September 24, 2024
* Implemented the Plans described on the [Plans and Pricing](/pricing) page. **You now need a paid Premium plan to use any model aside from the free Gemini or Mistral. You also need a Premium plan to use APIs and Webhooks.**
* The UI has been changed to reflect this. 
* Updated the model templates for Anthropic and Mistral.  
* Added an "Add Skills" button to the top of the Ask Steve sidepanel to make it easy to access the Skill Library. 
* Removed the error messages that were showing when you tried to chat on Google Docs, Slides or Sheets
* Other minor updates. 
 
## v1.1.4 - Skipped

## v1.1.3 - September 16, 2024
* Right click on the FAB/TAB (the purple tab with the lightning bolt icon) to temporarily remove it from a page, in case you need to print or take a screenshot. 
* Removed scrollbars on Windows on the Import/Export page.
* Updated the confirmation dialogs for adding Skill Packs.
* Other minor updates.  


## v1.1.2 - August 27, 2024
* The Ask Steve lightning bolt tab/FAB no longer appears when you print pages. 
* Fixed issues with the format of text generated by the [Writing Helper](/docs/writing-helper) in Outlook 365. 


## v1.1.1 - August 16, 2024
* Many minor bug fixes
* Added better error messages if you try to use Ask Steve with Google Docs, Slides, Sheets or Figma, since it can't read content from any of those. 


## v1.1.0 - July 30, 2024
* Fixed bugs.  
* Changed how calls to APIs/Webhooks are made to make it easier - see the updated [documentation](/docs/webhooks). 
* As a result, removed the "Show Model Override" setting on the Settings page and the "This is Not an LLM" setting on the Models page since they're no longer needed. 
* Removed omnibox support


## v1.0.9 - July 24, 2024
* Automatically hide the FAB when a browser window is in fullscreen mode (so it doesn’t get in the way of your YouTube videos)
* Chat and the Floating panel now hyperlink all URLs
* Added a new “Show Model Override” setting on the Settings page that adds the ability to assign a specific model to a specific Skill. This is useful for when certain models are better at certain tasks, but also for when you want to call non-model APIs. See the video in the next bullet for an example.
* Added a “This is Not an LLM” setting on the Models page that indicates that you’re calling a non-LLM API. All the usual instruction text and Memories that Steve would send with your request are removed. See [this video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uUXwVwdVUgE) for an example. 



## v1.0.8 - July 18, 2024
* OpenAI [made a change](https://community.openai.com/t/streaming-events-returned-bunched-up/870324) to how they send down streaming responses that broke our parsing. This has been fixed. 
* The sidepanel code has been changed so that there is one universal sidepanel for all the tabs in a window vs. a unique sidepanel per tab.
> * This change was made because unique sidepanels per tab is not supported in Edge and Vivaldi, and we weren’t really doing anything with that capability anyway. 
> * So now when you open the sidepanel, it is open on all the tabs in a window, and when you close it, it’s closed for all tabs. 
> * As a result, Chat and Skill configuration should now work properly in Edge and (mostly) in Vivaldi.
> * The lightning bolt tab that enables you to quickly open the sidepanel (aka the FAB) still doesn’t work properly in Vivaldi - you can disable it in the Settings.
> * If you encounter other issues, let me know here! 
* You can now open the Skill Picker in Chat with either  “k “ or just SPACE in the chat field. 
* When you go to the Models page, it is now more clear that you can’t enter model details until you login. Once you login, you can enter model details immediately without having to press “Add New Model”. 
* Added [Cohere Command R+](https://cohere.com/command) and Open AI GPT4o Mini as model templates. Removed OpenAI GPT 3.5
* Chat can use just the selected text on a page, but previously could not read selected text in iframes served from different domains as the main window. This has been fixed.
* For Skill Buttons - the output option “Popup” has been renamed “Floating panel” since some users thought it meant browser popup.


Notes for each release in the Chrome Web Store and Edge Add-Ons Store

Release Notes for Ask Steve, the 1-Click AI Assistant and Tool Belt for your Browser

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Getting Started

Solutions

Working with Steve

Settings

Other

The Skill Library

Find and install new Skills, then customize them and make them yours!

Installing a Skill

Installing Curated Skill Packs

Table of Contents