> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.dalus.io/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
# Dalus AI Copilot
> Overview of the AI Copilot – planning assistance, change generation, sequential application and context-aware modelling.
The Dalus AI Copilot is your conversation partner for systems thinking. It understands your model, reasons over your documents, and helps you build better system architectures faster.
## What Copilot Can Do
* **Answer questions** about your model structure, requirements, and design decisions
* **Generate model elements** including parts, actions, states, interfaces, and requirements
* **Analyze your architecture** to identify gaps, inconsistencies, or improvement opportunities
* **Create documentation** and summaries of your system design
* **Import and process** requirements from specifications and standards
## Accessing Copilot
Open the Copilot panel from the right sidebar by clicking the **Copilot** tab. The chat interface appears, ready to receive your prompts. Copilot maintains conversation history within your session, allowing you to build on previous responses.
## Providing Context
Copilot automatically has access to your entire model graph—all parts, actions, states, interfaces, requirements, and their relationships. To provide additional context:
### Attaching Files
Click the **Attach (+)** button to upload files directly to the conversation:
* **Text files** (TXT, CSV) are indexed for semantic search
* **Images** (JPG, PNG, GIF, WEBP, SVG) can be analyzed visually
* **Documents** provide reference material for your queries
### Attaching Model Elements
Reference specific elements from your model by attaching them to your message. This focuses Copilot's attention on particular parts, requirements, or subsystems relevant to your question.
### Using Documents Hub
Files uploaded to the Documents Hub are available to Copilot. Link documents to specific parts to provide component-specific context that Copilot can reference when answering questions about those parts.
To provide context via a **PDF specification**, import it under the **Requirements page** using the PDF extraction feature. Copilot will automatically search through the generated requirements when answering related questions.
### Web Search
Click the **Web Search** icon (globe) to enable Copilot to search the internet for additional context. When enabled, Copilot can retrieve up-to-date information from the web to supplement its responses—useful for referencing standards, specifications, or domain knowledge not present in your model or documents.
## Copilot Planning
When you request a non-trivial change, Copilot presents a **plan** before generating any modifications. This ensures you understand and approve the approach before changes are made.
The planning phase:
1. **Identifies a viable approach** to implementing your request based on the current model state
2. **Surfaces gaps in understanding** such as missing requirements, ambiguous instructions, or unclear scope
3. **Gathers additional information** by asking follow-up questions or searching through the model
4. **Proposes a structured plan** outlining what will be created, modified, or removed
Review the plan carefully. You can refine it by providing additional guidance before Copilot proceeds with generation.
## Changes Response
Once planning is complete, Copilot returns a **changes response**—a structured diff showing exactly which elements will be added, updated, or removed.
Each change is presented as a **commit** that you can review before applying. The changes response includes:
* **Element type**: Part, Action, State, Interface, Requirement, etc.
* **Operation**: Add, Update, or Delete
* **Details**: The specific properties and values being changed
* **Visual diff**: Side-by-side comparison for updates
### Applying Changes
Changes are **applied automatically** as Copilot generates them. You'll see a list of added, updated, or removed elements with their status. After changes are applied, a **Reapply** button appears, allowing you to re-run the same changes if needed.
After Copilot finishes creating architecture elements, use the **Auto Layout** button in the canvas controls to automatically arrange the diagram for better readability.
### Restoring Previous States
If you want to undo changes, navigate to a previous message in the conversation and click **Restore checkpoint**. This rolls your model back to the state it was in at that point in the conversation, effectively undoing any changes made after that message.
## Summary
After proposing changes, Copilot produces a concise **summary** capturing:
* The overall approach and rationale
* Key design decisions made
* What was created or modified
* Any assumptions or trade-offs
This summary helps stakeholders quickly understand the changes without reviewing every detail.
## Diagnostics Results
The **Diagnostics Results** panel helps you identify and resolve issues in your model. It displays a list of errors and warnings—such as ports not connected to interface edges, missing relationships, or incomplete configurations.
The diagnostics panel shows:
* **Error and warning counts**: A summary of total issues (e.g., "109 errors, 30 warnings")
* **Issue details**: Each issue lists the affected element and a description of the problem
* **Filtering options**: View all errors, all warnings, or clear the selection
* **Fix Selected**: Select issues and click **Fix Selected** to resolve them automatically
Use the **Legend** dropdown to understand the different issue types. Review diagnostics regularly to maintain model integrity and ensure all connections are properly configured.
## Example Prompts
### Structural Modeling
* *"Break down the Power System into its subsystems"*
* *"Create interfaces between the Propulsion Module subsystems"*
* *"Add a thermal management system with heat exchangers and cooling loops"*
* *"What parts receive power from the Main Bus?"*
### Behavior Modeling
* *"Create a state machine for the communication module"*
* *"Add an action to calculate orbital velocity from altitude and mass"*
* *"Design the startup sequence for the propulsion system"*
* *"Connect the sensor processing actions to the flight controller"*
### Requirements
* *"Generate requirements for the power distribution system"*
* *"What requirements are assigned to the Flight Computer?"*
* *"Create sub-requirements for REQ-001 covering each interface"*
* *"Check which requirements don't have assigned systems"*
### Analysis & Documentation
* *"Summarize the current architecture"*
* *"What are the main interfaces between Avionics and Propulsion?"*
* *"Identify parts that don't have any requirements assigned"*
* *"List all energy connections in the model"*
## Best Practices
1. **Be specific**: Include element names, quantities, and constraints in your prompts
2. **Provide context**: Attach relevant elements or documents when asking about specific areas
3. **Review plans**: Take time to understand the proposed approach before accepting changes
4. **Iterate**: Use follow-up prompts to refine generated content
5. **Use natural language**: Describe what you want in plain terms—Copilot understands systems engineering concepts
6. **Break down large tasks**: For complex changes, work incrementally rather than requesting everything at once
## Limitations
* Copilot works best with clear, specific requests
* Very large models may require more focused queries
* Complex calculations should be verified independently
* Generated content should be reviewed for domain-specific accuracy
The AI Copilot accelerates your workflow while keeping you in control of every design decision.