# Ask Mello

> Ask about work in Chat or Slack, read the sources behind an answer, and get help from HR without leaving the conversation.

Audience: Everyone using Shuffl

Kind: Tutorial

Canonical: https://shuffl.ai/docs/ask-mello

<a id="asking"></a>
## Ask a question

1. On the web, type in the box at the top of Home or open Chat.

2. In Slack, send a direct message to Shuffl. On a phone, tap Mello, the raised button in the middle of the bottom bar.

3. While Mello works it shows what it is doing, such as Searching company knowledge. Choose Stop answer to stop it.

4. When a question could mean more than one thing, Mello offers two to four choices to tap, or you can type your own reply.

5. Open Supporting sources to see the passages it relied on; a citation opens the published source.

6. Ask a follow-up in the same chat, or tap one of up to three suggested questions under an answer.

7. A message sent while Mello is writing waits in a queue; choose Send now to interrupt with it.

8. Attach a PDF, Word, PowerPoint, Markdown or text file to ask about it. In Slack, an administrator may first need to reconnect Slack with file access.

Mello is Shuffl’s assistant. Ask it about time off, benefits, expenses, policies or who is who. It answers from the Knowledge your company published for you and from People, and cites its sources.

- [Open Chat](https://shuffl.ai/app/chat)

<a id="what-mello-knows"></a>
## What Mello can and cannot answer

Mello uses only sources published to an audience that includes you, between their effective and review dates. If nothing published covers your question, it says so and offers to bring in HR.

Mello also reads your own record in People, such as employment type, location, department, manager and start date, so it answers the part of a policy that applies to you.

It uses your record only in your own chats, never in a shared channel. Anything missing from People is missing for Mello too.

Mello reads your time-off balances only when your company connected BambooHR, Rippling, HiBob or Deel, and never guesses one. It does not book leave; it prepares an HR request with the dates.

Questions about Shuffl itself, such as who can see your Pulse answers, Mello answers from these guides and says so.

In a shared channel, Mello answers only from Knowledge published to everyone. Anything personal it answers in a direct message, and Open DM takes you there.

Mello writes with AI, so even an answer from verified Knowledge can be wrong or incomplete. Before you act on pay, leave or eligibility, open the source or ask HR.

Slack message, Ask me in a DM (Whoever mentions Mello in a channel, in the thread; When the answer needs company information only a DM can show):

```text
Please ask me in a direct message so I can answer using the company information you can access.
```

<a id="hr"></a>
## Get help from HR

When a person needs to help, Mello prepares a short message for HR and shows who would receive it.

Edit it if you like; nothing is sent until you choose Share with HR on the web or Send to HR in Slack. HR gets that message, never your conversation, and replies arrive in the same chat.

Slack message, Handoff to HR (The person asking Mello, in their DM; When Mello can’t answer and offers to ask HR):

```text
Ready to send to HR
```

- [How a request reaches HR](https://shuffl.ai/docs/hr-requests)

<a id="actions"></a>
## Let Mello do things for you

Mello can also act for you, within your role, such as joining a community or setting your profile visibility. Anything that changes something appears first as a Prepared action card and runs only when you press its button.

Slack message, Action Mello prepared (The person who asked Mello, in their DM; When Mello prepares a change for someone to run):

```text
Start onboarding for a new hire
```

- [What Mello can do for you](https://shuffl.ai/docs/what-mello-can-do#employees)

<a id="history"></a>
## Your chat history and feedback

Your chats lists everything you asked, grouped by day. Rename gives a chat a name only you see; Delete removes it. Search your chats searches your web chats.

HR requests, above your chats, lists every request you sent, open ones first, with HR’s latest reply. A request stays there after its chat is deleted.

A chat you started in Slack shows in the web list too, once your Slack account is linked. It is read from Slack each time, not saved in the browser, and is read-only here: Open in Slack to continue it.

Good answer shares your rating, optional note and the sources used with your workspace administrators; your question and the answer stay private. Bad answer also shares your question, unless you tick Keep my question private.

<a id="privacy"></a>
## Who can read your chats

Your manager, HR and administrators cannot read your chats, and Shuffl deletes them after 30 days. HR sees only what you share. Slack keeps its own copy of direct messages under your workspace’s retention settings.

- [Security and data handling](https://shuffl.ai/security)

## Related guides

- [Share a request with HR](https://shuffl.ai/docs/hr-requests)

- [Find your way around](https://shuffl.ai/docs/around-shuffl)

- [Review and publish knowledge](https://shuffl.ai/docs/knowledge)

- [Privacy and your data](https://shuffl.ai/docs/privacy-and-data)

- [What Mello can do for you](https://shuffl.ai/docs/what-mello-can-do)

Agent documentation index: https://shuffl.ai/llms.txt