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What is AI Context?

AI Context in ThinkEx is a user-controlled system that lets you explicitly choose which workspace content your AI assistant can access. Instead of the AI having access to everything, you select specific cards to provide relevant context for each conversation. This approach gives you:
  • Precision - Only relevant information is shared with the AI
  • Privacy - Unselected content remains inaccessible to the AI
  • Transparency - You always know what context the AI is using
  • Control - Add or remove context at any time

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How Context Works

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The Virtual File System

ThinkEx presents your workspace to the AI as a virtual file system: 
workspace/
├── notes/
│   ├── My Study Notes.md
│   └── Project Ideas.md
├── pdfs/
│   ├── Research Paper.pdf
│   └── Textbook Chapter 3.pdf
├── flashcards/
│   └── Vocabulary Deck.json
└── videos/
    └── Lecture Recording.mp4
The virtual file system provides the AI with metadata about your workspace items (names, types, locations) without sharing full content unless explicitly selected.

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Metadata vs. Full Content

The AI receives two levels of context:
  1. Workspace metadata (always available):
    • Item names and types
    • Folder structure
    • File paths in the virtual system
    • PDF page counts, flashcard deck sizes, etc.
  2. Full content (only when selected):
    • Complete note text
    • PDF content with OCR text
    • Flashcard questions and answers
    • Quiz questions and explanations
This two-tier system allows the AI to understand what’s in your workspace while only accessing full content when you explicitly provide it.

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Selecting Context

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Methods to Add Context

Click Checkmark

Hover over a card and click the selection indicator in the corner

Shift+Click

Hold Shift and click cards to add multiple items to context

Drag Select

Click and drag on empty canvas space to select multiple cards

Use AI Tools

The AI can use the selectCards tool to add items based on your request

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Context Display

Selected cards appear as context chips above the chat input:
  • Card name - Identifies the content
  • Color indicator - Matches card color for easy recognition
  • Page number (for PDFs) - Shows which page you’re viewing
  • Remove button - Click the X to remove from context
The context display shows up to 3 items by default. Click the expand button to see all selected cards.

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Text Selection Context

Beyond card selection, you can select specific text:
  • Highlight text in notes or AI responses
  • Text appears as context chip alongside card selections
  • Precise context for focused AI assistance
  • Remove like card context by clicking the X

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AI Tools for Context

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Automatic Context Tools

The AI has tools to work with your workspace content:
  • searchWorkspace - Find items by name or type
  • readWorkspace - Read full content of specific items
  • processFiles - Extract text from PDFs and images
  • selectCards - Add items to context programmatically
When you ask the AI to work with specific content, it automatically uses these tools to fetch what it needs. You don’t have to manually select everything.

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Context Hints

The AI understands contextual references:
  • “this” or “here” - Refers to selected cards or current page
  • “these notes” - Refers to note cards in context
  • Active PDF page - When viewing a PDF page, the AI knows which page you’re on

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Context Best Practices

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When to Select Cards

1

Starting a new topic

Select relevant cards before asking questions to give the AI immediate context
2

Complex tasks

Add all related materials when asking the AI to synthesize or compare content
3

Quick questions

Let the AI find content using tools if you’re unsure what’s relevant

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Context Management Tips

  1. Clear context between topics - Start fresh for unrelated questions
  2. Select folders for broad context - Entire folder contents become available
  3. Use specific pages - For PDFs, viewing a page signals that page is relevant
  4. Combine with text selection - Select text passages for precise context

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What to Include

Include

  • Reference materials for questions
  • Source content for summaries
  • Examples for similar tasks
  • Background information

Don't Include

  • Unrelated workspace items
  • Duplicate information
  • Entire workspace “just in case”
  • Sensitive content you don’t want processed

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Context in AI Responses

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Citations

When the AI uses your workspace content, it provides citations: 
The key concept is supply chain management.
<citation>Operations Textbook | p. 42</citation>
Citations reference:
  • Workspace items by name - e.g., “Marketing Notes”
  • PDF pages - e.g., “Research Paper | p. 15”
  • Exact quotes - e.g., “Study Guide | key definition”
  • Web sources - URLs when using web search
Citations help you verify information and find source material quickly. Click a citation to jump to the referenced content.

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Context-Aware Responses

With proper context, the AI can:
  • Answer from your materials - Uses your notes and PDFs as sources
  • Create related content - Generates flashcards, quizzes, summaries
  • Make connections - Links concepts across multiple selected cards
  • Provide page-specific help - Explains content from the PDF page you’re viewing

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Advanced Context Features

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Active Page Tracking

For PDF cards, ThinkEx tracks which page you’re viewing:
  • Automatic context signal - The AI knows your current page
  • Page-specific responses - Help with what you’re looking at
  • Smart references - “this page” refers to active page

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Folder Selection

Selecting a folder card:
  • Expands to contents - All items in folder become available
  • Recursive inclusion - Includes nested folder contents
  • Efficient bulk selection - One click for many items

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Reply Context

When replying to AI messages:
  • Quote text to use specific portions as context
  • Reply badge shows on your message
  • AI sees original message and your response
  • Thread-aware responses - Maintains conversation context

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Context Limitations

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By Design

ThinkEx intentionally limits context to:
  • Prevent information overload - Too much context confuses AI responses
  • Protect privacy - Only share what’s necessary
  • Improve response quality - Focused context yields better answers
  • Enable transparency - You always know what’s shared
If the AI seems to lack information, explicitly select more cards or ask it to search your workspace. The limitation is protective, not restrictive.

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Technical Constraints

  • Token limits - Very large selections may exceed AI context windows
  • Processing time - More context means slower initial processing
  • OCR availability - PDFs need processing before full content is accessible

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Next Steps

Workspaces

Learn about organizing content in workspaces

Media Support

Explore PDFs, videos, and other media types

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