LSBot Conversations

It's time to give it a try. Let's look at how to have conversations with LSBot.

Getting Started

LSBot is available while you work through an assignment or book chapter. Just click " Ask LSBot" on the sidebar to open up the conversation window. On smaller screens, you may just see the LSBot logo ().

Where to find LSBot Conversations

You'll find LSBot conversations in every Launch School assignment and book chapter. Some other areas, like exercises, also let you chat with LSBot, though the behavior is a little different there. We'll look at that later.

Fast Mode VS Deep Dive Mode

LSBot conversations have two modes: Fast Mode and Deep Dive Mode.

Fast Mode

Fast Mode responses are quick, concise, and narrow in scope. It's great for direct questions about the assignment you're working on. But it won't handle big-picture questions across multiple assignments or courses, and it can't answer general Launch School questions. The best way to understand Fast Mode is to try it out.

Deep Dive

Deep Dive Mode covers a broader scope and provides longer, more detailed answers. LSBot can draw on the entire Launch School curriculum, as well as other resources, such as podcast transcripts. These responses take more time, around 30+ seconds, compared to about 5 seconds in Fast Mode.

How to Choose Deep Dive vs Fast Mode

Both modes are useful. Here are some guidelines:

• Start with Fast Mode. If the answer feels too thin, switch to Deep Dive.
• When you're reading material for the first time, or feeling overwhelmed with new content, use Fast Mode. It helps you stay on track without providing you with a page of content or going too deep into rabbit holes.
• Use Deep Dive for "why" questions, big-picture connections, or when your question goes beyond the current page.
• Use Deep Dive for code reviews or when generating practice questions. Fast Mode will try, but Deep Dive does better on complex tasks.

Managing Multiple Conversations

Within LSBot conversations, you can start a new conversation at any time. This clears the chat history so you can begin fresh. While you can stay in one conversation as long as you like, starting new ones can be helpful in certain situations. Let’s look at how to start and manage conversations, and why you might want to use multiple.

Starting a New Conversation

In the top-right corner of any conversation window, click the plus (+) icon to begin a new conversation.

Resuming Previous Conversations

Once you have multiple conversations, click the clock icon to view your conversation history. From there, you can open and continue any past conversation.

Why Use Multiple Conversations?

There are several scenarios where starting a new conversation can be helpful:

1. Separating tasks. You might set up a conversation with LSBot to generate practice exercises or quiz you on a topic. If you want to pause those instructions and ask a different kind of question, starting a new conversation helps you get better results while keeping the original instructions intact.

2. Correcting mistakes. If LSBot gives incorrect answers, it’s often easier to start fresh than to keep building on faulty responses.

3. Reducing clutter. Long conversations can work fine, but starting new ones helps remove old, irrelevant context.

You may discover other reasons to use multiple conversations. You can use them to stay organized, or simply as a "reset" button for LSBot.

Here’s a demo showing how to start a new conversation in an assignment, and how to return to past ones: