Create and manage artifacts
Artifacts are the rich outputs Glean Tau creates in a chat: documents, interactive pages, spreadsheets, slides, messages, emails, and more. You can preview, edit, version, and share each one. Ask Glean Tau to make an artifact in any chat, then open it from the Library to work on it directly.
Understand local and Glean artifacts
Every artifact is either local or Glean-hosted. The difference decides where it's stored, who can see it, and which actions you get.
| Local artifact | Glean artifact | |
|---|---|---|
| Stored | On the computer that created it | In your Glean library |
| Created by | Any chat that produces an artifact | Syncing a local artifact, or an artifact already in Glean |
| Visible to | Only you, on that computer | You, plus anyone you share it with |
| Available on other devices | No | Yes |
| Editable in Glean Tau | Yes | Yes, for documents you own. Changes reach Glean only when you select Update in Glean. |
| Version history | Kept on your computer | Kept in Glean |
Glean Tau creates every artifact as a local artifact first. When the agent finishes its turn, Glean Tau uploads each new artifact to your Glean library as a private copy and keeps the two in sync.
Sync artifacts with Glean
After a local artifact has a Glean copy, Glean Tau syncs them automatically:
- After each agent turn, it uploads the agent's changes.
- About 5 seconds after you save an edit, it uploads your change.
- Before each agent turn, and about every 45 seconds while the artifact is open, it checks Glean for newer changes.
What syncs depends on the artifact type:
| Type | Sync |
|---|---|
| Documents, interactive pages, messages, and emails | Both ways. Edits made in Glean are applied to your local copy. |
| Spreadsheets | Both ways. If someone changes the spreadsheet in Glean while you edit it, Glean Tau keeps your version and adds the Glean version to version history. |
| Presentations and PDFs | Upload only. Edits made in Glean aren't applied to your local copy. |
The artifact's toolbar shows its sync status:
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Synced | The artifact matches its Glean copy. |
| Syncing… | A sync is in progress. |
| Sync now | The artifact has local changes, or it isn't in Glean yet. Select it to sync or upload now. |
| Updated from Glean | Glean Tau applied edits someone made in Glean. |
| Changed in Glean | A presentation or PDF has a newer version in Glean. Open it in Glean to see the changes. |
| Glean version saved | Someone changed a spreadsheet in Glean while you edited it. Your version is kept, and the Glean version is in version history. |
| Sync conflict | The artifact changed both here and in Glean. The Glean version appears as a proposal you can accept or discard. |
| View only | You don't own the Glean artifact. Only its owner can publish local changes to it. |
| Sync failed | The last sync didn't finish. Select it to retry. |
| Sign in to sync | Glean Tau can't reach your Glean account. Sign in again to resume syncing. |
To keep new artifacts local, go to Settings → Extensions → Artifacts and turn off Upload new artifacts to Glean under Glean sync. New artifacts then stay on your computer until you select Sync now. Artifacts already in Glean keep syncing.
Work with an artifact already in Glean
The Library lists the artifacts in your Glean account, including ones created in Glean Web. You can browse and search them here, or select Open in Glean to open one in Glean Web.
When you open a Glean document you own, it opens in the editor. Your edits don't sync to Glean automatically. Select Update in Glean to save them to the Glean artifact. Until you do, the Glean copy doesn't change.
Only the owner can edit, share, or restore versions of a Glean artifact. To find artifacts that someone shared with you, filter the Available anywhere tab by Shared with you.
Remove or delete a local artifact
A local artifact that you uploaded to Glean shows Remove. Removing it takes the local copy out of its chat, along with its local version history and its link to Glean. The Glean artifact itself stays. Any local changes that haven't synced to Glean yet are lost.
A local artifact that isn't in Glean shows Delete. Deleting it permanently removes the artifact and can't be undone.
Decide when to use artifacts
Create an artifact for a deliverable output:
- A document, brief, or spec you'll keep editing
- An interactive HTML page or report
- A spreadsheet or slide deck
- A message or email draft you want to review before sending
For a quick answer or a code change in your project, stay in the chat. Create an artifact when you want a durable result with its own version history that you can share.
Create and edit an artifact
Ask for it in a chat
Describe what you want, such as "Create a one-page project brief" or "Build an HTML dashboard from this data." Glean Tau creates the artifact and opens it. You can also select New in the Library to start a fresh chat with a creation prompt.
Review and edit
Open the artifact to preview it. How you edit depends on the type:
- Documents, messages, and emails open in the editor. Changes to a local artifact save as you go.
- Interactive pages need you to select Edit and then Save changes.
- Spreadsheets and presentations have no editor. Ask Glean Tau to revise them in the chat.
To add an image to a local document, paste it or drag it in. Images must be PNG, JPEG, or WebP files up to 10 MB.
Iterate with Glean Tau
Ask for changes in the chat. For documents, messages, emails, and interactive pages, Glean Tau shows a proposal. Switch between Original and Proposed to compare. Documents, messages, and emails also offer Diff. Then select Accept changes or Discard proposed changes.
Let it sync to Glean
When the agent finishes, Glean Tau uploads the artifact to your Glean library as a private copy, so it's on your other devices and ready to share. Later changes sync automatically. See Sync artifacts with Glean.
Select More → Library in the left sidebar to browse everything you've created. To keep the Library in the sidebar, use Customize sidebar in the More menu. In a chat, the side panel's Library view shows the same artifacts.
- Use the All, On this computer, and Available anywhere tabs to choose which artifacts to show. On this computer lists local artifacts, and Available anywhere lists artifacts in Glean. See Understand local and Glean artifacts.
- Search by title, content, or author, and filter by type: Documents, Interactive, Meeting notes, Messages and emails, Presentations, or Spreadsheets.
- On the Available anywhere tab, filter by Everyone, Created by you, or Shared with you.
- Switch between Grid view and List view.
- Select Open chat to return to the conversation that created an artifact.
- Open Version history to view, compare, or restore earlier versions.
The side panel's start page also lists the artifacts from your current chat under In this session.
Select More actions on an artifact card to see its actions. Which ones appear depends on whether the artifact is local or in Glean:
| Action | Available for |
|---|---|
| Open in chat | A local artifact whose chat is still available |
| Remove | A local artifact that's also in Glean |
| Delete | A local artifact that isn't in Glean |
| Open in Glean | An artifact in Glean |
| Copy Artifact link | An artifact in Glean |
| Copy Artifact ID | An artifact in Glean |
| Start a chat | An artifact in Glean |
Right-click an artifact to choose how to open it, such as Open in tab or Open in page, depending on its type.
Comment on an artifact in Glean
Glean artifact comments in Glean Tau aren't available to every organization yet. If you don't see Comments in the artifact toolbar, they aren't turned on for your account.
An open artifact in Glean shows Comments in its toolbar, with the number of open threads. Select it to read and add comments:
- Use Add a comment to start a thread, and Reply to answer one.
- Select Resolve to close a thread, or Reopen to open it again. Resolved threads are hidden. Select Show resolved to see them.
- Select Add to chat to send a thread to the composer, so you can ask Glean Tau to address it.
Comments are stored in Glean, so collaborators see them in Glean Web too. You can delete only your own comments.
Limitations
- Local version history is pruned. Glean Tau keeps up to 50 local versions, or 500 MB of history, per artifact, and always keeps at least two. It removes older versions beyond those limits. Sync an artifact to Glean to keep its history there.
- Moving the file breaks its history. If you rename or move a local artifact's file outside Glean Tau, Glean Tau treats it as a new artifact and it loses its earlier version history.
- Preview and save size limits. Limits apply by type: about 10 MB for documents, HTML, messages, and emails, 25 MB for spreadsheets, and 50 MB for presentations. Larger files might not preview or save.
See also
- Get started for non-engineering users — create your first artifact from files in a project folder
- Extensions — the full list of extensions and their default states