In This Article: A reference guide to the configuration options available within Smith — including the Settings panel (Creativity, Memory, and Multi-Model toggles), the My Lakehouse Files panel, chat history management, and conversation export. Use this article to understand what each control does and when to change it.
Overview
Smith surfaces three configuration layers directly from the chat interface: the Settings panel for per-session AI behavior, the My Lakehouse Files panel for document grounding, and Chat history for session management. None of these require navigating away from the Smith tab — every control is accessible from within the chat view itself.
This article documents each control, its confirmed UI label, and the practical effect it has on Smith's responses. For broader Lakehouse file management (uploading, organizing, renaming), see Managing Files in the Lakehouse.
Accessing the Settings Panel
The Settings panel opens from the gear icon () in the bottom-right corner of the chat input bar. It sits alongside the attachment icon () and the information icon. You do not need to leave the current conversation to adjust settings — the panel opens as an overlay.
Settings apply to the current session. Changes take effect immediately on your next prompt submission — there is no separate Save button. The panel description confirms: "Control text randomness with the creativity dial. Lower settings produce more focused, predictable text; higher settings allow more creative, varied outputs. Turn memory on or off for your session."
Settings Panel Controls
Creativity
The Creativity control sets the model's temperature — the degree of randomness in how Smith generates text. It is displayed as a three-button selector with the labels LOW, MEDIUM, and HIGH, with a sub-label that reads "Control the level of creativity."
Temperature does not affect accuracy or knowledge — it affects how Smith selects among possible word choices when composing a response. Lower values produce tighter, more repeatable outputs; higher values introduce more variation and unpredictability.
Focused and deterministic. Smith selects the most statistically likely words — responses are consistent and direct.
Balanced. Consistent enough for analysis, flexible enough for explanations and general business writing.
Creative and varied. Smith explores a wider range of word choices — outputs differ more run-to-run.
Memory
The Memory toggle controls whether Smith retains context from earlier messages within the same session. The sub-label in the Settings panel reads "Reference past sessions." When enabled, Smith can reference prior exchanges in the current conversation without you repeating context on each prompt.
Memory is session-scoped. It does not persist cross-session by default and does not share your conversation history across other users in your organization. Turn it off when you want each prompt treated as independent — useful when switching topics mid-conversation or running isolated queries.
- Smith references earlier messages in the active thread
- Follow-up questions build naturally without re-stating context
- Iterative analysis (e.g., "Now apply that to Q3") works correctly
- Best for multi-step analysis, document review, strategic discussions
- Each prompt is evaluated in isolation
- No context from prior messages in the thread is used
- Useful when switching topics or running unrelated queries
- Avoids context contamination when starting a fresh line of inquiry
Multi-Model
The Multi-Model toggle enables side-by-side response comparison across multiple AI models simultaneously. The sub-label reads "Compare model responses." When on, Smith generates a response from each selected model in parallel, presenting them in a split view so you can evaluate different perspectives on the same prompt. Multi-Model is off by default. Turn it on in the Settings panel when you want to compare responses, and turn it off again when you do not.
This is most useful when you want to validate a conclusion across models, or when the prompt is interpretive enough that model variation is informative. For straightforward data queries, a single model with Memory on is typically more efficient. The models you can compare are the ones that are active for your project: the included base models, plus any advanced models your project has purchased and activated.
Model availability and activation
Which models you can choose from depends on what your project has available. A set of base models is included with every project and is shown as included. Beyond those, newer GPT and Claude generations, including the latest GPT releases and Claude Opus, Sonnet and Fable models, are available as advanced models: these are purchased and then activated for the project. An advanced model that has been activated can also be deactivated again later, which removes it from the models people can pick. The roster changes as new releases land, so the Settings panel is the source of truth for what your project can use right now.
Advanced models that have not been activated for your project appear in a locked state, so you can see what exists without being able to run a prompt against it. Models also carry a cost indicator, so you can see the relative cost of a model before you choose it. For current pricing and what your project has bought, check with your project administrator.
If you are a project member rather than an administrator, only the models that are active for your project are available to you when you choose a model in chat. Models that have not been activated are not offered. If a model you expect to use is missing, ask a project administrator to activate it for the project.
My Lakehouse Files Panel
The My Lakehouse Files panel occupies the left side of the Smith interface. It presents your Lakehouse folders as a searchable file tree, with a search-folder input at the top. Select individual files or entire folders to include them as context for your prompt — Smith will ground its response in those documents.
The panel mirrors what is stored in the Lakehouse tab. Files uploaded to the Lakehouse appear in Smith's file tree shortly after upload — the process is queue-based and completes quickly, with larger files taking slightly longer. Files are queued for indexing on upload and are usually queryable shortly afterwards, and a background indexing cycle runs as a catch-all; a file may be visible in the panel before it is fully indexed and queryable by Smith. A yellow clock icon in the Type column marks a file that is stored but not yet indexed. The maximum supported file size is 4GB per file.
File Tree Controls
Within the file tree, you can search folders in real time using the search input at the top of the panel, and you can filter files by file type. Right-clicking a file presents the context menu, which includes Preview, Rename, Move and Download. Right-clicking a folder shows Add Folder and Favorite. Multi-select is supported for bulk operations.
The actions offered to you depend on your permission on the folder, and those permissions are applied consistently. Delete is only available on content you are entitled to remove: Editors and Contributors do not get a Delete action on other people's files and folders. Folder permissions are also applied when you upload into a top-level folder, so you can only add files where your permission allows it.
Folder permissions can be managed rather than only inherited. From a folder's detail view, someone with the right permission can grant other people access to that folder.
The expand icon in the top-right corner of the My Lakehouse Files panel widens the panel view. If your folder structure is deep or you manage a large number of files, expanding the panel makes navigation easier before returning to the chat.
Indexing for queries: Files are queued for indexing on upload and are usually queryable shortly afterwards, and a separate background indexing cycle runs as a catch-all to make files fully queryable by Smith. A file may be visible in the panel before it is indexed — a yellow clock icon in the Type column marks a file that is stored but still indexing, so if Smith cannot reference a recently uploaded file in a response, check that column first.
Chat History and Session Management
The Chat history button appears in the top-right corner of Smith, next to Start new chat. It opens a history drawer listing your previous conversation sessions, sorted most-recent-first. Each entry shows the session name (auto-generated from your first prompt) and the date it was last active.
From the history drawer you can search by name, resume any previous session, or delete individual sessions. A "Clear all history" option is also available. Deletions are permanent — there is no recovery path once a session is removed.
Filter sessions by name using the search bar at the top of the history drawer. Useful when you need to locate a specific thread by topic or date.
Click any session to reopen it. The full conversation history loads, and you can continue from where you left off. Each thread supports 30+ exchanges before a new thread is recommended.
Remove individual sessions or use "Clear all history" to wipe all sessions at once. Deletions are permanent — confirm before proceeding.
Individual conversations can be exported to Word or PDF format from within an active session. Export is per-session — bulk export across multiple sessions is not currently supported.
Team access to Smith
Access to Smith is controlled per person from the project team roster. The roster lists everyone on the project in a table, with the access controls shown alongside each person. A roster is available for non-billable projects as well as billed ones.
Each person on the roster has a Smith access setting that an administrator can switch on or off. Changing someone's access asks you to confirm the change before it is applied.
A user who does not have Smith access cannot use Smith chat. If chat is unavailable to you and you expect to have it, ask a project administrator to check your access on the team roster.
Settings Configuration by Use Case
The three settings work together. Choosing the right combination for your task type reduces unnecessary back-and-forth and produces more useful first-pass responses. The table below summarizes recommended configurations for common Smith use cases.
Settings in Smith apply per session, not globally — resetting a conversation with Start new chat does not reset your Settings panel selections. If Smith's responses feel too rigid or too unpredictable, Creativity is usually the first adjustment to try. If you have questions about file sync timing or the Lakehouse connection from Smith, the Support widget in the bottom-right of Compass can connect you with the team.
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