Use Sigma Assistant to explore and analyze workbook data (Beta)

This documentation describes one or more public beta features that are in development and available only to customers who meet certain conditions. For more information, contact your Account Executive.

Beta features are subject to quick, iterative changes; therefore, the current user experience in the Sigma service can differ from the information provided in this page.

This page should not be considered official published documentation until Sigma removes this notice and the beta flag on the corresponding feature(s) in the Sigma service. For the full beta feature disclaimer, see Beta features.

The use of AI features is subject to the following disclaimer.

Sigma Assistant lets you ask natural language questions about workbook data and content. When viewing the published version of a workbook, you can use Assistant in analyze mode to explore the workbook data and iterate on analysis. If you open a workbook for editing, you can also analyze data from build mode or plan mode.

When you use Assistant in the published version of a workbook, you can do any of the following:

Ask questions about data in the workbook, including follow-up questions to further explore the data.
Review the step-by-step decision logic that Assistant used to answer your question.

This document describes the capabilities of Assistant in analyze mode when viewing the published version of a workbook. For information about using Assistant in plan or build mode when editing a workbook draft, see Use Sigma Assistant to build dashboards and apps.

Interact with Sigma Assistant in a published workbook

When viewing the published version of a workbook, you can use Sigma Assistant in analyze mode to ask about the entire workbook or specific elements, or you can ask it to reason about the workbook data. If you switch from the published version or the draft of the workbook, Sigma Assistant maintains context of the current conversation.

When Sigma Assistant answers questions, it can change filters and controls in the workbook, but it cannot change filters applied in a data source of the workbook, such as row-level security (RLS) filters applied in a data model.

Requirements

When viewing the published version of a workbook, using Sigma Assistant in analyze mode requires the following:

A supported AI provider must be configured for your organization. See Configure an AI provider.
You must be assigned an account type with the Use Assistant permission enabled. See Account types.
You must be granted access to the workbook.

Sigma Assistant inherits your permissions and data access. If you interact with Assistant on a published version of the workbook, only data on visible pages of the workbook is used to answer questions.

Ask questions of the workbook with Sigma Assistant

To ask questions about all pages in your workbook:

In the workbook header, select () Assistant panel.
Where prompted to Ask about this workbook or type @ to reference elements and pages, enter a question about the workbook. Enter @ to reference an element or page by name.

Sigma Assistant responds.
(Optional) Ask follow-up questions about the data.

Ask questions of an element with Sigma Assistant

To ask questions about a specific data element in your workbook:

In any supported element menu, select Analyze with Assistant.
In the input field, enter a prompt.

The Assistant panel opens and responds to the prompt in the context of the selected element.
(Optional) Ask follow-up questions.

Example use cases and prompts

For example, given a large workbook that contains product sales data for PLUGS ELECTRONICS, you can interact with Sigma Assistant in any of the following ways:

Explore the workbook and its contents. Discover which pages contain relevant information for your question. Sample questions:
- What does this dashboard cover?
- What page has sales totals for each region?
- Is there a chart showing the trend line of sales per region?
Get answers based on data in the workbook, and interact with Assistant to review data summaries instead of creating your own. Sample questions:
- What were the total units sold?
- What were the sales in the first quarter?
- Which products are the top drivers of revenue?
- What’s the average number of products sold by month over the last 6 months?
Ask questions about a specific chart or data element, including different aggregation levels or filters. Sample questions:
- What was the monthly sales trend in the West region over the last 6 months?
- For a chart that shows average products sold by region: What were the average products sold by state?
Ask complex questions that involve reasoning on the data. Sample questions:
- How is the business doing?
- Which store is underperforming compared to the others?
- Why was there a dip in sales in October?

Embed Assistant in the workbook

If you want to securely embed a workbook and give users access to Assistant in the workbook, add :show_assistant=true to your embed URL as a query string parameter. Only users with the Use Assistant permission enabled on their account type can access Assistant in the workbook.

Embedding Assistant in the workbook is only supported for secure embeds. You cannot embed Assistant in a public embed. For more details, see Embed URL parameters.