Assistant

Genius Mode Overview

Genius Mode is still listed in the Assistant mode selector for some firms, but new chats that use it run as Auto. Everything Genius Mode was known for, reading across many documents and delivering finished Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and PDF files, now happens in Auto without switching modes.

This video demonstrates document generation with citations.

What changed

Selecting Genius Mode no longer starts a separate engine. The selector keeps showing Genius Mode when you reopen the chat, but the turn runs exactly as an Auto turn would. The one exception is agent creation: Create new → Agent still opens a Genius Mode conversation with a prefilled prompt. See Creating Agents from Assistant.

Create documents in Assistant

Ask for the file you want and attach the material it draws from. August reads across your sources, assembles the output, and adds it to the chat as a file card you can open in the side panel and download.

  1. Open Assistant and leave the mode on Auto.

  2. Click Add to upload files or add folders the task needs.

  3. Describe the outcome in one instruction, including the file type you want.

Auto can create Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and PDF files, produce redlines, and convert PDFs to Word. You can limit this under Chat Features in your user profile (the Office documents row). For file types you can upload, see Supported File Formats.

Task examples

These workflows suit multi-step document assembly:

  • Time entries: attach a calendar, a day's emails, and meeting notes, and ask for time entries. You get an Excel spreadsheet with a narrative for each entry.

  • Closing sets and binders: attach a deal folder and ask for a closing set as a Word or PDF package.

  • Pitch materials: attach a business development call transcript and ask for a PowerPoint deck.

  • Reformatting and translation: ask August to standardize an inconsistent agreement, translate it while keeping its structure, or turn a marked-up draft into a clean copy.

Editing in the Word Add-in

In Word, August suggests edits as tracked changes by default, and you can switch to Direct to apply clean edits. You apply or dismiss each suggested edit. For details, see Edit Documents with the Word Add-In.

Best practices

  • Start with clear intent. Describe the outcome you want, not just the documents you have. "Generate time entries for today from these materials" works better than "look at these files."

  • Attach everything relevant up front. Upload the calendar, the emails, the meeting notes, or the deal folder the task draws from.

  • Validate before you rely. Open the citations and confirm that the output matches the source.

  • Expect attorney review. Treat every generated file as a first pass to validate, adjust, and finalize before it goes to clients or counterparties.

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