Your first conversation

By the end of this tutorial you’ll have sent a real message in TeamMate, received a reply, and you’ll understand how to either let the system route your message or pick a specific specialist yourself.

This is tutorial 2 of 4 in the Getting started series. It takes about 4 minutes.

Before you start

• You’ve completed Tutorial 1 — Create your account & workspace.
• You’re signed in and looking at the main chat screen (the one with “What can I do for you?” at the top).

If you closed the tab, open https://store.no-downtime.com  again and sign in. TeamMate will drop you straight back on this screen.

Step 1 — Look at the screen

Take 30 seconds to spot the parts you’ll use.

You’ll work with three things in this tutorial:

1. The composer — the rounded box in the middle of the screen with the placeholder text “Type your prompt — / for patterns, $ for skills, @ to search files”.
2. The send button — the arrow icon on the right side of the composer. It stays greyed-out until you start typing.
3. The specialist cards — four buttons below the composer (Atlas, Mutarjim, Munaseq, Muhalil in the example screenshot; yours may differ). Each card represents a built-in agent good at a specific job.

There’s also a built-in general assistant available by default — when you send a message without picking a specialist card, the general assistant answers and routes the work behind the scenes.

Step 2 — Decide how to start

You have two ways to begin. Both work; pick whichever feels easier.

• Just type a question. If you’re not sure who would answer it best, the built-in general assistant will pick the right specialist for you behind the scenes.
• Click a specialist card first. If you already know your question is about, say, translating a document, you can click the Mutarjim — Arabic ↔ English Translator card and your message goes straight to that specialist.

For your first message, let’s try the simpler path: just type without picking a card.

Step 3 — Type your first message

1. Click anywhere inside the composer (the box with the placeholder text). The cursor will start blinking.

2. Type a short question. Real examples that work well:

   • What is in the company's annual leave policy?
   • Summarise the latest Q3 product update for me.
   • Translate "Welcome to our office" to Arabic.

   Don’t worry about phrasing — write it like you’d ask a colleague in Slack.

3. Notice the send arrow on the right of the composer turns orange and clickable.

4. Click the orange send arrow, or press Enter on your keyboard.

Step 4 — Watch the reply arrive

TeamMate will:

1. Save your message at the right side of the screen (you’ll see it in a grey bubble).
2. Show a small “thinking…” indicator below it.
3. Start streaming the reply, word by word.
4. Show a finished reply once it’s done.

The whole thing usually takes a few seconds for a short question, longer for one that needs research.

While the reply is streaming you can scroll up and down freely — the live text won’t be lost.

Step 5 — Read the reply carefully

A few things to notice on a finished reply:

• The body text is the actual answer. It might include bullet points, code blocks, or links.
• The disclaimer below the composer (“Chat output is generated by AI and may not always be accurate. Please verify the information before taking any action.”) is a reminder. Treat replies like an assistant’s first draft — useful, but worth checking when the stakes are high.
• The chat title at the top-left is auto-generated from your first message. It’s also added to the Today section in the sidebar so you can come back to this chat tomorrow.

Step 6 — Send a follow-up

You’re in a conversation, not a single-shot question box. Try a follow-up that builds on the reply:

1. Click back in the composer.
2. Type something like Can you make it shorter? or Now in bullet points please.
3. Send.

The new reply will use everything that came before as context. This is how you refine an answer — keep asking until it’s right.

Step 7 — Pick a specialist on your next chat

For your next question you might want a specific expert. Start a new chat first:

1. In the sidebar, click New Task at the top of the navigation list.

   You’ll see the same empty chat screen again, with the specialist cards back below the composer.

2. Pick one of the cards. For example, click Mutarjim — Arabic ↔ English Translator if you want a translation; click Muhalil — Google Sheets Data Analyst if you want help with a spreadsheet.

   

   The card highlights to show your choice.

3. Type your question and send.

The conversation goes directly to that specialist, with its full instructions and any connected knowledge.

What you built

• One saved conversation in your workspace, visible under Today in the sidebar.
• A second conversation (if you did step 7), tied to a specific specialist.
• A feel for the difference between letting the general assistant route your message and picking a specialist yourself.

When to pick a specialist vs the general assistant

• Let the general assistant handle it when you have a vague question, when it spans multiple topics, or when you don’t know which expert to ask.
• Pick a specialist when you already know your question is in that specialist’s domain — translation, sheets analysis, Teams messages, and so on. The specialist will be faster, more focused, and won’t second-guess your intent.

You can always switch later — see Chat → Agents in chat for how to bring a specialist into a chat mid-conversation.

What if the reply never arrives?

• It’s stuck on “thinking…” for more than 30 seconds — refresh the page once. TeamMate reconnects automatically and you’ll see either the finished reply or a clear error.
• You see a red error message — read it; it usually tells you what’s wrong (for example, “agent didn’t respond”). Click New Task and try a simpler question.
• The send arrow stays grey when you type — the workspace is still loading. Wait two seconds and try again.

If the problem keeps happening, see Chat → Troubleshooting chat.

Next

You can talk to your workspace. Now bring your team in.

→ Tutorial 3 — Invite your team