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Using the AI Assistant

Info

The AI Assistant requires Gramps Web API version 2.5.0 or higher and Gramps Web version 24.10.0 or higher. Gramps Web API version 3.6.0 introduced tool calling capabilities for more intelligent interactions.

The Assistant view in Gramps Web (if available in your installation, labelled "Chat" in older versions) gives access to an AI assistant that can answer questions about your family tree.

Warning

Since this is still a new and evolving feature, some types of question work well while others don't. Also, as with any AI assistant, it can give factually incorrect answers, so be sure to always double check.

How it works

To understand which types of question the assistant can answer, it is helpful to understand how it works below the hood:

  1. The user asks a question.
  2. The assistant queries your database directly using specialized tools: it searches the tree with the full-text search, filters people/events/families/places by specific criteria, calculates relationships between individuals, and looks up complete records, including their notes.
  3. A large language model formulates an answer based on the records it has found.
  4. The answer is displayed to you, with links to the records it is based on.

The assistant answers only from your tree, not from the general knowledge of the language model – even about well-known people. If the tree does not record something, it says so, mentioning related information it found, for example in a note. Links to objects you are not allowed to see are shown as plain text.

Follow-up questions keep the context of earlier questions in the same conversation, so you can ask "And when did he die?" after asking about a person.

While the assistant is working, indicators show which tools it is currently using (e.g. searching people, looking up relationships) so you can follow along as it builds its answer. Longer-running questions are processed as background tasks – you can navigate away and come back, and progress is also reflected in Notifications. Answers are formatted with Markdown (lists, emphasis, links, etc.) for easier reading.

What you can ask

With the tool calling capabilities introduced in Gramps Web API version 3.6.0, the AI assistant can now handle more complex questions:

  • Family relationships: "Who are the grandparents of Jane Smith?" or "How is John Doe related to Mary Johnson?"
  • Filtered searches: "Show me all people born in London after 1850" or "Which events happened in Paris?"
  • Date-based queries: "Who died before 1900?" or "List marriages that took place between 1920 and 1950"
  • Place information: "What places are in France?" or "Tell me about St. Mary's Church"
  • General questions: "What's the name of John Doe's children?" or "When was Mary Smith born?"

Tips for asking questions

To get the best results from the AI assistant:

  • Be specific: Formulate your question with as much detail as possible to avoid ambiguities. For example, "When did John Smith born in 1850 in Boston marry?" is better than "When did John Smith marry?"
  • Use proper names: Mention specific names, places, and dates when relevant.
  • Ask one thing at a time: Break complex questions into simpler parts for better results.
  • Use your language: Large language models are multilingual, so you can ask questions in your own language and receive answers in the same language.

Tip

Please share your experience about things that work and don't work with the community.