Sidekick

Sidekick is your AI assistant built into the Plain web app, bringing powerful AI capabilities directly to your support workflow. Whether you need help drafting replies, looking for docs, or catching up on a long thread, it helps make your support workflows smarter and faster.

How to access Sidekick

Here's how to use Sidekick:

1. Open any thread in your workspace

2. Look for the dock at the bottom of the thread page – it has shortcuts to reply, add a note, or open Sidekick

3. Click on Sidekick, or use the B keyboard shortcut

4. Start chatting – ask Sidekick to help draft a reply, search for information, or analyze similar cases. Try prompts like

   • "Help me draft a response to this customer"

   • "What does our documentation say about API rate limits?"

   • "What should I do next to resolve this"

   • "How do we usually deflect requests like this"

   • "Summarize this conversation for me"

   • "Acknowledge the problem and apologize"

   • "Send relevant links from our docs to the customer"

Sidekick can be used in two modes:

1. Quick Ask mode – Sidekick appears above the dock in a small panel, perfect for a quick question.

   

2. Sidebar mode - Sidekick opens as a fixed panel on the side of the page, out of the way of the thread timeline or other UI. Great for longer conversations of keeping Sidekick open persistently.

   

You can switch modes with ⌘ + ⇧ + B.

What Sidekick can do

Smart reply suggestions

• Get AI-generated reply suggestions based on the customer's message and conversation history

• Review and approve suggestions before sending, or ask for alternatives

• Maintain your team's tone and style while saving time on routine responses

Knowledge base search

• Search through your documentation, help articles, and knowledge sources instantly

• Get relevant information without leaving the conversation

• Find answers to technical questions or product features on the fly

Similar case analysis

• Automatically find and analyze similar support requests from your history

• Learn from how previous cases were resolved

• Get context on recurring issues and their solutions

Context-aware assistance

• Sidekick understands the full conversation thread and customer details

• Provides suggestions that are specific to the current situation

• Remembers the context throughout your chat session

Persistent conversations

Your chats with Sidekick are only visible to you. They're saved per-thread so you always have the context of the current support request available.