To open the chat for Handy (Handoff's AI assistant), select Ask Handy. On desktop it is at the top of the left sidebar, and in the mobile app it is the bar at the bottom of the screen.
Available on all plans. Flex includes 50 AI credits a month, and Pro and Scale are unlimited. Works on desktop and in the mobile app.
Open the chat and ask
On desktop, select Ask Handy at the top of the left sidebar. In the mobile app, select the Ask Handy bar at the bottom of the screen.
Type your request in the message box, or select the microphone to dictate it.
Send the message.
Handy replies in the chat and shows cards for what it created or changed. It answers in the language you write in.
If you open the chat from an estimate, a project, or a document, Handy uses that screen as context. Open it from the home screen and it works across your whole account.
The empty chat shows shortcuts such as Estimate, Takeoff, Schedule, and AI documents, each with example prompts. Daily brief and Insights need a Pro or Scale plan. To summarize your notifications, open the Inbox and select Summarize last 24 hours.
For everything Handy can do, see How Handy works and What you can ask Handy to do. For wording tips, see How to write a good prompt for Handy.
Handy doesn't press buttons, fill in forms, or move around the app for you. It works on your data directly, then shows the result as a card you can open. It follows your role's permissions, as described in How Handy works.
Attach files, photos, and voice
In the message box, open the attachment menu to add files. The options include Upload files, Project files, and Takeoff mode. Walkthrough note appears in the mobile app only. Room scan appears on iPhone and iPad when it is available for you.
Select the microphone to dictate a message. Live Mode is a separate voice conversation with its own Start conversation button. You can pick a tone and English or Spanish. See How AI credits work for how Live Mode counts.
Messages can be up to 25,000 characters.
Find, start, and delete chats
Handy keeps your conversations in a list.
In the chat top bar, select Chat history to see your chats grouped by Today, Yesterday, Last 7 days, and Older.
Use Search to find a chat, then select it to continue the conversation.
Select New chat to start a fresh conversation.
To remove a chat, select Delete chat.
Chats without a title show as "Untitled thread".
The chat shows "Reconnecting to the chat..." while it is offline, and a back-online message appears when the connection returns. Keep the screen open until then.
Who can see chats depends on the role. In Settings > Roles, the AI chat access setting chooses between Only their own chats and All company chats.
While Handy works
While Handy builds an estimate, the chat shows a progress box with the current step, which turns to a Complete label when each step ends. Sections and line items appear on the estimate as they are created. Editing is locked while the run is active, and a banner says "Handy is still working on this estimate. Editing will be available when the chat finishes."
When a step finishes, a summary card shows the result with a status of Complete, Skipped, Stopped, or Failed, and counts such as 3 added, 12 updated, or 2 removed. Select Show reasoning to see why Handy made the changes. Some steps, such as research, show a Skip button, and the stop button in the message box cancels the whole run. For a vague request, Handy shows a Clarifying questions card. Choose an option, or select Type your answer..., and select Skip to leave a question unanswered. See How Handy researches your past work for what skipping research changes.
Each change Handy makes to an estimate creates a version card in the chat. Open the card and select Use this version to go back to it. The button is hidden on read-only estimates.