> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.get-hive.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Ask Hive tools and modes: documents, decks, charts and search

> Use Ask Hive modes to search the Business Brain, create Word, PowerPoint and Excel files, visualise data, generate images and run cited web searches.

Ask Hive has modes for the jobs people ask of it most. Pick a mode from the composer and Hive
tailors how it answers, the placeholder changes to match, and you get four suggested prompts to
start from. Each mode's options narrow what it does.

Modes change how Hive works, not what it is allowed to do: every mode respects your permissions,
the approval gate and the kill switch.

## The modes

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="Business Brain" icon="brain">
    Answers from what Hive already knows about your business and cites each record it used.

    **Search within:** **Everything Hive knows**, **Client files**, **Policies & templates** or
    **Ledger & finance**.

    Try: "What changed across our customer base this quarter?" or "Summarise everything we know
    about our biggest account". A link takes you to the [Business Brain](/brain/business-brain).
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Create document" icon="file-word">
    Drafts an editable document you can download as Word (`.docx`).

    Try: "Draft a renewal letter for our largest account" or "Create a post-mortem report for our
    last incident".
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Create presentation" icon="file-powerpoint">
    Creates an editable PowerPoint presentation, with every number grounded in your data.

    Try: "Build a quarterly business review for the leadership team" or "Draft a board update on
    this quarter's performance".
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Create spreadsheet" icon="file-excel">
    Creates an Excel workbook with structured worksheets and supported formulas.

    Try: "Build a quarterly budget with department-level cost breakdowns" or "Build a vendor
    comparison matrix with pricing and SLAs".
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Generate image" icon="image">
    Produces an image. **Style:** **Diagram**, **Illustration** or **Photo-real**.

    Try: "Sketch a one-page diagram of our month-end close" or "Draw a simple flow of how a lead
    becomes a customer".
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Visualize data" icon="chart-column">
    Builds a chart from your data. Chart types: Bar, Line, Pie, Scatter, Heat map, Bubble, Word
    cloud, Sankey, Radar, Stacked bar, Sunburst, Funnel, Treemap, Candlestick, Flow, Area,
    Histogram and Gantt.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Web search" icon="globe">
    Searches the web, with every claim cited. **Scope:** **Whole web**, **News & press only** or
    **Gov & regulatory sources**.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## How to use a mode

<Steps>
  <Step title="Choose the mode">
    Select it from the composer's tools. The chip shows the active mode.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Pick an option">
    Where the mode has options (scope, style, chart type), choose one. Hive sends that choice
    alongside your question, which is sent exactly as you typed it.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Describe what you need">
    Be specific about audience, length and the data to use — "a two-page renewal letter for Acme
    using our last three invoices" beats "a letter".
  </Step>

  <Step title="Review and download">
    Generated files open in the conversation, where you can review and download them.
  </Step>
</Steps>

<Tip>
  Combine a mode with `@` pins to control the data: "Create spreadsheet" plus `@Xero` gives you a
  workbook built from your accounting data rather than from general knowledge.
</Tip>

## Connected tools as sources

Outside the modes, **Connect your apps** in the composer takes you to connect more tools. Pinning
tools with `@` (up to 12 per question) restricts the answer to those sources.

## What modes do not do

* A mode never grants new access. If an account is on **Read**, Hive still cannot send or change
  anything through it.
* A mode never bypasses the approval gate or the kill switch.
* Deep research is not available as a mode yet.

## Related

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Ask Hive" icon="message" href="/ask/ask-hive">
    Citations, files, limits and actions.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Library" icon="folder-open" href="/library/library">
    Files and folders you can bring into a chat.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>