0.1 · Sign in and start a thread
- Open your TextQL workspace (typically
app.textql.comor your company’s dedicated URL) and sign in. - Click New Thread in the sidebar. Each thread is a self-contained conversation with Ana.
Starting a new thread from the sidebar.
0.2 · Attach a data source
Before sending your first message, click the ”+” button at the bottom-left of the chat input:- Connectors — select the database(s) your team uses. Missing one? Ask your admin (Connectors page).
- Tools — make sure Text to SQL and Ontology are on.
- Output format — leave on Chat for this workshop.
Attach connectors and tools via the '+' menu — before the first message.
The demo dataset — guaranteed answers for every question in this guide
The demo dataset — guaranteed answers for every question in this guide
Running this as a demo, a guided session, or solo without your own data? Use the TextQL demo connectors — public datasets (SEC Company Filings, BLS Employment & Wages, FRED Economic Indicators, NOAA Weather & Climate) available in demo workspaces — and every pattern in this guide resolves cleanly. Swap the bracketed examples like this:
Facilitators: pre-run these once in the demo workspace the day before — the screenshots in this guide were captured against exactly this dataset, so what attendees see matches the pictures.
| Guide prompt | Demo-dataset version |
|---|---|
| Baseline control (0.5) | “How many companies are in the SEC filings data?” |
| First question (1.1) | “How many SEC filings were submitted last month? How does that compare to the month before?” |
| Break it down (2.1) | “Break that down by filing type — show the top 5.” |
| The “why” (2.4) | “Which filing types drove the change? Dig one level deeper.” |
| Chart (3.1) | “Show me quarterly revenue for the 5 most profitable companies as a chart.” |
| Trust (4.1) | “How did you define ‘most profitable’? Walk me through it.” |
| Cross-source (3.6) | “Is there a relationship between unemployment (BLS) and SEC filing volume over the last two years?” |
| Playbook (5.1) | “Create a playbook: every Monday 9am, summarize last week’s SEC filings by type and flag anything unusual. Email it to me.” |
No data connected yet? —You need at least one connected data source for this workshop. If your workspace shows no connectors: ask your workspace admin or TextQL contact — they can connect a source or provision a demo workspace with sample data in minutes. (If you ARE the admin, the Connect Your Data workshop covers every source type step by step.)
0.3 · Orientation — what’s where
| Sidebar item | What it is |
|---|---|
| Threads | Your past conversations — every analysis is saved and shareable |
| Dashboards | Live, interactive dashboards you or teammates published |
| Playbooks | Scheduled analyses delivered to email/Slack |
| Connectors | The databases and APIs your org has plugged in |
| Ontology | Your org’s governed definitions — metrics, terms, business logic |
| Context Library | Reference docs Ana reads to understand your business |
The lay of the land: Threads, Dashboards, Playbooks, Connectors, Ontology, Context Library.
0.4 · Say hello
Prompt
You’ll see: Ana lists the attached connectors, summarizes what’s in them, and suggests starter questions tailored to your actual data.
Ana's tour of your data — keep her suggested questions handy for Module 1.
0.5 · Baseline check — three test questions
Before learning anything, benchmark your workspace. Ask these three and write down the answers and how long each took — you’ll compare against them at the end of the workshop:Prompt
You’ll see: a simple count — both you and Ana should find this easy. If this fails, something’s wrong with the connection: see Troubleshooting below.
Prompt
Prompt
You’ll see: the hard one is your baseline. Note the number AND the definition Ana assumed. By the wrap-up — after you’ve learned to refine, verify, and govern definitions — re-ask it and compare. That before/after is the whole point of the workshop.
Troubleshooting
| Symptom | Fix |
|---|---|
| No connectors listed under ”+“ | Ask your org admin to grant access on the Connectors page |
| Ana can’t see a data source | It wasn’t attached before the first message — start a new thread and attach it first |
| Suggested questions look wrong for your team | That’s fine — Module 6 covers teaching the platform your context |
✅ Checkpoint
- You have a thread open with at least one connector attached
- Ana answered the hello prompt with a real description of your data
- You can see Threads, Dashboards, and Playbooks in the sidebar
- You ran the three baseline questions and noted the answers (especially the hard one’s definition)