AI query refinement

Even strong researchers benefit from a second pass on the prompt. Parallect’s AI query refinement takes your draft, clarifies intent, adds useful structure, and suggests dimensions to explore — so the providers receive instructions that match how you actually decide.

What refinement does

Refinement is not a separate “mini chat.” It’s a focused step that:

• Restates your goal in clear, research-friendly language.
• Suggests dimensions — axes like tradeoffs, risks, timeline, or evidence quality — you can keep, edit, or remove.
• Surfaces quick suggestions when you’re unsure what to ask next.

The output is a refined prompt you can adopt wholesale, merge with your original, or discard.

How to trigger refinement

Use the keyboard shortcut Cmd+Shift+Enter (Mac) to open refinement from the query field. On Windows and Linux, use the equivalent Ctrl+Shift+Enter if shown in the app.

Cmd+Shift+Enter

You can also use any Refine or Improve query control in the UI if your workspace shows one — behavior matches the shortcut.

Reading the refined prompt

The refined version usually:

• Names the decision or deliverable explicitly.
• Scopes geography, time, or source types when relevant.
• Requests evidence in a way providers can satisfy (e.g. citations, comparisons).

Compare it to your original side by side. If something important vanished — a constraint, a stakeholder, a forbidden source — add it back in the editor before you run.

Focus dimensions

Dimensions are the angles Parallect will keep in view during research. Examples might include “cost,” “compliance,” “vendor lock-in,” or “team skill fit.”

• Add dimensions when your question spans multiple concerns you want weighted in the synthesis.
• Remove dimensions that would distract or over-constrain the answer.
• Customize when your domain uses specific rubrics — e.g. “latency SLOs” instead of generic “performance.”

Dimensions help both individual providers and the final synthesis stay aligned with how you judge success.

Quick suggestions

When you’re exploring a new area, quick suggestions can propose:

• Narrower scopes (“limit to EU regulation”).
• Comparisons you didn’t name explicitly.
• Risk and mitigation framings for decisions.

Treat them as shortcuts, not obligations — pick what matches your task.

“Use this prompt” vs “Keep mine”

After review, you’ll typically choose:

• Use this prompt — Replace your draft with the refined text (and chosen dimensions) and proceed. Best when the refinement captures your intent and your constraints.
• Keep mine — Discard the refinement and run with your original wording. Use this when you’re iterating quickly, testing a hypothesis, or the refined text overfits to a structure you don’t want.

Next steps

• Match providers to your refined prompt: Choosing providers.
• Run with confidence: Research modes and Viewing results.