Optimizely Opal Chat

  • Updated

Optimizely Opal is an agent orchestration platform. It answers questions about Optimizely, walks you through configuration steps, and links you to relevant documentation. Opal adapts its communication style to your technical expertise, helping you work smarter and complete tasks more efficiently.

Administrators must grant users access to Optimizely Opal.

Opal is enabled by default for eligible customers. Users do not have access until an administrator enables it for each individual using Opti ID. For steps, see Get started with Optimizely Opal for administrators.

Click Ask Opal to open Opal Chat, which helps you find information and automate tasks. See Optimizely Opal Overview for information. To close Opal Chat, click Ask Opal again or click Close.

Access Opal Chat

Depending on your organization and product access, you can access Opal Chat in several places across the Optimizely platform.

  • Opal website – Go to opal.optimizely.com. Opal Chat opens automatically. Use the Set Product Instance drop-down list to choose the product instance you have access to.

    Screenshot of Opal Chat on the Opal website showing the chat interface and Set Product Instance drop-down list
  • Optimizely Admin Center – Go to home.optimizely.com to access the Admin Center. Select an organization that includes Opal Chat and click Opal

    Screenshot of Optimizely Admin Center showing the Opal option for opening Opal Chat
  • Global navigation bar – From any product with Opal Chat access, click Ask Opal in the global navigation bar. See Opal Chat in Optimizely products for a list of supported Optimizely products. 

    Screenshot of an example Feature Experimentation project showing the Ask Opal button in the global navigation bar

Opal Chat UI

For a step-by-step walkthrough, see the Opal chat user interface

How Opal Chat displays varies by entry point and conversation state. The following screenshots provide a general reference for typical layouts.

Through the Opal website

When accessing through the Opal website, opal.optimizely.com, Opal displays similar to the following:

Screenshot of Opal Chat on the Opal website showing the full chat interface with numbered callouts for each UI element
  1. Search Opal Chat history  – Search one or more Optimizely Opal chats.
  2. New Chat – Start a new chat thread. Start a new chat when switching topics to keep Optimizely Opal's responses and chat thread history focused.
  3. Show or hide Chat history – Toggle the Chat history panel to show or hide. 
  4. Set Product Instance – Select the Optimizely instance that Opal should refer to.
  5. Chat history – Go to previous chat threads with Optimizely Opal.
  6. Chat thread options – Additional options to update your chat threads, including the option to copy the chat, copy the chat ID, pin the chat to top of the sidebar, rename the thread, and delete the chat thread. You cannot retrieve deleted chats.

    Screenshot of the chat thread options menu in Opal Chat showing options to copy the chat, copy the chat ID, rename the thread, and delete the chat thread

     

  7. Edit in Canvas – Edit Opal's output in a canvas interface.
  8. Create skills – Create an organization or personal skill based on your conversation with Opal.
  9. Copy – Copy Opal's response to your clipboard.
  10. Regenerate a response – Have Optimizely Opal respond differently to the same query.
  11. Give feedback on a response – Click Thumbs up if Opal's response helped. Click Thumbs down if it did not help. If you click Thumbs down, you can add additional information before sending your response to Optimizely. 

    Screenshot of the Opal Chat response feedback controls showing the Thumbs up and Thumbs down options
  12. Chat with Opal 
    • Ideate and prompt – Ask Optimizely Opal to research, brainstorm, create things, provide a summary, and so on. Opal can explain terms, walk you through configuration steps, or point you to relevant documentation. It can evolve a rough idea into something more complete, such as expanding a hypothesis or completing a concept.
    • Translate content or tone – Translate text into other languages or rewrite content to fit a specific tone or audience.
    • Research online – Ask Opal to search the web, summarize content, or extract key information from provided URLs.
    • Sample queries
      • Summarize this document into key takeaways.
      • Extract the details from this timeline and present them to me as a list.
      • Give me the audio text and timestamps from this file so I can copy and paste into a subtitle .mov file. Remove any "ums" and "ahs" from the text.
      • Develop a test plan for a web experiment comparing two different call-to-action button designs to determine which drives more user engagement.
      • Using Optimizely Feature Experimentation, set up a feature flag for the new checkout process and outline a strategy for its gradual rollout and A/B testing.
      • How should we personalize content for anonymous users versus logged-in users?
      • Extract the key points from this video and create a blog post to promote them.
    • Undo – Press Ctrl+Z (Windows) or Cmd+Z (Mac) to undo text typed or pasted in the chat input.
  13. Mention Agent – Select an agent to run.
  14. Use skill – Select skills to use. Enter / and select the skill.
  15. File Upload – Upload files and ask questions about their content. See Supported file types in Optimizely Opal.
  16. Submit – Submit a request to Optimizely Opal. Click Stop at any time to end Opal's execution.Submit and Stop buttons in the Opal Chat input area
  17. Queued messages – Messages sent while Opal is responding display as queued cards below the chat input and send automatically once the current response completes.

In an Optimizely product

When accessing Opal through an Optimizely product by clicking a button, such as Ask Opal, Opal displays similar to the following:

Screenshot of Opal Chat as it displays within an Optimizely product showing the panel layout with numbered callouts for each UI element
  1. Search Opal Chat history  – Search one or more Optimizely Opal chats.
  2. New Chat – Start a new chat thread. You should start a new chat when switching topics to keep Optimizely Opal's responses focused and your chat thread history focused on the topic.
  3. Toggle sidebar – Show or hide the chat history sidebar.
  4. Fullscreen – Expand the Opal Chat window to take up your entire browser window.
  5. Dock to the side – Dock the Opal Chat as a panel to the side of your browser window. The icon updates to pop it out Pop it out icon for expanding the docked Opal Chat panel when docked.
  6. Close – Close the Opal chat window.
  7. Chat history – Go to previous chat threads with Optimizely Opal.
  8. Chat thread options – Additional options to update your chat threads, including the option to copy the chat, copy the chat ID, pin the chat to top of the sidebar, rename the thread, and delete the chat thread. You cannot retrieve deleted chats.

    Screenshot of the chat thread options menu in Opal Chat showing options to copy the chat, copy the chat ID, rename the thread, and delete the chat thread
  9. Edit in Canvas – Edit Opal's output in a canvas interface.
  10. Create skills – Create an organization or personal skill based on your conversation with Opal.
  11. Copy – Copy Opal's response to your clipboard.
  12. Regenerate a response – Have Optimizely Opal respond differently to the same query.
  13. Give feedback on a response – Click Thumbs up if Opal's response helped. Click Thumbs down if it did not help. If you click Thumbs down, you can add additional information before sending your response to Optimizely. 

    Screenshot of the Opal Chat response feedback controls showing the Thumbs up and Thumbs down options
  14. Chat with Opal – See step 12 in the previous Through the Opal app section for example prompts.
  15. Mention Agent – Select an agent to run.
  16. Use skills – Select skills to use. Enter / and select the skill.
  17. File Upload – See Supported file types in Optimizely Opal.
  18. Submit – Submit a request to Optimizely Opal. Click Stop at any time to end Opal's execution.Submit and Stop buttons in the Opal Chat input area
  19. Queued messages – Messages sent while Opal is responding display as queued cards below the chat input and send automatically once the current response completes.

Chat pills

Chat pills are pre-populated prompts that help you get started. They display as buttons at the bottom of a new chat, organized by task category. Selecting a pill inserts a ready-to-use prompt into the chat input. Required parameters display highlighted for editing.

Screenshot of an Opal Chat conversation where the category pill buttons display at the bottom of the chat input.

Use a chat pill

To use a chat pill, complete the following steps:

  1. Open Opal Chat.
  2. Click a category button (Brainstorm, Create, Repurpose, Test, Analyze, or Learn). A panel opens showing pre-populated prompts relevant to that category. Prompts that reference an agent display as @AGENT_NAME.

    Screenshot of the Create category panel in Opal Chat where pre-populated prompt options display for selection.
  3. Click a prompt. The prompt populates the chat input. Any parameters you need to fill in display highlighted in brackets, such as [topic or launch] or [audience].

    Screenshot of the Opal Chat input field where a pre-populated prompt displays with highlighted parameter placeholders.
  4. Click a highlighted parameter or press Tab to move between parameters.
  5. Enter your value to replace the parameter text.
  6. Press Enter or click Submit. Opal runs the prompt, invoking any referenced agents as needed, and displays the response.
If you delete or deactivate an agent associated with a chat pill, the chat pill prompt no longer displays. If you re-add or reactivate the agent, the pill prompts update accordingly.

Response speed options

Opal Chat offers two response modes: Enriched and Fast. Both modes use your skills. The difference is the context Opal pulls in around them.

Enriched mode is the default and adds knowledge retrieval (Retrieval-Augmented Generation, or RAG) and memory on top of your skills, so Opal can produce tailored, on-brand responses. Fast mode keeps your skills but skips knowledge retrieval (RAG) and memory. The shorter instructions and skipped context lookup produce a faster response.

Switch between modes using the speed selector drop-down list in the chat input section.

Screenshot of the Opal Chat input bar showing the speed selector with Enriched and Fast options.

Enriched

Enriched mode pulls in your skills, knowledge retrieval (RAG), and memory. The full context lets Opal consider your brand guidelines, campaign context, and other relevant information when generating a response.

Use Enriched mode in the following situations:

  • You create or review content that needs to align with brand or style guidelines.
  • You work on campaigns, copy, or anything where accuracy and context matter.
  • You want the most complete, well-informed response.

Fast

Fast mode uses only your skills. Opal skips knowledge retrieval (RAG) and memory and works from a shorter set of instructions, which reduces response time. Response quality remains high, but without the added context.

Use Fast mode in the following situations:

  • You make a straightforward or time-sensitive request.
  • You ask simple questions that do not require brand or campaign context.
  • You prioritize speed over enriched output.

Switch modes

Change the response mode at any time. The selection applies to your next message.

  1. Click the speed selector in the chat input bar.
  2. Select Enriched or Fast.

The chat input bar displays the current mode as a label.

Image features in Opal Chat

Use Opal Chat to create original images or make changes to existing ones by sending a request with a prompt and optional settings.

Create images

To generate a new image, send Opal a prompt describing what you want to create. You can also include the following optional parameters to customize the result:

  • Prompt – Description of the image you want to generate. More detail leads to better results.
  • Aspect ratio – Shape of the generated image. If not specified, Opal uses 1:1. Choose from the following:
    • 1:1 (Square) – Good for profile pictures or Instagram posts.
    • 4:3 (Standard landscape) – Common for older TVs or digital cameras.
    • 16:9 (Widescreen landscape) – Standard for modern TVs, YouTube videos, and presentations.
    • 9:16 (Vertical portrait) – Ideal for Instagram Stories, TikTok, and mobile content.
  • Number of images – Total number of image variations to generate. You can request up to four. If you do not specify, Opal generates one.
Be as specific as possible in your prompt to get the best results. Include details like style, lighting, background, or mood.

Example promptGenerate 2 images of a picturesque hill landscape with a 16:9 aspect ratio.

Opal chat displaying two images it generated.

Click Regenerate to create a new set of images. You can also prompt Opal to adjust the images it created.  

Example promptUpdate the images you just created and add some trees to the landscape.

Opal Chat displaying two images it added trees to.

Edit images

With Opal Chat, you can edit images by linking to their URL. In your request, you can include the following parameters:

  • Image URL – Link to the image you want Opal to edit.
  • Prompt – Instructions for how you want Opal to edit the image. Be as specific as possible. For example, you can ask Opal the following:
    • Add or remove objects.
    • Change the background.
    • Change the aspect ratio.
    • Adjust colors, lighting, or composition.
    • Change the style or mood.
  • Number of images – Total variations of the edited image to generate. You can request up to four.

Example promptEdit the image: LINK_TO_IMAGE. Update the style to cartoonish, change the mood to be happier, and give 4 variations.

Invoke an agent

To invoke an agent in Opal Chat, click Mention Agent, enter @AGENT_ID, or click View Agents. Select an agent from the list or begin entering the agent's ID. Add any required variables, such as URLs or files, and press Enter or click Submit.

Screenshot of Opal Chat showing the Mention Agent option and agent selection list

Opal runs the agent and displays each step as it works. After the agent finishes, Opal displays the response. Depending on the output, the result may appear in a canvas or as a separate agent output. Click the canvas or agent output to view the full response.

Screenshot of Opal Chat showing an agent response displayed as a canvas element

Multi-turn agent sessions

When you invoke a multi-turn agent, Opal Chat enters an active session with that agent. A banner displaying Working with AGENT_NAME displays at the bottom of the chat, and the input field updates to Message AGENT_NAME. All prompts you send go directly to the agent until the session ends.

Screenshot of Opal Chat showing an active multi-turn agent session with a Working with [agent name] banner at the bottom of the chat and an agent-specific message input field

After each response, Answer completed displays to confirm the agent has finished its turn. Enter a follow-up prompt to continue the conversation.

The session stays active until one of the following occurs:

  • The agent completes its task.
  • You click Done in the session banner to end the session manually.
  • You start a new thread or clear the context.

Copy your Opal Chat thread ID

To get your chat thread ID, complete the following:

  1. Access Opal Chat.
  2. Click the chat thread you want to copy the ID for.
  3. Click More options (...) and select Copy thread ID.

    Screenshot of the chat thread options menu in Opal Chat with Copy thread ID highlighted

Opal Chat in Optimizely products

Opal Chat is available in various Optimizely products. See the following documentation for details:

If you use Opti ID, administrators can turn off generative AI in the Opti ID Admin Center. See Turn generative AI off across Optimizely applications.