Understanding AI Response Modes: Fast, Planning, and Ultra
On the AI Chat page (Sidebar > AI Chat), you can choose how the AI approaches your question using a mode selector above the chat box. This choice isn't available in the AI Assistant side panel, which always answers the same way.
The three modes
Because the AI Chat page itself is only available on Growth and Elite, Fast and Planning are usable by anyone who can open the page. Ultra is reserved for Elite. If your plan doesn't include a mode, its pill in the selector shows a small lock icon. Clicking a locked mode doesn't send anything to the AI: it opens an upgrade card that names the mode (Accupe's own internal name for Ultra is "Ultra Detailed Mode"), states which plan unlocks it, and summarises a few of that plan's other AI Chat perks (daily prompt allowance, document limit, and OCR level), with a button through to Settings > Billing. The same check also runs on the server as a backstop, so even a stale or scripted request for a mode outside your plan is declined with a message naming the subscription you'd need.
What changes between modes
- Fast gives you a short, direct answer with no extra structure. It's the best choice for a quick factual question.
- Planning has the AI lay out its approach first, then answer. Responses are structured under an "Analysis Plan" heading followed by an "Answer" heading, so you can see the reasoning path before the conclusion.
- Ultra runs a deeper, multi-pass process. Responses are structured under four headings in order: "Analysis Plan", "Deep Research", "Verification", and "Conclusion". This produces the most thorough answers but takes the longest to generate.
In general, moving from Fast to Planning to Ultra trades speed for depth. Ultra responses can be considerably longer and more detailed than Fast or Planning ones, because the model is given more room (a larger response budget) to work through the problem in stages.
Choosing a mode
Use Fast for day to day questions where you want a quick answer. Reach for Planning when you want to see the AI's reasoning laid out before the answer, useful for anything you'll need to explain to someone else. Save Ultra for genuinely complex questions, such as multi-document analysis or anything where you want the AI to verify its own conclusions before presenting them, since it takes noticeably longer to respond.
Scope, alongside mode
Next to the mode selector, you'll also find a scope selector with three options: "Company" (about your firm generally), "All Clients" (an aggregated view across your client base), and "Specific Client" (focused on one named client). Scope and mode work together, for example you might pick Specific Client scope with Planning mode to get a structured answer about a single client.
Tip: if a mode you want is greyed out with a lock icon, that's a plan limit, not a fault. Check the plan comparison table in the "Getting Started with AI Chat" article to see what your current plan includes.