Exa is Exayard's AI assistant, available throughout the application to help you work with construction plans and manage your projects. You can ask questions, upload plans and other files for analysis, and request actions on your takeoffs and estimates.

On the home page, start a conversation from the central omnibox. Inside a project, Exa appears in a resizable panel to the right of the plan canvas, so it has context about your current work. Drag the divider between the canvas and the panel to resize it, or double-click the divider to reset it. On a smaller screen, the chat moves into the sidebar stack below the canvas instead.

The panel has two tabs at the top. Exa is the AI assistant. Team is for collaborating with teammates, where you can @mention Exa. The panel opens on the Exa tab by default.

Type your message in the input field and press Enter or click the send (up-arrow) button. Exa responds with streaming text that appears as it generates, so you can read the response as it comes in.

Attach files by clicking the upload (paperclip) button in the input area. You can add PDFs, images (JPEG, PNG), spreadsheets, and text files. PDFs and images are sent to Exa for analysis; other files are stored and available to Exa's tools. Attachments are saved to your project and can be referenced in the conversation.

When you upload a plan image, Exa can initiate a takeoff assessment to identify measurable elements. This process runs in the background and the results appear in the chat when complete.

Exa can perform actions on your behalf using built-in tools. These include creating projects, managing takeoffs and estimates, reading canvas elements, and working with spreadsheets. When you have a spreadsheet open, a table toggle in the chat input lets you grant Exa read/write access to it for the conversation. When Exa needs to perform an action that modifies your data, you may see an approval prompt before it executes.

The approval prompt shows what action Exa wants to take. Click Approve to let it proceed or Reject to cancel. This keeps you in control of changes to your projects.

If Exa is generating a long response you no longer need, click the stop button (square icon) that appears during streaming. This immediately halts the response generation.

Chat messages consume credits from your organization's account. Credit usage depends on the length and complexity of the conversation. Click the credit balance in the header to see a breakdown of gifted, monthly (shared), and team (shared) credits. The team row appears only when your organization has purchased credits. Use the popover button to buy more credits, or to upgrade your plan if you're on a plan that prompts an upgrade first.

Exa analyzes the content you provide and the data in your projects. It cannot access external documents, websites, or information outside Exayard. For pricing and cost estimates, you need vendors and materials configured in your organization settings first.

Questions about building codes, permits, or professional engineering matters should be verified with qualified professionals. Exa provides assistance with takeoff workflows but does not replace professional judgment.

For tips on asking questions about your plans, see Asking questions about plans.