How Cue reads your question
Cue (also known as Chat With Data) sees everything Recurrency sees: items, mins and maxes, OP/OQ, suppliers, sales, customers, forecasts, transfers, and rules. It does not see your context. It doesn't know which branch you run, which items you care about, or what "slow mover" means at your company.
When your question leaves something out, Cue fills the gap with a reasonable default and keeps going. It does not stop to ask. Most bad answers trace back to one of those defaults.
This article shows you how to spot which gap caused a bad answer and how to close it. For ready-made prompts by topic, see Getting Better Answers from Chat with your Data.
The six gaps Cue fills for you
If you don't say it, Cue decides it. These are the six things it decides most often.
If you leave out... | Cue assumes... | Add something like... |
Where | Every location, company-wide | "at Dallas" or "at my branches: Dallas, Austin" |
When | A time window it picks for you | "last 90 days" or "since January 1" |
Which items | Every item, including ones you don't stock or plan | "stockable A and B items included in planning" |
How you replenish | A mix of min/max and OP/OQ | "min/max items only, not OP/OQ" |
What your words mean | Its own definition of terms like dead stock, slow mover, or overstock | "dead stock means no sales in 12 months with stock on hand" |
What you want back | A written summary | "top 10 by inventory $, as a downloadable table" |
You don't need all six every time. You need the ones where Cue's guess would be different from yours.
What you saw, and how to fix it
Find the line that matches the answer you got. The middle column is the gap. The last column is what to type next.
What you saw | What happened | Try this instead |
The numbers are much bigger than you expected | Cue included every location or a longer history than you meant | "At Dallas only, over the last 90 days..." |
It listed items you don't stock or don't plan | No item scope, so Cue used every item | "Stockable items included in planning only." |
You asked about mins and it talked about OP/OQ | Cue didn't know how you replenish | "Min/max items only. Don't include OP/OQ." |
Its dead stock total doesn't match your report | Cue used its own definition | "Dead stock = no sales in 12 months, on hand above zero." |
It answered about sales orders when you meant POs | "Orders" can mean either | Say "purchase orders" or "sales orders." Same for "supplier" vs. "customer." |
You got a general explanation instead of your numbers | You asked how something works, not what it shows | "For item [item] at [location], show the current min, recommended min, and why." |
The answer is generic or reads like a textbook | The question was too broad to point at specific data | Narrow to one location, one topic, and a top 10. |
It timed out | Cue tried to scan too much at once | Same fix: one location, one time window, one topic. |
It started strong, then drifted | The thread mixed topics or picked up a wrong assumption early | Start a New chat with a tighter first question. |
It contradicts what you see in Planning | Cue used a different slice of data than your screen | Ask: "What filters, locations, and dates did you use?" Then match them. |
Correct Cue instead of starting over
When an answer misses, don't retype the same question with different words. Tell Cue what it got wrong. It keeps the conversation in mind, so a correction is faster than a new prompt.
Instead of: "No, which mins are too low?"
Try: "Those results include OP/OQ items and all locations. Redo it for min/max items at Dallas only."
A good correction does three things:
Names what was wrong ("those include OP/OQ items")
States what you actually want ("min/max only, Dallas only")
Asks Cue to redo it
Two prompts that prevent most bad answers
Ask Cue to show its assumptions. Add this to the end of any question you're unsure about:
"Before you answer, tell me which locations, dates, and items you're including."
If the scope is wrong, you'll see it before you read the answer.
Ask Cue to ask you. Cue won't stop to clarify on its own, but it will if you tell it to:
"If anything in my question is unclear, ask me before you answer."
This works well when you're not sure what to include. Cue will name the gaps for you.
Before you hit enter
Read your question as if a new buyer on your team sent it to you. Would they know:
Which location you mean?
What time period?
Which items to include and which to leave out?
Whether you plan on min/max or OP/OQ?
What you mean by any term your team defines its own way?
What the answer should look like?
If a new hire would have to guess, so will Cue. Add the missing piece.
FAQ
Q: How do I know if Cue is wrong or my question was unclear?
A: Ask Cue which locations, dates, and items it used. If those don't match what you meant, the question was the issue. If they do match and the answer still looks off, check the item in Planning and contact your CSM.
Q: Why did the same question give me a different answer than yesterday?
A: Your data may have refreshed, or Cue may have filled a gap differently. The more you pin down (location, dates, items), the more consistent the answer.
Q: Do I need to learn special wording?
A: No. Write the way you'd ask a coworker, using the Recurrency terms you already know. Specific beats clever.