Getting Started With Docs AI in Superhuman Docs

What you’ll build

Docs AI is Superhuman’s AI assistant built directly into Superhuman Docs (the product formerly known as Coda), and it works differently from a chat window bolted onto the side of a page. Instead of just answering questions about your doc, it can act inside it — drafting content, building and filling tables, resolving comments, and generating live summaries that refresh as your data changes. By the end of this walkthrough, you’ll have used all three of Docs AI’s surfaces — the chat panel, an AI column that auto-fills across rows, and an AI block that summarizes a table — inside a single doc, so you can see how they hand off to each other in a real workflow rather than as three disconnected features.

This matters because most “AI in your docs” tools stop at generating text. Docs AI’s AI column and AI block features run automatically as your underlying data changes, which is the difference between a one-off AI-written paragraph and a report that stays current without anyone re-prompting it.

Step 1: Open Docs AI chat

Inside any Superhuman doc, click the sparkle icon (✨) in the lower-right corner. This opens the Docs AI chat panel, which is your main interface for asking questions and giving instructions.

When the panel opens, you’ll see suggested prompts generated based on what’s already in your doc — clicking one populates the chat bar rather than sending immediately, so you can review or edit first. You can also type / to pull up slash-command shortcuts, or @ to reference a specific page, table, or row from your doc directly in your prompt (useful once your doc has more than one table, so Docs AI knows exactly which data to act on).

Try a simple instruction to confirm it’s working: type Summarize this page in 3 bullets and press Enter.

Verify it worked: you should see a short, bulleted summary appear in the chat panel within a few seconds, referencing content actually on your current page — not generic placeholder text. If nothing loads or you get an error, see Troubleshooting below.

Step 2: Build a table with an AI column

AI columns are different from chat: once set up, they run automatically on every row you add, rather than needing a fresh prompt each time.

1. Open or create a table, then click Add column in the upper-right corner.
2. When prompted to choose a column type, search for and select AI.
3. Pick one of the built-in options — Summarize, Find action items, Find key insights, or Custom prompt. If you’re unsure which fits, choose your best guess; you can change it later without losing the column.
4. Use the structured column builder to pick which existing columns feed the AI column, and add any extra instructions. A live preview shows what the output will look like per row before you commit.
5. If you need more than one input column, or want to write a fully custom instruction referencing multiple fields, switch the first dropdown to Custom prompt and use the freeform builder — you can also set desired length, tone, and output type here.
6. Click Fill column to run it across every existing row.

Verify it worked: every row in the table should now show generated output in the new column, matching the action you picked (e.g., a one-line summary per row). Add a new row with some data in it — the AI column should populate on that new row too, without you doing anything further, which is the behavior that separates it from a one-off chat answer.

If you only need AI in a handful of cells rather than the whole column, you don’t have to convert the column type at all: press the AI button inside a single cell to prompt just that cell, or select multiple cells and use the Fill button at the bottom of the table.

Auto-filling rows by pattern

For fast bulk entry, select a few rows that already contain data, then hover over the blue dot in the bottom-right corner of the selection — it reads “Drag down to auto-fill with AI.” Drag it down across the rows you want filled, and Docs AI extends the pattern from your existing entries.

Step 3: Summarize a table with an AI block

AI blocks live on the page itself (not inside a table) and are meant for standing summaries that refresh on demand.

1. On a new line in your doc, type / or press Ctrl+Space.
2. From the AI dropdown, choose Summarize.
3. In the prompt, @-reference the table or page you want summarized — for example: Summarize @Customer Feedback and group by three key themes.
4. Choose your desired length, tone, and output type, then select Create.

Verify it worked: a formatted summary block appears on the page, grouped the way you asked. To confirm it’s actually live (not a static snapshot), add a new row to the source table with a clearly different theme, then hover over the AI block and click the rounded refresh arrow in its upper-right corner — the summary should update to reflect the new row.

The same pattern works for Find action items from… blocks: reference a notes page, choose checkbox-style output if you want the items to be checkable, and select Create.

Troubleshooting

“Something went wrong” error in Docs AI chat. This is a known, intermittent stability issue Superhuman has acknowledged. Starting a new chat (click the pencil icon at the top of the chat panel) resolves it in most cases; if it persists across a fresh chat, it’s worth waiting a few minutes and retrying rather than repeating the same prompt.

AI column or chat isn’t available, or hits a usage cap fast. Access depends on your role. Doc Makers on paid tiers (Pro, Team/Business, Enterprise) get full access with high limits meant only to prevent abuse. Editors and members of Free workspaces get a limited free trial and will need a paid Doc Maker upgrade once that trial is used up.

Docs AI can’t take an action you expect (e.g., editing a table it should have access to). Capabilities are scoped to your workspace role — an Editor can only take editor-level actions, even if the underlying prompt looks like something an admin could do. Check your role before assuming the feature itself is broken.

Web search or certain retrieval features are missing in a HIPAA-enabled workspace. This is expected, not a bug: HIPAA compliance requires disabling specific features like web search, though core drafting, table-building, and summarization still work normally.

AI column output looks stale after editing source data. AI columns only re-run when you explicitly re-fill them (via the Fill column/Fill button) or when new rows are added and auto-fill is triggered — editing an existing row’s other fields doesn’t automatically re-trigger every AI column touching that row. Re-select the affected cells and use Fill again if you need it refreshed immediately.

Where to go next

From here, the same building blocks — chat, AI columns, and AI blocks — combine into larger workflows: drafting a weekly status update from a sprint-tasks table, auto-tagging incoming feedback rows by theme, or building a living project dashboard that updates itself as your team edits the underlying data. Superhuman’s help center has additional guides on Docs AI credits and usage and enterprise AI controls if you’re rolling this out beyond a single doc.