F8Chat User Guide
Complete guide to using the F8Chat interface for interacting with Formul8 AI agents
F8Chat User Guide
F8Chat is the primary interface for interacting with Formul8's AI agents. This guide covers everything you need to know about using the chat interface effectively.
Accessing F8Chat
URL: chat.formul8.ai
Sign in with your Google account. Your subscription tier determines which agents and features are available. See Pricing & Plans for tier details.
Sign in using the Google OAuth button. No separate registration is required.
The Chat Interface
After signing in, you will see the main chat interface. The layout includes:
- Sidebar (left) — Conversation history, new chat button, settings
- Chat area (center) — Message thread with agent responses
- Message input (bottom) — Where you type your questions
- Search toggle (toolbar) — Enable/disable web search for the current conversation
The interface features a conversation sidebar on the left, the main chat area in the center, a message input bar at the bottom, and a Search toggle in the toolbar.
Starting a New Conversation
- Click the New Chat button in the sidebar (or use the keyboard shortcut)
- Type your question in the message input field
- Press Enter to send
Formul8 automatically routes your question to the most appropriate agent. You will see the response stream in real time.
Free Tier Limits
If you are on the Free tier, you are limited to 5 messages per conversation. After reaching the limit, start a new conversation to continue. Upgrade to Pro or higher for unlimited messages.
Agent Routing
You do not need to manually select which agent handles your question. The platform analyzes your message and routes it to the best-fit agent based on keywords and intent.
How to influence routing:
- Use domain-specific keywords. Asking about "compliance" or "regulations" routes to the Compliance Agent. Asking about "formulation" or "dosage" routes to the Formulation Agent.
- If you want a specific agent's perspective, include relevant keywords. For example, instead of "how should I package my product?" (which might route to Operations), try "what are the compliance requirements for packaging my product?" to reach the Compliance Agent.
Identifying which agent responded:
The agent name is shown in the response header. This helps you understand the perspective behind the answer and decide whether to rephrase for a different agent.
Web Search
The web search feature allows agents to retrieve and cite live web content when answering your question. This is particularly useful for:
- Current regulatory updates and rule changes
- Recent industry news and market data
- Patent and IP database searches
- Scientific research published after the agent's training data
Enabling Web Search
- Locate the Search toggle in the toolbar area near the message input
- Toggle it on before sending your message
- The agent will search the web, retrieve relevant pages, and incorporate findings into its response
- Sources are cited in the response with URLs
When the Search toggle is enabled, responses include cited web sources with URLs alongside the agent's built-in knowledge.
Which Agents Support Web Search
Not all agents support web search. Currently enabled agents:
| Agent | Web Search |
|---|---|
| Compliance | Yes |
| Formulation | Yes |
| Patent | Yes |
| All others | No |
When web search is toggled on for an agent that does not support it, the agent responds using its built-in knowledge and RAG data only. No error is shown — the toggle is simply not applicable to that agent.
How Web Search Works
When you send a message with the Search toggle enabled:
- The platform evaluates whether the question benefits from web search (using a confidence threshold)
- If so, it searches the web using Serper (Google Search API)
- Relevant pages are scraped and extracted using Firecrawl
- Results are re-ranked using Jina for relevance
- The top results are injected into the agent's context alongside its RAG data
- The agent generates a response citing both its knowledge base and web sources
Conversation Management
Conversation History
Your conversations are saved automatically and appear in the sidebar. You can:
- Click any past conversation to continue it
- Scroll through your conversation list to find previous sessions
- Conversations persist across browser sessions as long as you are signed in
Starting Fresh
Click New Chat to begin a new conversation with a clean context. This is useful when:
- You are switching topics and do not want previous context influencing the response
- You have reached the Free tier message limit
- You want a fresh perspective on a question
Conversation Titles
Formul8 automatically generates a title for each conversation based on your first message. This appears in the sidebar for easy reference.
Response Format
Agent responses include several components:
Main Response
The agent's answer, streamed in real time. Responses use Markdown formatting — headers, bullet points, tables, and code blocks appear as formatted text.
Citations and Sources
When the agent uses knowledge from its RAG data stores (e.g., state regulations, PubMed papers, Future4200 threads), sources are cited within or at the end of the response.
When web search is enabled and used, web sources are cited with their URLs.
Ads (Free and Pro Tiers)
If you are on the Free or Pro tier, a small advertisement from a cannabis industry brand may appear in the response. Ads are contextually relevant and clearly labeled. Operator and Team tier subscribers do not see ads.
Streaming Responses
Responses are streamed in real time — you see words appear as the agent generates them, similar to ChatGPT. This means:
- You do not need to wait for the full response to start reading
- If a response is going in the wrong direction, you can send a follow-up to redirect
- Long responses (e.g., detailed compliance breakdowns) stream incrementally
Tips for Effective Conversations
Be Specific About Location
Cannabis regulations vary significantly by state. Always mention your state when asking compliance, packaging, labeling, or licensing questions.
Less effective: "What are the labeling requirements for edibles?" More effective: "What are the labeling requirements for edibles in Oregon?"
Ask Follow-Up Questions
Agents retain context within a conversation. After receiving an initial answer, you can ask follow-up questions without repeating background information.
First message: "What are Colorado's THC limits for edibles?" Follow-up: "What about beverages specifically?" Follow-up: "Are there different rules for medical vs. recreational?"
Be Specific About Product Type
Cannabis covers a wide range of product categories — flower, concentrates, edibles, tinctures, topicals, beverages. Specifying the product type helps the agent give targeted answers.
Less effective: "How do I formulate a cannabis product?" More effective: "Help me formulate a 5mg THC gummy with natural flavoring and a 30-day shelf life"
Use the Feedback Button
If you receive an inaccurate or unhelpful response, use the feedback button. This creates a tracked issue that the Formul8 team reviews to improve agent quality.
Keyboard Shortcuts
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| Enter | Send message |
| Shift + Enter | New line in message (without sending) |
Troubleshooting
"I am getting responses from the wrong agent"
The routing system uses keywords to match agents. If your question is being routed to an unexpected agent, add domain-specific keywords to your message. See the Agent Catalog for each agent's keywords.
"My response was cut off"
Long responses may occasionally be truncated. Send a follow-up message like "please continue" to get the rest of the response.
"Web search is not returning results"
Web search requires the Search toggle to be enabled, and only works with supported agents (Compliance, Formulation, Patent). If the platform determines that web search will not improve the answer (low confidence), it may skip the web search and respond from its knowledge base.
"I hit the message limit"
Free tier users are limited to 5 messages per conversation. Start a new conversation or upgrade to Pro ($20/month) for unlimited messages.
Next Steps
- Agent Catalog — detailed reference for all 13 agents
- Metrc Dashboard Guide — if you have Operator or Team tier access
- API Reference — integrate F8Chat capabilities into your own systems
Last updated: 2026-02-18