Getting Started
What the agent does
The SM Research Agent interprets your plain‑English questions, builds SQL queries against the SMDI database, and returns the results in a digestible format. It is connected to PubChem for publicly available compound aliases (e.g. aspirin).
Login
You can access the Research Agent (Small Molecule) via the agent link (you must be on the Roche Airway or VPN).
If you do not have access already, join the SM Research Agent Slack help channel and ask to be added.
Your first message
Begin chatting by entering a question in the “How can I help you today?” text area. After you submit:
- The agent shows its thinking with intermediate messages.
- A final answer then appears.
Seeing a block of code stream by while the agent works is 100% normal — it is building its SQL query. Click collapse to hide it.
Conversation history
The agent maintains conversation history in a single chat thread. This allows it to see previous questions and responses when answering a new question.
- If you start a new line of questioning that is distinct and does not require information from your last question, start a “New Chat”.
- The agent retains chat context within a single session and remembers a summarized conversation for 90 minutes after you leave the chat.
Be patient
The agent is building SQL queries (fancy data magic) against SMDI, which is a lot more work than a simple conversation with Gemini or ChatGPT.
| Question type | Typical response time |
|---|---|
| Simple questions | 30 sec – 1 minute |
| Complex questions | 2 – 5 minutes |
Longer than that and it is worth retrying / rephrasing your query, or raising it as an issue in the Slack help channel.