HR and IT answers, quoted from your handbook.
Handbook answerer is an AI HR assistant. Ask it up to three HR, IT or policy questions and it searches your handbook, quotes the section word for word and explains the answer in a line. When the handbook doesn't cover a question, it names who owns it. Asked in a Slack channel, it answers in the thread.
- 10:12Asked in #ask-people-ops
- 10:12Found the handbook
- 10:12Searched it for each question
- 10:13Quoted 3.3 and 5.3
- 10:13Answered in the thread · 1 not covered
Why do the same HR questions keep coming back?
Because the answer sits in a long handbook that nobody searches, so people ask whoever they think knows. People Ops answers the same questions every week, the answers drift from what the policy says, and questions the handbook doesn't cover wait while someone works out who owns them.
Without it
- The same five questions in People Ops' DMs every week.
- Answers from memory that don't match the handbook.
- A 40-page PDF nobody searches.
- Questions with no clear owner that wait.
With Handbook answerer
- Every answer quotes its section.
- Uncovered questions go to a named owner.
- Up to three questions in one message.
- Asked in a channel, one answer in the thread.
What can an AI HR assistant answer?
Whatever your handbook covers, quoted. Whatever it doesn't, sent to the person who owns it.
HR and leave
Vacation carry-over, sick days, parental leave, public holidays and pay dates, from your handbook's sections.
IT and security
Lost or stolen equipment, accounts, passwords and phishing: what to do and who to tell.
Expenses and travel
What you can claim, approval limits, hotel caps and how to book, quoted with the numbers.
Not covered
Anything the handbook doesn't answer goes to the owner your handbook names, never a guess.
How does an AI HR assistant work?
Every run follows the same five steps. It only reads the handbook, then writes one message with every answer.
- 1
Counts the questions
Up to three per message. More, and it says to ask the rest separately.
- 2
Searches the handbook
Two or three wordings per question before it calls one uncovered.
- 3
Quotes the section
Word for word, with its number, and only the sentences that answer.
- 4
Names the owner
From the handbook's own who-owns-what list, when it doesn't cover a question.
- 5
Answers in the thread
One message, one numbered block per question, under 250 words.
Slack
- @Arclyx @handbook-answerer how many vacation days carry over?
- Run when your intranet's question form calls its webhook with the question
From one sentence to answers in Slack.
Describe the job, let Arclyx draft the agent, ask it three real questions in a dry run, create it, then @mention it in #ask-people-ops and read the answer in the thread.
Paste the sentence. Arclyx picks the tools it needs and asks what it can't work out.
What should it do?
When someone asks, answer HR, IT and policy questions from our shared handbook, quote the section, and say who to ask when the handbook doesn't cover it. Answer in the thread where you were asked.
- Tools it can use
- Slack
- Which document is the handbook?
- Employee handbook, in Documents
It writes the instructions, and you sign in to each tool once. Nothing runs until you say so.
- Reading your description
- Writing the instructions
- Picking the tools
Handbook answerer
- Slack
When someone asks
Try it once as a dry run. It reads your real tools, and what it would post is shown to you, not posted.
- Finds the handbook
- Searches each question
- Finds the owners
- Posts the answersSlack · Post
Once it's created, the output lands where you said, with a source for every item.
Report it to IT right away: "Report a lost or stolen laptop or phone to IT within 1 hour at it-help@example.com or in the #it-help Slack channel, even outside working hours."
Owner: IT help desk, Sam Ortiz, it-help@example.com.
↗ example-a.com/handbook#3-3London is capped at 300 USD a night: "Hotels up to 220 USD a night (300 USD in New York, London and San Francisco)."
Quoted from 5.3 Hotels and meals.
↗ example-a.com/handbook#5-3The handbook doesn't cover this.
For anything not covered: People Ops, people@example.com.
↗ example-a.com/handbook#9
One handbook, fewer interruptions.
The same quoted answers help everyone who asks, and everyone who used to answer.
People Ops
The questions they answer every week, answered from the handbook.
IT
Lost laptops and account questions sent to the right place at once.
New starters
Answers in minutes, with the section to read.
Managers
Approval limits and leave rules, quoted, not remembered.
How do you answer employee HR questions with AI?
Give an AI agent your handbook, a rule to quote it and a list of owners for everything else. Each question gets two or three searches, a quoted section and a one-line answer, or the owner's name when the handbook is silent. In Arclyx that's five steps, starting with one sentence.
“When someone asks, answer HR, IT and policy questions from our shared handbook, quote the section, and say who to ask when the handbook doesn't cover it. Answer in the thread where you were asked.”
- 1
Describe the job
One sentence: which handbook, who it answers and where the answer goes.
- 2
Share your handbook
An org admin uploads it to Documents for everyone, so @mentions in a channel can read it. Include a who-owns-what section.
- 3
Share it in Slack
Share the agent with your org and invite the Arclyx app to #ask-people-ops. People ask @Arclyx @handbook-answerer and get the answer in the thread.
- 4
Watch a dry run
Optional. Ask three real questions; the answer is shown to you, not posted.
- 5
Let people ask
Anyone who has linked Slack to Arclyx can ask in the channel, or a form can call its webhook.
Or start from one of these sentences
“When someone asks, answer IT questions from our IT policy in Documents, quote the section, and post the answer to #it-help.”
“When someone asks, answer expense and travel questions from our finance policy, quote the limit, and name the approver.”
“When a new starter asks, answer from the handbook and the onboarding guide, quote both, and DM them the answer.”
“When someone asks, answer benefits questions from our benefits guide and say who in People Ops to contact for anything else.”
AI HR assistant vs asking People Ops.
Asking a person and searching Slack each cover part of the job. Here is what each one does, and doesn't, do.
| Asking People Ops | Slack search | Handbook answerer | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Answers from | Someone's memory | Old messages and files in Slack | Your current handbook |
| Quotes the policy | Sometimes | Only if someone quoted it before | Yes, word for word, with the section |
| When it isn't covered | They find out who knows | You keep searching | Names the owner from your handbook |
| Takes someone's time | Yes, every question | Yours | No |
| Where you get it | A DM, eventually | Search results | One Slack message |
Source: Slack help: search in Slack, checked 24 October 2026.
Is it safe to let an AI agent answer HR questions?
It reads one handbook you upload and writes one message. It can't change records or approve anything. Every run is recorded and has a spend ceiling by default.
Every run is recorded
Every step, in order
Each run keeps a trace: what it searched for, which sections it found and what it posted.
Every question, accounted for
Each numbered block says answered, partly covered or not covered, so nothing is silently dropped.
What each run cost
Tokens and cost are recorded per run and per agent, next to your plan's limits.
A spend ceiling, on by default
Each run has a dollar ceiling unless you remove it. A run stops before it goes over it, and tells you.
It can
- Search the handbook shared in Documents
- Reply in the Slack thread it was asked in, message you, or email you
It can't
- Change records or approve requests
- Read Notion, Google Drive or other documents
- Give legal, medical or tax advice
- Email anyone but you
AI HR assistants, answered.
What is an AI HR assistant?
Software that answers employees' HR questions for the people team. Handbook answerer is one built in Arclyx: it answers HR, IT and policy questions from your own handbook, quotes the section it used and names who to ask when the handbook is silent.
Is it an HR chatbot?
Not a chat widget. It's an agent people ask in Slack, or that another tool calls. Each time it answers up to three questions in one message, quoting your handbook, and keeps no conversation going.
Does it make up policy?
Its instructions forbid it. It answers only from the handbook, quotes the section word for word and never presents a paraphrase as a quote. If no section answers the question, it says the handbook doesn't cover it instead of guessing.
What if the handbook doesn't cover a question?
It says so and names the owner from your handbook's own who-owns-what list, with the name and email exactly as written there. When a section covers part of it, it quotes that section and names the owner for the rest.
Which handbook does it read?
The document you upload to Arclyx's Documents and name in its sentence. A channel @mention reads shared data only, so an org admin uploads it for everyone and the agent is shared with the org. It doesn't read Notion or Google Drive.
Does it answer IT questions too?
Yes, when your handbook covers them: lost laptops, accounts, passwords, approvals for equipment. It answers from the same handbook, so it's only as complete as that document.
Can it give legal, medical or tax advice?
No. It's instructed to point to the right owner in your handbook instead. It also can't approve requests or change records: it only reads the handbook and posts the answer.
Do I need to write code?
No. Describe the job in one sentence and upload your handbook. Arclyx drafts the agent and picks its tools, and you can watch a dry run before you create it.
Agents that work well with it.
Build your handbook answerer.
One sentence in, a working agent out. Join the beta and we'll set you up.