What Ask does
The Ask tab lets you interrogate the page you are reading before you commit to saving it. Ask a question — "What method did they use?", "What is the sample size?", "What is the main argument?" — and Folio answers using only the text on that page. It is Scholar AI, scoped to one document.
How to use it
- Open a paper or article in your browser.
- Open the extension popup and switch to the Ask tab.
- Type your question and click Ask (or press ⌘/Ctrl+Enter).
- Folio reads the page's text and answers, grounded in what is actually there.
Why "only from the page" matters
Ask deliberately does not use outside knowledge. If the answer is not on the page, it says so rather than guessing. That makes it a fast, honest way to triage a paper: you find out whether it is worth reading — or saving — in seconds, without the risk of a confident but invented answer.
Good questions to ask
- "What is the main contribution of this paper?"
- "What data or sample did they use?"
- "What limitations do the authors acknowledge?"
- "Does this paper support or challenge the argument I am making?"
- "Summarise the methodology in plain language."
Tips
- Ask works best on article and paper pages with real body text. On a thin page — a search result, a landing page — there may not be enough to answer from.
- It reads the page as it is when you ask, so on single-page sites (like some news apps) it always reflects the article you are currently viewing.
- To ask questions across your whole library rather than one page, use Scholar AI inside Folio.
Plan limits
Ask uses your Scholar AI allowance — a free monthly taste on Scholar, with higher limits on Fellow and Chair. See Plans and billing.