---
title: "Send your first prompt | Grafana Labs"
description: "Open Grafana Assistant, send a starter prompt, and review the response."
---

> For a curated documentation index, see [llms.txt](/llms.txt). For the complete documentation index, see [llms-full.txt](/llms-full.txt).

# Send your first prompt

Start with a short question that can return a data source list, a query, or results. Treat the reply as a draft, then judge whether it is specific enough or needs narrowing.

The first time you open Assistant, a tutorial option may appear. You can reopen it anytime from the chat menu (**Open tutorial**).

To send your first prompt, complete the following steps:

1. Open **Assistant** from the top toolbar (sparkle icon). You can also select **Assistant** from the left navigation.
2. In the chat input, paste or type a starter prompt:
   
   > List the data sources available to me
   
   If you have metrics in your stack, you can use:
   
   > Show me CPU usage for the API service
3. Click **Send** (the arrow next to the chat input).
4. Judge whether the reply is specific enough to continue:
   
   - **Useful:** It lists or names data sources, includes a query, opens Explore, or summarizes something concrete from your stack.
   - **Needs narrowing:** It stays generic, seems off-target, or mostly includes clarifying questions.
   
   Treat the reply as a draft either way. Use thumbs up or thumbs down when those controls appear.

You sent a first prompt and checked whether the reply was specific enough.

If it needed narrowing, the next milestone shows how an `@` mention scopes the request to a specific data source.

For product details, refer to [Start your first conversation](/docs/grafana-cloud/machine-learning/assistant/get-started/grafana-cloud/#start-your-first-conversation).

In the next milestone, you’ll use an `@` mention to target a specific data source.