Knowledge

A question for several models at once

Open Mini Apps near the bottom of the sidebar, then press Open Council on the Council tile. The first time, press Get started on the card that covers the page to create your Council. Council needs a plan that includes Mini Apps, or every preset stays locked.

The page looks like a chat, with Ask the council anything in the composer. Each message you send goes to a group of models, and the reply comes out of three rounds. The starter cards on a new council, such as Launch plan, send their prompt at once as a full, charged question with Search off.

The three rounds

1. Answers. Every member model answers on its own, all at the same time. Each answer gets a letter, such as Response A.
2. Peer review. Every member ranks all the answers from best to worst, seeing only their letters, and notes strengths and weaknesses. Lexika tells each one that an answer may be its own and to judge it like the rest.
3. Final answer. A chair model reads the answers, rankings and reviews, then writes the reply you see. The chair treats the rankings as advice. It can favour a lower-ranked answer, or keep a well-argued warning that only one member raised.

Within one question no round repeats, and the members never reply to each other.

Following the deliberation

Until the slowest member finishes, the reply shows only Thinking…. Then every answer lands at once in a panel titled Council in session..., followed by every review. Only the chair's final answer arrives word by word.

• Answers has one card per member, with the model's name and letter.
• Peer review has one card per reviewer. Each card names the reviewing model and its ranking, for example Ranked: Response B › Response A › Response C.
• Council Verdict combines the rankings. Each answer shows its average place, such as avg 1.3, where lower is better. The last line names the model that ranked #1.

The Council Verdict is the peer ranking, not the answer. The chair writes the reply below the panel, whichever model ranked #1, and nothing on screen says which model chairs. Lexika tells the chair to leave out letters, model names and rankings unless you ask for them, so open the panel to see who said what. Once the reply is complete, the panel folds into a bar reading Council deliberation.

Presets choose the models

In Council, a preset decides which models answer, which one chairs, and the job they get. Its name sits at the top of the page, over a line such as 3 models. Click it to open Council Presets.

• The model names on each row, and the count under the preset name, include the chair. The chair usually answers as a member too, but not in every preset.
• If you never chose one, Council picks the first unlocked preset and keeps it as your choice. That is Critical Debate whenever it is unlocked for you. It hunts for flaws and risks, then returns findings, a verdict and fixes. For an everyday question, Balanced Discussion or Quick Perspectives gives a plainer reply.
• A locked row shows one reason at a time: Your plan does not include Mini Apps, Needs more stars for its models, or Some models are not in your plan. The star lock clears once your available stars reach the minimum each of its models needs, chair included. If the preset also has models outside your plan, that reason shows next.

You can switch presets between questions, and each reply's header names the one it used. Lexika remembers your choice in this browser until you sign out.

Search, files and follow-ups

The globe button in the composer turns on web search and reads Search while it is on. In a narrow window, such as on a phone, Search is a switch in the Tools sheet behind the three-dot button. Search starts off. Once on, it stays on for later questions in this browser until you turn it off. Each member then decides whether to search, and Lexika asks it to cite the pages it used. Reviewers and the chair never search.

The composer checks files only against the first model on your preset's row and turns away any that model cannot read. Files that get through go to every member, and a member that cannot read one may drop out of that question or answer without it. Council takes no video. If one gets through, Lexika refuses the question before anything runs, and your message shows Message failed to send. Nothing is charged.

Every follow-up runs all three rounds again. The models see your earlier messages and the chair's earlier replies, but not member answers, reviews or files. Quote a point that appeared only in a member's answer or a review, and attach files again when you need them. A question you stopped, or one that failed, stays in that history, and the models still treat it as asked. To leave it behind, start a New council from the Council sidebar.

What one question costs

One question makes one model call per member to answer, one per member to review, and one for the chair, each at its own model's rate. With Search on, a member may make extra calls while searching, and the searches cost stars too. Lexika never condenses a Council conversation into a summary, so every call rereads all of it and later questions cost more. Start a new council when you change topic.

Lexika charges each call as its round finishes, though the balance on screen may not move until the run ends. Your balance is in Settings under Subscription, and your spending under Usage.

• An unlocked preset can still run out of stars. The lock checks each model's minimum, but Lexika reserves stars before every call. If your stars run out partway, the run stops with an error and finished calls stay charged. Check your balance before a long or searched question.
• Stopping refunds nothing already done. The square stop button in the composer ends the run, but finished calls stay charged. Lexika saves the reply as "The council response was cancelled." and drops the answers gathered so far.
• A failing member drops out. The rest carry on, so the panel shows fewer answers. The whole run fails when no member answers, no review comes back or the chair cannot finish. Finished calls stay charged either way.
• Retrying can run it twice. If Lexika hears nothing back within 15 seconds of sending, your message shows Delivery uncertain, though the Council may already be working. The red round arrow beside it then asks Retry this ask?, and Retry anyway can start a second, separately charged run. Wait for a reply, or choose Discard.

Where Council conversations live

Council conversations are listed in the Council sidebar. They sit outside every workspace, so only you can see them. They always spend your own stars, never Owner Credit (see the Knowledge Base article on Owner Credit and Individual Credit).

A Council reads no Brain and ignores your Chat instructions. The models do follow what you said in earlier messages of the same council, so state a standing preference once there. A new council starts blank. Council replies have no copy, export or branch buttons, so select the text to copy it. You can leave while a Council works. It finishes without you and charges every call as usual.