Question 1

Why should I use Irys instead of Claude, GPT, Perplexity, and Lexis separately?

Accepted Answer

Each of those tools is strong at one thing. but every one of them is amnesiac and isolated. Claude forgets everything when you close the tab. Perplexity has no matter context. GPT has no legal structure. NotebookLM has no output workflow. And none of them know your firm, your client, or your history. More critically: using consumer AI tools for client work without proper DPAs may violate your professional conduct obligations under ABA Model Rule 1.6. Irys is built with data isolation, zero retention, and architecture designed for attorney-client privilege. One platform, one subscription, full compliance.

Question 2

How does Irys compare to Harvey or Legora?

Accepted Answer

Harvey and Legora are general-purpose legal AI tools built for large law firms. Irys is purpose-built for the full legal workflow. research, drafting, redlining, matter management. with a three-tier reasoning architecture and citation verification against 50M+ cases. Irys is also significantly more accessible on pricing, with no enterprise-only gating.

Question 3

What is Irys?

Accepted Answer

Irys One is a unified AI platform for legal work. research, draft, redline, manage matters, and collaborate in one system built specifically for legal professionals. It replaces five tools with one.

Question 4

How is this different from general AI?

Accepted Answer

General AI tools like ChatGPT and Claude have no legal-specific guardrails, no citation verification, no matter management, and no audit trail. Irys starts with your matter. documents, facts, and legal context. and produces real legal analysis with sourced citations against 50M+ cases.

Question 5

Will Irys replace my legal team?

Accepted Answer

No. Irys augments your team, not replaces it. It handles the time-consuming research, first-draft generation, and document comparison so your lawyers can focus on strategy, judgment, and client relationships. Think of it as giving every attorney a tireless associate.

Question 6

Do you have your own LLM, or do you use existing models?

Accepted Answer

We do not build our own LLM from scratch. We use the best available foundation models and are model-agnostic. we route to the right model for the right task. What we own is the infrastructure around it: the retrieval pipeline, the citation verification engine, the knowledge graph, the matter context layer, and the reasoning orchestration. The LLM is the engine. We built the car.

Question 7

What does unlimited context actually mean?

Accepted Answer

It is not a metaphor. Our three-layer architecture (Worker / Coordinator / Synthesizer) processes documents across tiers so that matter context is preserved regardless of how many documents you upload. No token limits, no chat resets. Firms upload hundreds of documents into a single matter and the AI works from the full matter every time.

Question 8

Is Irys a wrapper around ChatGPT?

Accepted Answer

No. Wrappers take a general-purpose LLM, add a prompt template, and charge a markup. Irys is purpose-built infrastructure: a three-tier reasoning architecture, proprietary retrieval pipeline, citation verification against 50M+ cases, a knowledge graph engine, and a matter-native context layer. We rent the intelligence from the best AI models available. We own the legal system around it.

Question 9

Do I need technical expertise or IT support to use Irys?

Accepted Answer

No. Irys is designed for lawyers, not engineers. The interface is intuitive and requires zero technical setup. Most users are productive within minutes. For enterprise deployments, we handle onboarding and configuration.

Question 10

Who is Irys Lite for?

Accepted Answer

Irys Lite is an entry-level way to start using the application, including anyone exploring AI for legal work without a firm-tier commitment, solo practitioners just starting with AI and in-house counsel testing the platform before recommending a firm-wide rollout.

Question 11

What's included in Irys Lite?

Accepted Answer

Everything in Irys: every feature, including the Drafting Assistant, Deep Research, the Microsoft Word Add-In, Matters, and Playbooks. You experience the entire application until you reach the usage caps.

Question 12

What are Irys Lite's usage caps?

Accepted Answer

Irys Lite includes:

• 125 messages per day (AI questions, including Deep Research and Agent Mode)
• 250MB of storage (approximately 50 documents)

Matters and Playbooks are unlimited, subject to the 250MB storage limit.

Question 13

How does the Irys Lite daily message limit work?

Accepted Answer

Your 125 daily messages reset at midnight in your local timezone. Messages that fail or don't complete do not count toward your daily limit.

Question 14

What's not included in Irys Lite?

Accepted Answer

Irys Lite is designed for individual, single-matter use. It does not include:

• Team sharing or collaborative Workspaces
• Advanced firm admin controls
• Priority support
• Expanded storage
• Integrations beyond the basic Word Add-In

If you find yourself needing any of these, that's a good sign you're ready for Irys One.

Question 15

Can I share my Irys Lite account with colleagues?

Accepted Answer

No. Irys Lite is a single-user plan. Team features, shared Workspaces, and multi-user functionality are not available and are hidden from the interface. For team access, Irys Teams is the right fit.

Question 16

Do I need a student email or verification to sign up for Irys Lite?

Accepted Answer

No. Irys Lite is open to everyone; no verification or .edu email is required. At signup, you'll be asked your role. Selecting Lawyer or Other gives you access to Irys Lite. Selecting Student routes you to our Student plan instead.

Question 17

What does Irys Lite look like on my billing statement?

Accepted Answer

Your receipts, invoices, and Stripe checkout will show Irys Lite.

Question 18

What happens when I hit an Irys Lite cap?

Accepted Answer

Caps surface only when you hit them. There are no usage meters or counters before that point, and your existing work always stays intact. Here's what happens at each cap:

Daily messages: 125/day - See the daily message limit FAQ above for reset timing and how different query types are counted. Conversations and outputs from prior days remain fully accessible; only your ability to send new messages pauses until the counter resets.

Storage: 250MB (~50 documents) - Your 250MB covers every document in your account, across every Matter and your Personal Library. When an upload would push you over the limit, the upload is blocked and you'll be prompted to free space (by deleting documents from any Matter or library) or to upgrade to Irys One for expanded storage. Documents already uploaded stay available; nothing gets locked or removed.

You can upgrade to Irys One ($299/month) at any time, either directly from a cap-hit prompt or from your account settings. Everything carries over: your Matters, documents, conversations, drafts, analysis, and insights.

Question 19

How do I upgrade from Irys Lite to Irys One?

Accepted Answer

You can upgrade to Irys One ($299/month) at any time from the billing section in your account settings, or directly from any cap-hit prompt. Your existing Matter, documents, and work product carry over; nothing starts from scratch. You'll immediately unlock unlimited messages, storage, Matters, and Playbooks.

Question 20

How do I cancel Irys Lite?

Accepted Answer

Irys Lite is a month-to-month plan with no long-term commitment. To cancel, visit your account settings; you'll see options to cancel your subscription.

Question 21

Does Irys Lite have an annual billing option?

Accepted Answer

No.

Question 22

How is Irys Lite different from the free trial?

Accepted Answer

The 14-day free trial gives you full, unrestricted access to Irys with no usage caps. Irys Lite is a paid plan at $19.99/month that gets you the full product with usage caps of 125 messages per day and 250MB of storage. Your trial does not auto-convert to a paid plan. At the end of your trial, you'll choose between Irys One (the full version of the platform) and Irys Lite.

Question 23

What happens when my free trial ends?

Accepted Answer

Your trial does not auto-convert to a paid plan. Two days before your trial expires, you'll get a reminder email. On the day your trial ends, your next login will show a paywall: Irys One ($299/month, the full platform) is the primary option, with Irys Lite ($19.99/month with usage caps) as the secondary option. You have a 7-day grace window after expiration during which you can still choose a plan and resume your work; your data is preserved through the grace window.

Question 24

Is the Word Add-In included on Irys Lite?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Every paid Irys plan, including Lite, includes the Microsoft Word Add-In at no additional cost.

Question 25

What is Agentic Retrieval?

Accepted Answer

Agentic Retrieval (AR) is the engine behind Agent mode. Instead of answering in a single pass, it runs a structured investigation: it plans the research, pursues multiple lines of inquiry in parallel, validates case law against primary sources, and synthesizes a legal memorandum with inline citations linked back to their source. The result is more reliable citations and answers grounded in verifiable sources rather than model inference alone.

Question 26

Is Agentic Retrieval included in my Irys plan?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Agent mode is available on all Irys plans at no additional cost.

Question 27

Do I need to do anything to start using it?

Accepted Answer

No setup needed. Everyday is the default mode for fast answers; to run a full, cited investigation, open the mode selector below the input bar and choose Agent. Every mode is included — there are no settings to turn on.

Question 28

What are the three modes and when should I use each one?

Accepted Answer

There are three, and you pick how deeply Irys investigates — you never pick a model. Everyday (the default): fast, direct answers for drafting, summarizing, rewording, or a straightforward question. Deep Research: one comprehensive pass that returns a memo-quality report with aggregated citations — best for statutes, regulations, and secondary-source questions. Agent: a full investigation that reads your matter, validates case law, and returns a memo with inline citations you can click — best for matter-bound or case-law work you will stand behind. Switching is one click.

Question 29

What’s the difference between Everyday and Agent?

Accepted Answer

Everyday gives a fast, single answer with no inline citations — ideal for quick drafting and questions. Agent runs a full investigation: it plans, pursues multiple leads in parallel, validates case law against CourtListener, and returns a structured memorandum with inline citations. Use Everyday for speed; use Agent for anything you would cite or show to someone else.

Question 30

What’s the difference between Agent and Deep Research?

Accepted Answer

Deep Research makes one comprehensive pass and returns a memo-quality report with aggregated citations — strong for statutes, regulations, and secondary-source synthesis. Agent runs an iterative, step-by-step investigation, validates case law against source, and cites each claim inline — the better choice when the question turns on case law. Both are current modes: pick Deep Research for a single synthesis pass, Agent for a verified, cited investigation.

Question 31

How do I switch between modes?

Accepted Answer

Open the mode selector below the input bar and choose Everyday, Deep Research, or Agent. The mode applies to your next message, so glance at the selector before you send — especially when you reopen an earlier conversation.

Question 32

Does an existing chat remember which mode I last used?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Each chat now reopens with the chat mode that was used for its last message — Everyday, Deep Research, or Agent. Pick up exactly where you left off.

Question 33

Which mode does a new chat start in?

Accepted Answer

Whichever chat mode you last selected — Everyday, Deep Research, or Agent. The default follows your latest choice so you don't have to reset it each time.

Question 34

What is Thinking and how do I use it?

Accepted Answer

Thinking is the live investigation panel that opens when you submit a query in Agent mode. You can follow along in real time as AR identifies key issues, pursues each lead, and pulls in relevant sources. Once the query is complete, Thinking displays a compressed summary of every lead and cross-reference used to generate the answer, so you can see not just what AR concluded, but how it got there.

Question 35

What happens after I submit a question in Agent mode?

Accepted Answer

Agent runs a four-step process. First, the Thinking panel opens showing the planned investigation and key issues to pursue. Second, leads run in parallel, each one a line of inquiry such as a case to validate, a document section to read, or a statute to retrieve. Third, a structured legal memorandum is written with inline superscript citations. Fourth, the Sources & Citations panel populates with everything retrieved, grouped by Case Law and Web, with a search function and Copy All option.

Question 36

Does Agent mode work with my matter documents?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Agent is matter-aware by default, when you’re working inside a Matter, AR prioritizes your attached documents alongside external legal sources. Document citations link directly to the source PDF at the cited page.

Question 37

What’s the difference between Case Law and Web Search in the Sources panel?

Accepted Answer

Case Law refers to opinions retrieved and validated through CourtListener, a free, authoritative repository of U.S. legal opinions, oral arguments, and federal filings. Web Search refers to additional relevant sources located through online search. Both are grouped separately in the Sources & Citations panel so you can see exactly where each piece of information came from.

Question 38

How do inline citations work?

Accepted Answer

Hover over any footnote number in Agent’s output to see the citation and a hyperlink to the source. Click the footnote number to open the full Sources & Citations panel, where all references are listed and grouped by type. From either view, you can navigate directly to the full opinion on CourtListener or to the source document page.

Question 39

How does Irys verify case law citations?

Accepted Answer

All case law references are validated against CourtListener, which covers 50M+ U.S. legal citations going back over 200 years. Clicking any case citation takes you directly to the full opinion on CourtListener. You should always review citations independently, AR is AI, but the verification chain is visible and checkable at every step.

Question 40

Do I need a CourtListener account or subscription to use Agent mode?

Accepted Answer

No. CourtListener is a free resource and no account or subscription is required.

Question 41

Does Agent mode affect how quickly Irys responds?

Accepted Answer

Agent is the most thorough mode, so it takes longer than Everyday’s near-instant answer. Because the Thinking panel shows the investigation as it runs, you follow progress throughout rather than waiting for a final answer to appear all at once.

Question 42

Will my existing saved prompts and chat history still work?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Your saved prompts and chat history are unaffected by the modes. Everyday is the default; Agent and Deep Research are there whenever you need them.

Question 43

What is Everyday mode?

Accepted Answer

Everyday is the default mode — fast, direct answers for drafting, summarizing, rewording, and straightforward legal questions. It works from your matter’s full document context and returns copy-ready text without inline citations. Use it when you want an answer in seconds, not a research report.

Question 44

What is Focus Mode?

Accepted Answer

Focus Mode gives you a distraction-free, full-screen view of a conversation for reading the AI’s replies — it hides the surrounding panels so the chat fills the screen. Toggle it off to return to the standard layout.

Question 45

Why did my mode change, or does the platform switch modes on its own?

Accepted Answer

The mode you pick applies to your next message; it doesn’t change answers already on screen. Before you send — especially when you reopen an older conversation — glance at the mode selector to confirm you’re in the mode you expect, so the answer comes back the way you want.

Question 46

How do I verify Deep Research citations?

Accepted Answer

Deep Research gathers its citations at the end rather than validating each against a case-law database as it writes, so run Cite Check on the report to confirm every cited case exists, is correctly formatted, and is still good law. For case-law-heavy questions, Agent validates citations against source as it works.

Question 47

Can I download or save an answer?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Download any reply as PDF or Word (DOCX), use “Save this output to Notes in My Desk” to keep it with the matter, or copy it straight out.

Question 48

What is the Dashboard?

Accepted Answer

The Dashboard is your landing page after you sign in: a command center that pulls your active work into one place. It has three views, Focus, Command, and Full, that reveal more as you ask for it, so it leads with what is urgent and stays out of the way until you want more.

Question 49

What do the Focus, Command, and Full views each show?

Accepted Answer

Each view answers a different question and is complete on its own, so you only go deeper when you need to. Here is what each one leads with:

Question 50

How do I switch views, and does Irys remember the one I use?

Accepted Answer

Use the "Dashboard View" control near the top of the Dashboard to move between Focus, Command, and Full. Irys remembers the view you chose and opens there next time.

Question 51

The Dashboard looks different. Where did everything go?

Accepted Answer

The Dashboard now uses three views instead of separate tabs, and the work is all still here. Switch between Focus, Command, and Full with the "Dashboard View" control to find a panel you do not see. Here is where things moved:

Question 52

Where do I turn on two-factor authentication, change my password, or set sign-out on inactivity?

Accepted Answer

Two-factor authentication, your password, and sign-out on inactivity all live in your account settings, not on the Dashboard. To get there:

Question 53

Can I ask Irys something directly from the Dashboard?

Accepted Answer

Yes. The Focus view has an "Ask Irys" bar built in, so you can start a question the moment you land, without opening a separate screen first.

Question 54

Why are the matters in Focus different from the ones in Command?

Accepted Answer

Focus shows your priority matters, the most urgent ones first, so you can act on what needs you right now. Command shows your recent matters in a carousel, so you can move across everything you have been working on. Same matters, sorted for two different jobs.

Question 55

Do my teammates see the same Dashboard as me?

Accepted Answer

Within a Workspace everyone works from the same matters, but the Dashboard surfaces your own priorities, tasks, and recent work, so what each person sees is their own. Team Activity is the shared part: it shows what others on your team have been doing.

Question 56

What is a Matter?

Accepted Answer

A Matter is the unit of work in Irys — the place for everything related to a case, deal, or project: documents, conversations, notes, tasks, drafted documents, and analysis results. Every tool and feature in the platform connects back to the Matter.

Question 57

What's new in Matters?

Accepted Answer

Panels now show last-activity previews and context action buttons. A new Tasks panel is added. The Matter header gains Status, Due Date, and Assignee fields. A floating AI chat window scoped to the matter is always available on the page.

Question 58

What is the Pinned Reminder?

Accepted Answer

Each Matter has one Pinned Reminder — a single user-editable status message that acts as the "headline" for anyone looking at the matter. It appears both on the Matter card in your list and as a banner on the Matter detail page. Any Matter member can set or replace it.

Question 59

What is the Tasks panel?

Accepted Answer

Tasks is a new panel for lightweight work tracking within a Matter. Each task has a title, optional assignee, optional due date, status (To Do / In Progress / Done), an optional free-form label (e.g., "Urgent," "Waiting on OC"), and an optional link to a document, chat, or note in the Matter. Tasks can also have sub-tasks, which are simple checkboxes with a title only.

Question 60

What are task labels?

Accepted Answer

Labels are free-form text tags on individual tasks that provide priority signals. The system suggests commonly used labels — including "Urgent," "Waiting on OC," "Waiting on Client," "Partner Review," "Filing Deadline," and "Court Deadline" — based on what you and your team have used before. Labels are scoped to the individual task.

Question 61

How do sub-tasks work?

Accepted Answer

A parent task can have sub-tasks, which are checkboxes with a title only — no independent assignee, due date, status, or label. The parent task carries all real properties. One level of nesting only. When all sub-tasks are checked, the system will suggest marking the parent task as Done, but won't auto-complete it.

Question 62

Where can I see all my tasks across Matters?

Accepted Answer

To access Tasks across all Matters, select the "Task" option beneath "Matters" on the left panel. It shows an urgency summary (overdue, due today, active), grouping tasks into "Needs Immediate Attention" and "Coming Up." You can filter by matter, status, or label. Tasks also show a "Suggested Practice Tool" badge — a one-click launcher into the right tool with Matter context already loaded.

Question 63

What are context actions on panels?

Accepted Answer

Panel items now show action buttons like "Open in Drafting Assistant," "Compare with…," "Send for Signature," and "Start New Analysis." These launch the relevant Practice Tool with the Matter context pre-loaded — you don't need to manually attach documents or set context. Tool outputs auto-link back to the Matter.

Question 64

What is the floating AI surface?

Accepted Answer

Every Matter detail page has a floating "Ask Irys" chat window scoped to that matter. It automatically has access to all the matter's documents, chats, notes, tasks, and AI instructions — no manual attachment needed. Quick questions happen in the floating surface; heavier work can expand into the full standalone AI Assistant with Matter context pre-loaded.

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