> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.rootly.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Insert and Edit AI Blocks in Retrospectives

> Insert Rootly AI blocks in a retrospective, watch them generate, inspect their sources, and edit, regenerate, convert, or rate the output.

## Working with AI blocks in a retrospective

When a retrospective is created from a template that contains AI blocks, those sections generate automatically. You can also add AI blocks to any document yourself. Either way, every block stays live — you can regenerate, edit, convert, comment, and rate it. This page covers both.

For everything else about the editor — formatting, data blocks, Liquid, and collaboration — see [Using the Retrospective Editor](/collaborative-retrospectives/using-the-editor).

## Insert a block with the slash menu

<Steps>
  <Step title="Place your cursor">
    Put the cursor where you want the section.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Open the slash menu">
    Type `/` to open the menu.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Pick an AI block">
    Choose one of the presets (Summary, Impact, Root Cause, Mitigation, Resolution, Curated Timeline) or a **Custom AI block**.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Describe a custom block">
    For a custom block, give it a title and a short prompt describing what you want.
  </Step>
</Steps>

The block is inserted and begins generating from the incident's context.

## Watch it generate

AI blocks generate in place. While a block is working, it shows a **generating state**, and the content **streams in live** as it's written — so you can see the draft take shape instead of waiting on a blank spinner. When a document is created from a template, you'll see its AI blocks generating as the page loads.

## See how a block was generated

AI blocks aren't a black box. Open a block's details to see:

* **A short description** of what the block is for.
* **The sources** it drew on (incident data, the incident Slack channel, and the bridge-call transcript when available).
* **The system prompt** behind the block, so you know how it was instructed to write.

## Edit, regenerate, and convert

A generated block behaves like the rest of your document. From the block's toolbar you can:

* **Edit inline.** Click into the block and type. Generated content is just text — rewrite or restructure it however you like.
* **Regenerate.** Ask Rootly AI to write the section again. If you've changed the block's instructions, the new draft reflects them.
* **Convert to plain text.** "Freeze" the block — its content becomes ordinary document text and is no longer a live AI block.
* **Delete.** Remove the block entirely.
* **Comment.** Select text or the block and add a comment, just like anywhere else in the document.

<Warning>
  **Your edits are protected.** If you regenerate a block you've edited by hand, Rootly AI asks you to confirm first — so you never lose manual changes by accident.
</Warning>

## Give feedback

Every AI block has **👍 / 👎** feedback controls. One click tells Rootly whether the generated content was useful. Feedback flows into Rootly's evaluation pipeline to improve Rootly AI over time — it does not directly fine-tune the underlying model.

If a block gets something wrong, the most useful thing you can do is mark it 👎 so it feeds our regression set.

## Exporting

When you publish or export a retrospective, AI block content is rendered as **static content** at the time of export — exactly like the document's other blocks. The exported copy contains the generated text, not a live AI block. See [Exporting Retrospectives](/collaborative-retrospectives/exporting-retrospectives) for export destinations and options.

## Permissions

AI blocks follow your retrospective permissions. **Observers (read-only users) can read AI block content but can't regenerate, edit, convert, or delete it** — the same as the rest of the document.

***

## FAQs

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="An AI block is stuck generating — what do I do?" icon="star">
    Refresh the document. If a block fails to generate, you can regenerate it from its toolbar. If it keeps failing, the incident may have very little context for that section; try a different block or add detail to the incident.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Can I stop a block from generating?" icon="pause">
    Not yet — once a block starts generating it runs to completion. You can regenerate or convert it afterward.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Can I keep two versions of a draft?" icon="code-branch">
    Not yet. Regenerating replaces the current content (after a confirmation if you've edited it). Toggling between drafts is on the roadmap.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Can I change how a block is written for every future retro?" icon="pen">
    Yes — set custom instructions on the block in the template. See [Building AI Templates](/ai/ai-in-retrospectives/building-ai-templates).
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>