What AI assistants can do at each meeting step
TeamRetro meetings run in steps. An AI assistant follows the same step rules that you do, because it acts as you. This article lists what an assistant can do at each step, and what it can see before the facilitator reveals it.
It applies to both ways of using an assistant:
- trAI, the assistant in the side panel of a meeting.
- Your own AI assistant connected over MCP, such as ChatGPT, Claude or Cursor.
An assistant acts as you
An assistant can never do something your own role does not already let you do. See TeamRetro Roles and Permissions for what each role can do.
- Facilitators are not limited by the step. While the meeting is open, a facilitator can act at any step.
- Inside a meeting, a team admin is a regular participant. Team admins follow the same step rules as everyone else. If a team admin needs facilitator tools, they can take or be given the Facilitator role.
- Guests and observers cannot use trAI.
- Nothing can be changed after a meeting is closed.
- API keys are not affected by these step rules. An API key is an integration, not a person. See TeamRetro API.
What an assistant can do at each step
Retrospectives
| Action | Available in | Why |
| Add, reword or remove an idea | Brainstorm, Group | New or changed ideas during Vote or Discuss would change a set that people have already voted on. |
| Vote on an idea or group | Vote | Votes cast before Group can attach to ideas that are then merged. Voting again during Discuss or Review moves the results the team is looking at. |
| Add or edit an action | Any step, if the meeting settings allow it | Follows the action permissions set for the meeting. |
| Comment on an idea or group | Any step | Comments are part of the discussion. |
| Give kudos | Any step, including Close | Recognition is welcome at any point, including at the end of a meeting. |
Health checks
| Action | Available in | Why |
| Answer or change a survey answer | Survey | Changing a score during Discuss would quietly move the results the team is looking at. |
| Comment | Any step | Comments are part of the discussion. |
| Give kudos | Any step | Recognition is welcome at any point. |
Estimations
Estimation meetings run item by item, so the rules follow the item rather than the meeting step.
| Action | Available in | Why |
| Cast or change your estimate | Until the facilitator reveals the item | You can change your mind while an item is open. Once it is revealed, the numbers the team is discussing stay put. |
| Add items to estimate | Facilitators and team admins | Adding items changes the plan for the session. |
| Comment | Any step | Comments are part of the discussion. |
| Give kudos | Any step | Recognition is welcome at any point. |
What an assistant can see
An assistant only sees what you can see at that moment in the meeting.
- Retrospectives. During Brainstorm, if the meeting hides other people's ideas, the assistant cannot read them either. Live vote counts stay hidden until Discuss.
- Health checks. Until Discuss, the assistant sees your own answers only.
- Estimations. Other people's estimates and the final estimate appear only after the facilitator reveals the item.
- Past meetings. Searching your team's history returns closed meetings only.
- Anonymity. An assistant can never reveal who wrote an anonymous idea, comment or survey answer.
When a request is blocked
If you ask for something that is not available at the current step, the assistant is told which step the meeting is in. For example, asking to add an idea during Vote returns an error saying the meeting is in the Vote step.
To go ahead anyway, ask your facilitator to move the meeting to the right step, or wait until it gets there.