Swifty — User Guide

Your local, private AI assistant · City of Swift Current

Swifty is an AI assistant that runs entirely on the City's own servers. You can chat with it, have it read and analyze documents you attach, create and edit images and short videos, turn meeting recordings into minutes, produce downloadable documents, and answer from the City's own records — all on-premises, with nothing sent to the cloud.

Why Swifty? Everyday uses around the City

The short answer: Swifty does the first draft — of documents, minutes, graphics, and answers — so you spend your time reviewing instead of starting from a blank page. And because it runs on the City's own servers, you can safely give it confidential material (draft budgets, personnel matters, contracts) that must never be pasted into public AI tools like ChatGPT. Here are real ways staff can use it today:

📎Analyze a document

Attach a PDF, Word doc, or spreadsheet and ask about it — summarize, pull out key points, or answer questions from it.

Click 📎, pick the file, then “summarize the key findings and any risks.” §3
🏛️Ask the City's records

Turn on Corporate Documents to have Swifty answer from the City's internal SharePoint lists (directories, records IT has synced).

Toggle 🏛️, then “who is the current facilities contact and their extension?” §4
🎧Meeting minutes in minutes

Record a committee or council meeting, upload it, and get a summary, decisions, and action items as a Word document.

Click 🎧 and pick the recording. §12
📄Memos, letters & reports

Turn rough bullet points into a polished draft, then download it as Word or PDF for editing and sign-off.

“Draft a memo to arena staff about the new booking process — then save it as a Word document.” §13
📊Instant spreadsheets

Paste numbers from an email or report and get a clean Excel file — columns, totals, and all.

“Turn these figures into a spreadsheet with a total row.” §13
📽️Slide decks from notes

Give it your talking points and get a starter PowerPoint for a council presentation or public meeting.

“Make a 6-slide deck introducing the new transit schedule.” §13
🗣️Plain-language rewrites

Translate policy or bylaw wording into friendly text for the website, newsletters, or public notices.

“Rewrite this section for the public at a grade-8 reading level.” §2
🎨Poster & social graphics

Generate images for event posters and campaigns — pick a style and shape, then refine with plain words.

“Create a winter-festival poster image, cinematic, portrait.” §7
✏️Fix photos without a designer

Update text in a sign, remove a distracting object, or swap a background — Swifty edits only what you ask.

“Make the sign say REGISTRATION OPEN.” §8
✂️Cutouts for slides & flyers

Pull a logo, vehicle, or landmark out of a photo onto a transparent background for reuse in any layout.

“Cut out the fire truck.” §9
📢Job postings & RFP drafts

Feed it the role details or project scope and get a structured first draft to refine with HR or procurement.

“Draft a job posting for a seasonal parks labourer from these points…” §2
🌐Quick web pages

Get a one-page HTML draft — an event page, FAQ, or program explainer — as a downloadable file for the web team.

“Build a simple event page for the Canada Day schedule and give it to me as an HTML file.” §13
🎤Hands-free in the field

On mobile or gloved-up at a site, talk instead of typing — dictate notes or questions and say “send.”

Click 🎤, speak, say “send.” §6
The habit to build: before starting any document, summary, or graphic from scratch, ask Swifty for a first draft. Worst case you discard it; usually it saves you the first hour.
Swifty + New chat Budget questions Arena minutes Local references 👤 you · Sign out Local · private · no cloud gemma4:12b ▾ 🔊 Off How can I help? ✍️ Draft an email 📊 Analyze a sheet Draft me a memo… Swifty 📎 🧑 🌐 🏛️ 🎨 🎧 Message Swifty… 🎤 ↑ Files/folders you share (app) Quick-start suggestions The composer ↓ (see Figure 2)
Figure 1 — The Swifty screen: chat list & your shared files on the left, the conversation in the middle, quick-start suggestions on a new chat, and the composer along the bottom.

1. Signing in & the screen

Open Swifty in your browser at https://swifty.swiftcurrent.ca (or launch the Windows app). Sign in with Continue with Microsoft, or your Swifty username and password. Accounts are created by IT — there is no public sign-up.

Once you're in, the layout is simple (Figure 1): a sidebar with your past chats and any files you've shared, the conversation in the middle, and the composer at the bottom where you type. Tap on a phone to open the sidebar.

On a fresh chat you'll see quick-start suggestions under “How can I help?” — Draft an email, Create an image, Analyze a spreadsheet, and more. Click one to drop a starter prompt into the composer, then fill in the details and send.

2. Chatting & choosing a model

Type your message and press Enter (or the button). Use Shift+Enter for a new line. Start a fresh conversation any time with + New chat; your chats are saved in the sidebar. Long conversations keep their context — Swifty automatically condenses earlier parts so nothing important is lost.

The dropdown at the top picks the AI model. Different models are good at different things — a general everyday model is selected by default; others are stronger at coding or reasoning. If you're not sure, leave it on the default.

Tip: Just ask in plain language. Swifty decides on its own when to read an attached file, make an image, build a document, and so on — you don't need special commands.
Teach it a standing rule: start a message with “Remember: …” — e.g. “Remember: always format dates as 12 July 2026.” Your suggestion goes to an administrator for approval, and once approved Swifty follows it in every chat, for everyone.
📎 🧑 🌐 🏛️ 🎨 🎧 Message Swifty… 🎤 Attach image / document Reference photo Look up online Corporate docs (SSO) Image style Meeting → minutes Hands-free voice Send
Figure 2 — The composer buttons. Each is explained in the sections below. (🧑 and 🌐 appear once you attach an image; 🏛️ appears when you sign in with Microsoft.)
📎Attach a file — an image to edit, cut out, or ask about (§8–10), or a document (PDF, Word, spreadsheet, CSV, text) to analyze (§3).
🧑Reference photo — add a second photo of a person/object to insert into the attached image. Appears after you attach an image. (§10)
🌐Look up online — let Swifty fetch a licensed photo of a named person as a reference. The one feature that uses the internet. Appears after you attach an image. (§10, §16)
🏛️Corporate Documents — ground this chat in the City's internal SharePoint knowledge. Appears only when you sign in with Microsoft. (§4)
🎨Image style — style, shape, and model options used when you ask for a picture or video. (§7)
🎧Meeting recording — upload an audio/video file to get a transcript and minutes. (§12)
🎤Hands-free voice — click, speak, then say “send” to submit. (§6)
Send your message.

3. Analyzing a document

Click 📎 and choose a PDF, Word document, spreadsheet (.xlsx/.csv), or text file. Swifty reads the document's text and you can ask about it in plain language — all on the City's servers, so it's safe for confidential material.

A small chip shows the attached file; click ✕ to remove it. Very long documents are trimmed to fit, and Swifty will tell you when that happens.

A note on safety: Swifty only ever reads a document's text — it never opens or runs the file — so analyzing one can't harm your computer. It does not, however, scan attachments for viruses or malicious links. Treat files from unknown or external senders with your usual caution and rely on your normal antivirus; don't assume an attachment is safe just because Swifty could read it.
Attach vs. share: attaching here (📎) uploads the file for the current chat. If you're on the Windows app and want Swifty to read files that stay on your PC, use Local references instead (§14).
Paste a screenshot instead of retyping: you can paste an image straight into the message box (Ctrl+V) — a screenshot, a photo of a page, a scanned form — and just ask “read this” or “what does this say?” Swifty reads the text and content right out of the picture, so you don't have to copy and paste it by hand. This works no matter which model you've picked — if the current one can't see images, Swifty automatically brings in one that can for that message. (You can also attach the image with 📎.)

4. Corporate Documents Microsoft sign-in

The 🏛️ button grounds a chat in the City's internal SharePoint knowledge — the lists and records IT has synced into Swifty (staff directories, reference lists, and the like). Turn it on when you want answers drawn from City records; leave it off for general questions.

It's off by default, and the button only appears if you signed in with Continue with Microsoft (it's limited to Microsoft-authenticated staff and administrators). When it's on, you'll see the sources Swifty used listed with its answer.

Good to know: Swifty draws only on the lists IT has chosen to sync. If something you expect isn't there, ask IT to add that SharePoint list.

5. Reading a reply

As Swifty answers, you'll see a few helpful touches:

6. Talking & listening

Listen to replies

Click 🔊 Off in the top bar to turn on read-aloud; pick a voice from the dropdown that appears. Click it again to turn it off.

Speak instead of type (hands-free)

Click the 🎤 button, talk normally, and when you're done say the word “send” (then pause a moment) — Swifty submits what you said. Everything is transcribed locally on the server; your voice never leaves the network.

7. Creating images

Just ask — for example, “Create an image of the Swift Current water tower at sunset.” Before you send, click 🎨 to choose a style (photorealistic, cinematic, watercolour, flat logo, …), a shape (square / portrait / landscape), and optionally a specific image model. Generated pictures appear right in the chat; click one to open it full-size.

Tip: To adjust a result, just say what to change — “try again, more dramatic lighting” — and Swifty re-generates with your tweak.

8. Editing an image

Click 📎, choose a picture, then describe the change in plain words:

It changes what you asked and leaves the rest of the picture alone.

9. Cutting out an object

Attach a photo (📎) and say “cut out the guitar” (or “isolate the car”, “extract the logo”). Swifty returns just that object on a transparent background — handy for posters, slides, and graphics.

To replace a whole background instead, say “change the background to a beach.”

3D printing: attach a photo of an object and say “turn this into a 3D printable model” — Swifty builds a full 3D mesh from the picture and gives you an .stl file ready for the slicer (plus a .glb you can preview in Windows 3D Viewer). Works best on a clear photo of a single object. Set the size when you slice it.

10. Inserting a person's likeness

To put a specific person into a photo (e.g. replace a stand-in with a real face), Swifty needs to know what that person looks like. Two ways:

Please note: 🌐 is the only feature that reaches the internet, and it's off by default. When on, only the person's name is sent out, and only openly-licensed images are used. Editing real people into City material carries rights/appropriateness considerations — use good judgement, especially for public figures.
Tip for best likeness: a clear, front-facing photo works best. For people you edit often (councillors, staff), ask IT about a private on-site photo library for the most consistent results.

11. Turning a photo into a video

Attach a photo (📎) and describe the motion you want — “animate this: the balloon drifts up and the clouds move,” or just “make it move.” Swifty animates the photo with real motion (not a static pan-and-zoom). Describe what should move for the best result.

Length: pick 3, 5, 10, or 15 seconds under the video options (the same panel as image style/aspect), or just ask for a “15-second” clip. A 5-second clip takes about three minutes; a 15-second clip is built from three chained segments and takes roughly eight.

12. Meeting recording → minutes

Click 🎧 and choose an audio or video recording of a meeting. Swifty transcribes it locally (you'll see a progress %), then writes clear minutes — a summary, key decisions, and action items — and offers them as a downloadable Word document.

Good to know: transcription runs on the server; the recording never leaves the network.

13. Downloadable documents

Ask Swifty to produce a file and it will give you a download link. It can create:

For example: “Put this into a Word document,” “make a spreadsheet of these figures,” “turn this into a slide deck,” or “save that as a PDF.” In the Windows app the file opens straight away; in the browser it downloads.

Signs & posters: ask for a sign as a PDF and you get a designed, print-ready page — big headline, colour accent, even optional artwork — not a plain text document. “Make a printable PDF sign: pool closed Friday, red, with a swimmer icon.”

14. Your files & the browser Windows app

These extras are available in the Windows app (download it from the sidebar link):

15. Install on your phone or desktop

16. Privacy — how Swifty keeps things local

Swifty runs on the City's own servers. Your chats, attached documents, uploaded images, recordings, and shared files are processed on-premises and are not sent to any outside AI service.

The single exception is the 🌐 online reference lookup (§10): it's off unless you turn it on, and even then it only sends a person's name to fetch a licensed photo. Everything else — chat, document analysis, Corporate Documents, images, voice, transcription, downloads — stays entirely within the City network.

For administrators

Admins have an Admin link in the sidebar (/admin.html) to manage available models and user accounts, and a live cluster monitor at /monitor — real-time CPU, memory, network, disk, and GPU usage across all servers, plus token throughput.

Corporate Documents (🏛️, §4) is limited to Microsoft-authenticated sessions and admins. Questions or a new account? Contact IT.