Stories

A story is a report built from a chat. It combines text, charts and tables in one page that you can share, refresh and download.

Two kinds of story

Kind	Shown as	What it is
Markdown story	Markdown	Text with charts and tables. It supports grid layouts and tabs. You can edit it directly.
Custom story	Custom	A small interactive data app that Polaris builds in React. Use it when you need filters, controls or a layout that a Markdown story cannot do.

Creating custom stories requires the Custom stories feature for your user group. Ask an admin if you do not see Custom story mode.

Create a story

There are three ways:

• Type # in the chat input and choose Story mode (“Create a new story”) or Custom story mode (“Create a new custom story that works as a data app”). Then ask your question.
• Select Add to story on a chart.
• After Polaris draws charts, it may offer to create a story. Accept the offer.

Polaris writes the story and shows it in the side panel. Ask for changes in the chat, such as “move the survival chart to the top” or “add a tab per cohort”.

Edit a story

Open the story and switch between Preview, Edit and Code, then select Save. Every change creates a version. Use Version history to see earlier versions and Restore one.

To ask a question about a story without opening a chat, select Ask story and type in “Ask a question about the story”.

Live stories

A live story re-runs its queries, so the numbers stay current. A story that is not live shows the data from when it was made.

1. Open the story and select Enable live mode.
2. In Live Story Settings, turn on Live (“Re-run queries to refresh data”).
3. Pick a Refresh schedule: Manual refresh only, No cache (always fresh), Every 5 minutes, Every hour, Every 24 hours, Weekly (Monday), Monthly (1st), or Custom schedule…. For a custom schedule, describe it in plain English and select Convert, or enter a cron expression.
4. Optionally turn on Regenerate the narrative. Polaris then rewrites the text to match the new numbers and keeps the structure.

Select Refresh data to refresh a live story right away.

Scheduled delivery

Under Scheduled delivery, a live story can be sent by email or Slack, either whenever it refreshes or on its own schedule. Send it to all project members or to chosen people and groups. Email deliveries include the story as a PDF.

Find stories

Open Stories in the sidebar, or press ⌘ ⇧ S. You can:

• Search by title, author, content or ID.
• Switch between grid and list view.
• Filter by type (Markdown, Custom, Live) and by who created it.
• Sort by name, date created, last updated or views.
• Organize stories into folders.
• Mark favorites. Admins can certify stories as trusted, and pin stories for the people they are shared with.

Download

Download a story as PDF or HTML.

Rate and share

Use Good story and Bad story to send feedback to the story’s owner. Select Share to share it with your project or with chosen people and groups. People you share with always see the latest version. See Sharing and feedback.