What Ask Genie does, and how
From a sentence to a saved job: the four steps, the four kinds of question, and what Genie can never do.
On this page
Ask Genie is the other way to make and change backups. You say what you want; Genie turns it into the same kind of job the wizard makes; a dry run shows what that job would do; you decide. Genie never acts on its own.
From a sentence to a job#
- You describe it. When you send the prompt, it goes with a short description of your drives and jobs to Genie9's server, which asks OpenAI's model for a draft. See What is sent to Genie, and what never is.
- Genie drafts a job. The draft is a job in the app's own format. The app checks it against the rules the wizard enforces. A draft that breaks one shows the problem in red, and Save job stays greyed out. A draft that needs a higher edition says which.
- A dry run. The agent runs the draft against your drives without writing anything, for up to 8 seconds: how many files, how big, what the filters left out and why, the biggest files kept. Dry run OK · 2,943 files · 118 excluded · nothing was written.
- You decide. Save job, Save and run now, Edit in wizard, or refine it in the conversation. Nothing is saved until you press a button that says so.
Four kinds of question#
| Kind | Examples |
|---|---|
| Create a job | Protect everything I'd cry about losing, to the external drive. · Back up my photos and videos to the NAS every Sunday night, keep 6 months. |
| Change a job | Make "Photo library" also run on Wednesdays. · Add D:\Users\Alex\Design to the Code & projects job. Genie shows the new draft first; saving keeps the job's runs and restore points. |
| Understand what happened | Why would last night's run skip files? · Which of my jobs would not survive losing drive H:? · How much space will I need in six months at this rate? |
| Find and restore | Which job has my invoices folder? · How do I get back a file I deleted yesterday? Genie points you to the right place; you restore. |
On a run report, Ask Genie why types the third kind for you. For skipped files the question names the job, how many files were skipped and the first file's path. For a failed run it names the job, the error code and the error message. Nothing is sent until you press Ask; only then does it use a prompt.
What Genie can never do#
The page says it under Genie can't: Delete backups, change your password, or run anything without your approval. Restores are always confirmed by you. Genie never chooses an encryption password; you are asked for one when you save an encrypted draft.
When Genie is not available#
Genie needs a sign-in and an internet connection. Signed out, the page shows Sign in to ask Genie. Offline, it says Genie is offline. The wizard still works. Everything else in GBM AI works without either. A job Genie made is an ordinary job and does not need Genie to run.