---
title: Matter assistant
description: Basenet's AI features — asking questions about a matter, a summary, a case timeline, extracting deadlines, drafts, an invoice narrative, and the AI usage report.
---

> Nederlandse versie: [/handleiding/dossierassistent](/handleiding/dossierassistent)

**What is this?** The **matter assistant** ("Dossierassistent") is the **"AI-assistent"** tab in the matter overview: you ask a question about the matter there and get an answer with cited sources from the matter's own documents. The AI layer also provides a number of other features inside a matter: a summary, a timeline, proposed deadlines, draft replies, and an invoice narrative. One principle applies everywhere: the AI makes a **proposal**, you check it, adjust it, and confirm it — nothing is ever written automatically. The interface is in Dutch; on-screen names are quoted below.

![The "AI-assistent" tab in a matter](/media/guides/matter-assistant-tab.png)

## Where do I find this?

Open a matter and click the **"AI-assistent"** tab. This tab is only visible if your firm has turned the AI feature on — see [Settings](/guides/settings).

## How to ask the matter assistant a question

"Stel een vraag over dit dossier. De assistent ziet alleen documenten die jij mag openen, en vermeldt zijn bronnen." (Ask a question about this matter. The assistant only sees documents you're allowed to open, and cites its sources.)

1. Open the matter and click the **"AI-assistent"** tab.
2. Type your question in the field (for example "Welke termijnen lopen er in dit dossier?" — which deadlines are running in this matter?).
3. Click **"Vragen"** (ask).
4. Read the **"Antwoord"** (answer) and the accompanying **"Bronnen"** (sources) — each citation points to the source document it came from.
5. Is the answer useful? Click **"Opslaan als dossiernotitie"** (save as matter note) or **"Taak hiervan maken"** (make a task of this).

<!-- screenshot needed: guides/matter-assistant-question-answer -->

Every answer carries the **"AI"** label and the notice "AI-gegenereerd — controleer dit altijd aan de hand van de brondocumenten." (AI-generated — always verify this against the source documents.)

## Matter summary

A short, substantiated summary of the matter — not present automatically, you generate it yourself.

1. Open the matter and go to the AI summary.
2. Click **"Vernieuw samenvatting"** (refresh summary).
3. Read the summary; at the bottom you see when it was **"Laatst bijgewerkt"** (last updated).

## Case timeline

A chronological overview of events in the matter, built by the AI from the matter's documents and activity.

## Extracting deadlines

Basenet reads the matter's documents and proposes deadlines — these are AI proposals, each is set as a draft and still needs to be confirmed by a human under the four-eyes principle.

1. Click **"Termijnen voorstellen"** (propose deadlines).
2. Wait for Basenet to finish reading the documents.
3. Check every **"Voorgestelde termijn"** (proposed deadline) in the list "Voorgestelde termijnen (controleer voordat je accepteert)" (proposed deadlines — check before you accept).
4. Click **"Accepteren als concept"** (accept as draft) per deadline — the deadline gets the notice "AI-voorstel — vereist menselijke bevestiging" (AI proposal — requires human confirmation) and you still need to confirm it under the four-eyes principle afterward, as described in [Deadlines](/guides/deadlines).

<!-- screenshot needed: guides/matter-assistant-propose-deadlines -->

## Drafts (email)

A draft reply to an email, which you edit before accepting it.

1. Optionally fill in what the reply should address (for example "Ontvangst bevestigen en de ontbrekende stukken opvragen" — confirm receipt and request the missing documents).
2. Click **"Concept genereren"** (generate draft).
3. Edit the draft and the **"Onderwerp"** (subject).
4. Click **"Accepteren als conceptdocument"** (accept as draft document) — the draft is saved with the matter's documents, like every content-producing AI feature. Don't want to use it? Click **"Verwerpen"** (discard).

## Invoice narrative

A proposed narrative for an invoice line.

1. Click **"Narratief voorstellen"** (propose narrative).
2. Click **"Kopiëren"** (copy) and paste the proposed narrative into an invoice line — see [Time & billing](/guides/time-and-billing).

## AI usage report

For clients or the NOvA (Dutch bar association) you export, per matter, an overview of every AI action taken on that matter: which feature, which model, how many calls, and whether anonymization was applied.

1. Open the matter.
2. Click **"AI-gebruiksrapport exporteren"** (export AI usage report).
3. Hand over the report to a client or the NOvA on request.

![The AI usage report export for a matter](/media/guides/matter-assistant-usage-report.png)

## Turning AI features on or off

Every AI feature has its own switch, per firm. If a feature is off, it's absent everywhere and the server refuses every call. You manage this under [Settings](/guides/settings) — only accessible to administrators.

## One principle to remember

Wherever Basenet uses AI, the AI always makes a **proposal**. Nothing is ever finalized automatically — you check it, adjust it, and confirm it. In the app you recognize AI content by the **"AI"** label and the notice "AI-gegenereerd — controleer dit altijd aan de hand van de brondocumenten." (AI-generated — always verify this against the source documents.)