NebulaOne is a University authorized AI platform developed by the software company Cloudforce. It allows UMW faculty, staff, and students access to premium AI models from many AI platforms (e.g. ChatGPT, Claude) without the need to sign up for individual accounts on those platforms.
Things to Know #
- Data entered into NebulaOne is contained within UMW’s Microsoft tenant and is not used for training or development of AI models.
- As per University policy, any highly sensitive data should not be entered into NebulaOne.
- Student use of NebulaOne (and any other AI tool) in UMW classes is at the discretion of the instructor. Students should consult the syllabus and/or their instructor before using AI in coursework.
Access #
NebulaOne can be accessed from the login page at ai.umw.edu/nebulaone
Faculty, staff, and students can log in with their UMW email address and password.
For assistance with accessing NebulaOne, contact the IT Help Desk.
Basic Features #
OneChat #
OneChat is NebulaOne’s basic chat functionality, similar to what you might find in a tool like Claude or ChatGPT. Users can select a model from the available options at the top of the screen, then quickly start conversations with an AI agent. These conversations are saved within each user’s NebulaOne account.
When selecting a model, one or more leaf icons may appear next to the model name. These leaves indicate how resource-intensive a model is – more leaves indicate that a model uses less compute and thus could be a better choice for simpler tasks.
Artifacts #
Sometimes when you prompt a model in NebulaOne, it will generate an artifact. Artifacts are standalone files that can be downloaded and used outside of the NebulaOne platform, like Word documents, PDFs, or images.
If you want a specific type of artifact, you can ask NebulaOne to generate its output in that format. Not all file types are available.
Cloudforce’s guide to NebulaOne Artifacts
Projects #
Projects are folders that gather multiple chats, artifacts, knowledge bases, and instructions focused on a particular project or topic. This can be a useful way to keep track of work, or to tune responses around a particular recurring task.
Cloudforce’s guide to NebulaOne Projects
Skills #
Skills are instructions that can be quickly applied to any chat or agent interaction in NebulaOne. You can create skills from the “Settings” menu, which can be found by clicking your name at the bottom of the NebulaOne sidebar.
Skills can be “always on” or set to trigger when a certain condition is met.
Cloudforce’s guide to NebulaOne Skills
Agents #
Agents are AI assistants that have been given a pre-determined set of instructions about how to interact with a user. With careful configuration, agents can be a helpful tool to automate repetitive tasks or assist with a recurring workflow.
A few Shared Agents have been set up for all UMW users to access. These have been pre-built by UMW or Cloudforce staff to perform some standard functions.
Every user can also create their own Personal Agents. Personal Agents you create are only visible to you unless shared using a link generated from the Agents dashboard.
Both Personal and Shared Agents can be found under the “Explore Agents” tab in the NebulaOne sidebar. As with all AI interactions, output from Agents should be verified before shared or acted upon.
Cloudforce’s guide to NebulaOne Personal Agents
PACE Framework for Designing AI Agent Prompts
Requesting Other Models #
To keep costs down, a limited number of AI models are available to all UMW users. If your work requires access to newer or more powerful models, you can request additional access by contacting the IT Help Desk.