#Panel of Experts — Multi-AI Answers

ambientChat can bring more than one AI model in on the same question. There are two ways to do it:

Ask for a second opinion, right in the conversation. Say "what does Gemini think?" or "get a second opinion from Opus 5" and whichever model you're talking to fetches that other model's answer for you, inline. No toggle, no mode switch — just ask.
Turn on Panel of Experts and run a real back-and-forth. Ask a question, then deliberately switch to a different model and put the same question to it — the new model reads the earlier answer and is told to engage with it (extend it, disagree with it, add what's missing), not just repeat it. Switch again for a third take, and you've built a multi-turn discussion in one thread.

Both work the same way from coding tools connected over MCP — Claude Code, Claude Desktop, and others. Stuck reviewing a tricky code segment, or want a second read on a design doc before you commit to it? Ask your coding assistant to get a second opinion from a different model — the same query_expert tool handles it, without you leaving your editor.

One thing worth being precise about: this isn't about pitting AI vendors against each other. It can be — OpenAI vs. Anthropic vs. Google — but it's just as often two models from the same vendor: a fast, cheap model against that vendor's most capable one, to see whether the extra cost actually buys a better answer.

#What It Does

Ask for a second opinion uses a tool called query_expert. Your current model calls out to a different model, gets its answer, and hands it to you — labeled "Second opinion — <model>" — or compares it against its own answer if you ask it to. One question, one other model, inline, no mode to turn on. This is available in ambientChat's own chat (iOS and web) and from any MCP client you've connected, including coding tools.

Panel of Experts (the toggle) is different: it changes what happens when you deliberately switch your active model mid-conversation. The newly-selected model is told it's joining a panel discussion — the earlier answers are still visible in the thread, each one labeled with the model that wrote it — and it's instructed to reference them by name and take a position, rather than silently agreeing or ignoring them. Nothing here fans out automatically; you're still driving one model at a time. Panel mode just makes each new model aware of, and responsive to, what came before.

Both are genuinely useful for questions where you want more than one AI's take, or where seeing two models push back on each other beats seeing them agree.

#How to Use It

#iOS App

#Turning Panel Mode On

Open the Chat tab
In the toolbar above the text field, tap the small circular mode toggle (a 👥 people icon when Panel is on, a thinker icon when it's off — this is a separate control from the model selector)
A toast confirms the mode you switched to and spells out the procedure
Tapping it again switches back to Fresh Perspectives (independent answers, the default)

#Putting a Question to the Panel

With Panel of Experts on, ask your question with whichever model is currently selected
Read its answer
Tap the model name at the top of chat and pick a different model — from another vendor, or a different tier from the same one
Leave the text field empty and tap Send — with nothing typed, it turns into a ↻ icon that resubmits your last question to the newly-selected model
The new model sees the full thread, including the prior model's answer (labeled with its name), and responds as a panelist — building on it, disagreeing with it, or adding a missing angle
Switch models and tap ↻ again for a third opinion, and so on

#Fresh Perspectives (Panel Mode Off)

This is the default. Switching models mid-conversation still carries your context over, but each model answers independently — it isn't told the other models exist, and it won't reference or argue with their answers. There's no ↻ repeat shortcut in this mode; to get another model's take on the same question, switch models and retype (or copy/paste) the question yourself.

#Web

Same mechanic, in the browser:

Open the Chat page
Toggle 🎤 Panel on near the composer (hover it for a tooltip that spells out the procedure)
Ask your question, then switch models (top-right model button) and press ↻ to put the same question to the next expert — it builds on or challenges the last answer, like panelists riffing off each other
Panel mode keeps the full conversation history instead of trimming older turns, so credit use climbs faster the longer the discussion runs — the UI flags this while it's on

#Via Chat (ask for a second opinion — no mode needed)

This is the fastest door in, on either platform, and it works whether Panel mode is on or off. Whichever model you're talking to can pull in a one-off answer from a different model on its own, without you switching your active model or leaving the conversation. Just ask naturally:

"What does Gemini think about this?"
"Get a second opinion from Opus 5."
"Ask Perplexity to verify this."

Your current model calls the other model, gets its answer back, and either hands it to you directly or compares it against its own take if you ask it to. This is one question routed to one other model inline — not a fan-out, and not the same as switching your active model in Panel mode.

#Via MCP (Claude Code, Claude Desktop, and other AI agents)

The same query_expert tool behind "ask for a second opinion" is available to any MCP client you've connected to ambientChat — including Claude Code:

Pass a model parameter with any currently-visible model ID (the tool description lists the available models and their capabilities)
The tool automatically includes your full ambientChat context with each query

This is useful mid-work, not just for ambientChat questions. Reviewing a design document and want a second read before committing to it? Stuck on a code segment that isn't behaving? Ask Claude Code to get a second opinion from a different model — "ask Opus 5 to review this function for edge cases" or "get Gemini's take on this design doc" — and it calls query_expert without you leaving your editor.

Example from Claude Desktop: "Ask Gemini what's the current market value for a 2023 MacBook Pro M3." — the primary model calls query_expert to route to Gemini, and if the answer needs real-time pricing, the expert pulls it in via Perplexity-backed web search.

For the full tool reference, see MCP Tools — Complete Reference.

#Tips & Tricks

Use Panel mode for high-stakes questions. Making a big purchase decision? Getting health-related advice? Two models genuinely arguing with each other surfaces things one model alone would miss.
Compare tiers, not just vendors. Switching between a fast, cheap model and a Premium one — from the same vendor — tells you whether the extra cost buys a meaningfully better answer to this specific question.
For a quick sanity check, skip Panel mode entirely. Just ask your current model to get a second opinion from a specific model — faster than switching your active model when you only want one outside take, not a running debate.
The ↻ button only appears in Panel mode. If you don't see it turn into a repeat icon when you clear the text field, check the mode toggle — you're in Fresh Perspectives.
In a coding tool, use it to pressure-test decisions before you commit to them. A second opinion on a design doc or a gnarly bug is often worth more before you've written the code than after.
Switch back to Fresh Perspectives for casual questions. Panel mode keeps the full conversation history on every turn, which adds up. Save it for when you actually want the panel dynamic, and use single-model chat for "What's expiring this week?" and other routine queries.

#Options

Setting	What It Does	Default
Panel of Experts	Toggles whether the currently-selected model is prompted to read and engage with prior models' answers, and whether full conversation history is retained (vs. trimmed)	Off

#Known Limitations

No automatic fan-out. Panel mode never sends your question to more than one model at once — you drive each turn by switching models and re-asking. If you want three answers, that's three deliberate steps.
No side-by-side comparison view. Answers land one at a time as separate turns in the same thread, in the order you asked for them — not as cards you can scroll across.
Higher token usage, driven by history, not parallel calls. Panel mode never trims older turns (later models need to see exactly what earlier ones said), so the cost per question grows as the conversation gets longer — it isn't a flat multiplier like "3× a single query."
The ↻ repeat shortcut is Panel-mode-only. In Fresh Perspectives mode you have to switch models and resend the question yourself.
No automatic consensus or "best answer" selection. The app never picks a winner among the models you've asked. It's up to you to judge which answer (or combination) is most useful.

#Version History

Version	Date	What Changed
4	2026-07-23	Restructured around the two real ways in — conversational "ask for a second opinion" (`query_expert`, no mode needed) vs. the Panel of Experts toggle's switch-model-and-↻ mechanic — and led with them instead of a defensive "here's what it's not." Corrected "back-and-forth between AI vendors" to "between models" (same-vendor, different-tier comparisons are just as valid). Added the MCP/coding-tool use case: Claude Code (and other MCP clients) can call `query_expert` mid-work to get a second model's read on a design doc or a stuck code segment.
3	2026-07-23	Corrected core mechanic: Panel of Experts is sequential (switch model → ↻ re-ask), not a simultaneous multi-model fan-out with side-by-side cards. Rewrote What It Does, How to Use It, Tips, Options, and Known Limitations to match; documented the mode toggle's actual location (toolbar circle icon, not inside the Model Selector) and the separate "ask for a second opinion" (`query_expert`) path available in ambientChat's own chat, not just via Claude Desktop.
2	2026-06-07	Added Web section — Panel mode in the web interface
1	2026-03-01	Initial guide

Panel of Experts — Multi-AI Answers