Use a Pinecone SDK to create an assistant, upload documents, and chat with the assistant.

:::callout{intent="tip"}
To get started in your browser, use the [Assistant Quickstart colab notebook](https://colab.research.google.com/github/pinecone-io/examples/blob/master/docs/assistant-quickstart.ipynb).
:::

## 1. Install an SDK

The Pinecone [Python SDK](/guides/sdks-python-overview) and [Node.js SDK](/guides/sdks-node-overview) provide convenient programmatic access to the [Assistant API](/guides/apis-assistant-introduction).

:::code-group
```shell Python theme={null}
pip install pinecone
pip install pinecone-plugin-assistant
```

```shell JavaScript theme={null}
npm install @pinecone-database/pinecone
```
:::

## 2. Get an API key

You need an API key to make calls to your assistant.

Create a new API key in the [Pinecone console](https://app.pinecone.io/organizations/-/keys), or use the widget below to generate a key. If you don't have a Pinecone account, the widget will sign you up for the free [Starter plan](https://www.pinecone.io/pricing/).

Your generated API key:

```shell theme={null}
"{{YOUR_API_KEY}}"
```

## 3. Create an assistant

[Create an assistant](/guides/assistants-2026-04-assistant-create-assistant), as in the following example:

:::code-group
```python Python theme={null}
from pinecone import Pinecone

pc = Pinecone(api_key="{{YOUR_API_KEY}}")

assistant = pc.assistant.create_assistant(
    assistant_name="example-assistant", 
    instructions="Use American English for spelling and grammar.", # Description or directive for the assistant to apply to all responses.
    region="us", # Region to deploy assistant. Options: "us" (default) or "eu".
    timeout=30 # Maximum seconds to wait for assistant status to become "Ready" before timing out.
)
```

```javascript JavaScript theme={null}
import { Pinecone } from '@pinecone-database/pinecone'

const pc = new Pinecone({ apiKey: "{{YOUR_API_KEY}}" });

const assistant = await pc.createAssistant({
  name: 'example-assistant',
  instructions: 'Use American English for spelling and grammar.', // Description or directive for the assistant to apply to all responses.
  region: 'us'
});
```
:::

## 4. Upload a file to the assistant

With Pinecone Assistant, you can upload documents, ask questions, and receive responses that reference your documents. This is known as retrieval-augmented generation (RAG).

For this quickstart, [download a sample 10-k filing file](https://s22.q4cdn.com/959853165/files/doc_financials/2023/ar/Netflix-10-K-01262024.pdf) to your local device.

Next, [upload the file](/guides/files-2026-04-assistant-upload-file) to your assistant:

:::code-group
```python Python theme={null}
# Get the assistant.
assistant = pc.assistant.Assistant(
    assistant_name="example-assistant", 
)

# Upload a file.
response = assistant.upload_file(
    file_path="/path/to/file/Netflix-10-K-01262024.pdf",
    metadata={"company": "netflix", "document_type": "form 10k"},
    timeout=None
)
```

```javascript JavaScript theme={null}
const assistantName = 'example-assistant';
const assistant = pc.Assistant(assistantName);

await assistant.uploadFile({
  path: '/Users/jdoe/Downloads/example_file.txt'
});
```
:::

## 5. Chat with the assistant

With the sample file uploaded, you can now [chat with the assistant](/guides/chat-2026-04-assistant-chat-assistant). Ask the assistant questions about your document. It returns either a JSON object or a text stream.

:::callout{intent="tip"}
For faster chat responses, use GPT models (`gpt-4o`, `gpt-4.1`, or `gpt-5`). You can also enable streaming to improve perceived latency by showing content as it's generated.
:::

The following example requests a default response to the message, "Who is the CFO of Netflix?":

:::code-group
```python Python theme={null}
from pinecone_plugins.assistant.models.chat import Message

msg = Message(role="user", content="Who is the CFO of Netflix?")
resp = assistant.chat(messages=[msg])

print(resp)
```

```javascript JavaScript theme={null}
const chatResp = await assistant.chat({
  messages: [{ role: 'user', content: 'Who is the CFO of Netflix?' }],
  model: 'gpt-4o'
});

console.log(chatResp);
```
:::

The example above returns a response like the following:

```
{
    'id': '0000000000000000163008a05b317b7b', 
    'model': 'gpt-4o-2024-05-13', 
    'usage': {
        'prompt_tokens': 9259, 
        'completion_tokens': 30, 
        'total_tokens': 9289
        }, 
        'message': {
            'content': 'The Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of Netflix is Spencer Neumann.', 
            'role': '"assistant"'
            }, 
            'finish_reason': 'stop', 
            'citations': [
                {
                    'position': 63, 
                    'references': [
                        {
                            'pages': [78, 72, 79], 
                            'file': {
                                'name': 'Netflix-10-K-01262024.pdf', 
                                'id': '76a11dd1...', 
                                'metadata': {
                                    'company': 'netflix', 
                                    'document_type': 'form 10k'
                                    }, 
                                    'created_on': '2024-12-06T01:29:07.369208590Z', 
                                    'updated_on': '2024-12-06T01:29:50.923493799Z', 
                                    'status': 'Available', 
                                    'signed_url': 'https://storage.googleapis.com/...',
                                    'size': 1073470.0
                                }
                            }
                        ]
                    }
                ]
            }
```

:::callout{intent="warning"}
[`signed_url`](https://cloud.google.com/storage/docs/access-control/signed-urls) provides temporary, read-only access to the relevant file. Anyone with the link can access the file, so treat it as sensitive data. Expires in one hour.
:::

## 6. Clean up

When you no longer need the `example-assistant`, [delete the assistant](/guides/assistants-2026-04-assistant-delete-assistant):

:::callout{intent="warning"}
Deleting an assistant also deletes all files uploaded to the assistant.
:::

:::code-group
```python Python theme={null}
pc.assistant.delete_assistant(
    assistant_name="example-assistant", 
)
```

```javascript JavaScript theme={null}
await pc.deleteAssistant('example-assistant');
```
:::

## Next steps

- Learn more about [Pinecone Assistant](/guides/get-started-assistant-overview)
- Learn about [additional assistant features](https://www.pinecone.io/learn/assistant-api-deep-dive/)
- [Evaluate](/guides/evaluate-answers-evaluate-answers) the assistant's responses
- View a [sample app](/guides/examples-sample-apps-pinecone-assistant) that uses Pinecone Assistant

## Related pages

- [Pinecone quickstart](./get-started-quickstart.md)
- [Ingest your own files](./get-started-quickstart-ingest-files.md)
- [Bring your own vectors](./get-started-quickstart-bring-your-own-vectors.md)
- [Try full-text search](./get-started-quickstart-full-text-search.md)
- [Pinecone Assistant: n8n quickstart](./get-started-assistant-quickstart-n8n-quickstart.md)

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