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Ray by Daylight

Meet Ray.

Daylight’s AI concierge for origination.

Try Ray Interactive demo · Sample data

Projects / Orchard House

Origination

Orchard House

142 Orchard Lane · DL-1042

OverviewDocumentsNotes
In progress

Document verification

Utility bill
Signed agreement
Title verification Needs review
Latest note

What’s holding this project up?

Alex Morgan · Just now
Ask RayBeta

Orchard House · DL-1042 · Origination

What’s holding this project up?

Title verification still needs review.

Your utility bill and signed agreement are in. The next step is with the review team.

Review the project

Orchard House · DL-1042

Open project

Sources: Project notes · Live portal data

Ask about your projects…

Ray can make mistakes. Check important info.

Source-faithful reconstruction · Fictional project data
Conception → launch → iteration

I conceived, designed and engineered Ray.
Then shipped it, and kept making it better.

Mike Battaglia
Product design & engineering

A solar project has a lot
of moving parts.

Documents, requirements and questions are spread across the project. I built Ray to make that information easier to use.

01What we learned from Notes

The questions were
already there.

Ray started with a review of more than 3,000 portal notes. We wanted to understand what partners were asking and where they got stuck.

3,000+portal notes reviewed
Over 50%

of notes tagging someone
received no reply.

90%

asked something Ray could answer
from information we already had.

Project dataKnowledge baseSOPs
Findings from our internal review of portal notes.
Behind the build

Notes gave us the research: attachments, mentions and notifications made it possible to see what partners were asking and where replies were missing. The 90% finding describes questions answerable from existing information, not a measured accuracy rate for Ray.

I built Ray around those questions. The goal was to make project data and guidance easier to get, without needing someone else to look it up.

02Documents

Find a document.
Or file a new one.

Ray finds project documents and helps place new files. You review the destination before anything is filed.

Ask RayBeta

Orchard House · DL-1042 · Origination

Can you add this to my project? Utility bill.pdf 248 KB

Ready to place it. Please review the destination.

Place document

Utility bill.pdf as Utility bill on Orchard House · DL-1042

Ask about your projects…

Ray can make mistakes. Check important info.

Ask RayBeta

Orchard House · DL-1042 · Origination

Can you add this to my project? Utility bill.pdf 248 KB

The document is now on your project.

Placed

Utility bill on DL-1042.

View documentOpen project
Ask about your projects…

Ray can make mistakes. Check important info.

Review the project and document type.

Reconstructed attachment → review → placement · Sample data
Behind the build

Ray retrieves project documents through authenticated links. For a new file, I designed a concierge that proposes where it belongs. The person checks the project and category, then confirms.

Make the destination visible before anything changes.

03Sheets and artifacts

Ask for the data.
Keep the artifact.

Users can ask for the project data they need and get a sheet built around that request. This became the starting point for Ray’s artifacts.

Created in the conversation

Show installation reviews with their status and feedback.

Ray

I created a sheet for those reviews.

Installation reviewsOpen sheet

Saved outside the chat.
Reopen it. Share it. Download it.

It started with CSV exports
The beta starting pointinstallation-reviews.csv

Saved Sep 2, 9:40 AM

ProjectReviewFeedback
Orchard HouseRejectedPhoto is missing
Juniper HouseRejectedDocument needs review

Frozen when saved.

Your sheetsDownload CSV

Installation reviews

Saved artifact · Live data · Access checked for each viewer

Reopened Sep 5, 4:12 PM

ProjectReviewFeedback
Orchard HouseRejectedPhoto is missing
Juniper HouseApprovedReviewed Sep 4Changed on reopen
Cedar HouseRejectedRoof measurement is unclearAdded on reopen

1 record changed, 1 added since the file was saved.

Reconstructed conversation and sheet, shown together · Sample data
Behind the build

A beta request for review data first led to CSV exports. I then built live sheets: choose the fields and filters in chat, and keep the result as a saved artifact. A sheet stores the query, not frozen rows.

Artifacts give the output its own place outside the conversation. Sheets were the first type. Each saved sheet has a link, reruns against current data and respects the viewer’s access. CSV download is still available.

04Across the portal

Keep the conversation open.

Use Ray beside a project, across the page or in a separate window. The conversation and draft stay with you.

DaylightOrchard House

Project

Title verification Needs review

The portal changes.
The conversation stays.

Ask RayBeta

Orchard House · DL-1042 · Origination

What still needs review?

Title verification still needs review.

Sources: Origination guidance, help center

Saved draft

I’ll check with the reviewer.

Reconstructed sample. Same answer. Same source. Same saved draft.
Behind the build

I gave Ray a drawer, full page and separate window inside our existing HTMX and Stimulus portal. Turns run on the server, so a new page can reconnect to an answer already in progress.

Eligible users reach Ray from a desktop floating launcher. On phones, a top-bar entry keeps project actions clear.

Fit the assistant to the workflow, not the other way around.

Inside the navigation decision

A separate window takes over the conversation and minimizes the drawer. Buffered server turns separate the work from the page displaying it. Links wait for HTMX-loaded project cards before focusing them. Stale runs expose recovery instead of an endless spinner; navigation resilience is not a guarantee across a server restart.

05Search and retrieval

Answers with sources.

Ray searches project records, notes and Daylight guidance. Sources are attached so users can check the answer.

Ask RayBeta

Ray can only see projects visible to you.

Where can I find the contract?

Your signed agreement is in Documents.

The project notes confirm that a signed copy was uploaded.

Knowledge base · Signed agreements
Signed agreements

Find the signed copy under Documents on the project page.

Illustrative knowledge-base excerpt

Sources: Knowledge base · Project notes

Ask about your projects…

Ray can make mistakes. Check important info.

Two kinds of context.
One useful answer.

Knowledge baseHow Daylight works

Project notesWhat happened here

Reconstructed answer and sources · Fictional project
Behind the build

Ray began with keyword search and citations. I added semantic retrieval alongside it, combining both rankings across the relevant knowledge base and accessible notes. Saved and edited notes are indexed in the background.

Expand how Ray finds information without losing its source or access boundaries.

What changed in the retrieval layer

Reciprocal rank fusion combines keyword and vector results. Scope is applied before ranking. Portal and customer knowledge remain separate; keyword search remains the fallback. This is retrieval over indexed content, not a model learning permanent memories or a claim that every answer is correct.

06Support

Get help from the team.

Ray prepares a support request with the conversation and project attached. You review it before sending.

Ask RayBeta

Orchard House · DL-1042 · Origination

I need a person to help with this review.

Here’s the request for you to review.

Raise a support ticket

Document review for Orchard House · DL-1042. Includes this conversation and current page.

Ask about your projects…

Ray can make mistakes. Check important info.

Activity LogStaff view
Orchard House · DL-1042

Support request created

Support inquiry

Document review

Intercom · Open
Project context included

Conversation and current page

Available to the support team

Review what goes to support.

Reconstructed support flow · Sample data
Behind the build

I made Ray a first stop in Daylight’s support stack. A reviewed request reaches Intercom with the project and conversation. The next iteration added a staff-only Activity Log for inquiries, support cases and refreshed ticket status.

Connect AI assistance and human support as one experience.

07Homeowners

Ray in the homeowner app.

Homeowners can find their documents, ask about their system and contact Daylight support.

Daylight for iOS

Documents and help,
in the app.

Ray•••

Where’s my signed agreement?

Here’s the signed agreement for your home.

Signed agreementPDF · Signed copy
View document
Ask Ray…

Ray can make mistakes. Check important info.

Reconstructed iOS conversation and document card · Sample data
Behind the build

I built the shared backend for customer guidance, personal documents and support requests. Our iOS engineer implemented the native conversation and cards. Homeowner access stays separate from the partner portal.

The homeowner implementation

The homeowner Ray foundation predates the portal beta. I owned Ray end to end, including its product direction and backend; our iOS engineer implemented the native conversation and document/support cards. Their merged implementation and my backend changes establish the collaboration, not the rollout status of every app feature.

Engineering

How I built it.

Ray runs inside Daylight’s existing stack. I built the shared service, portal interface, retrieval and tool workflows.

One shared service

The model and tool loop sit behind both experiences. The portal uses server-rendered views with small JavaScript controllers.

Python · Django · Jinja
HTMX · Stimulus · Tailwind

Streaming across views

Turns run on the server. Buffered events reconnect when the view changes, and completed messages are saved.

Responses API · SSE
Redis · PostgreSQL

Permissions in the tools

Search is scoped before results reach the model. Actions require confirmation and a fresh access check on the server.

pgvector · BM25
Scoped queries · Confirmed actions

Shaped by the work

Built from research.
Improved with use.

I designed and engineered Ray, then kept iterating with partners during the beta.

  1. Aug 21

    Notes research → Ray

    The questions partners were asking informed the portal concierge.

    Implementation record · Backend PR 1562
  2. Sep 2

    Data requests → sheets and artifacts

    Requests for review data led from CSV exports to saved, live sheets.

    Feedback and implementation record · Backend PR 1926
  3. Sep 3–4

    More context → two distinct audiences

    Hybrid search and native customer cards extended the experience without merging access.

    Backend PRs 1932, 1935 · iOS PR 113
Evidence and contribution

These are implementation records and documented beta feedback, not customer testimonials or measured time savings. I conceived, designed and engineered Ray from its first concept through launch and ongoing iteration. That included the portal experience, backend, retrieval and support workflows. The native iOS cards were a teammate implementation. Product examples on this page are fictional reconstructions.

Ray

Ray at Daylight

Less time looking for answers.

Ray brings project data, guidance and useful tools into one conversation. I’m continuing to build it around what users need.

The Daylight story More selected work