📖 Note: this article explains how participants in FifthDomain competitions can navigate to and interact with Connor in their competitions.
What is Connor?
Connor is your personal challenge assistant, embedded directly in challenges on the FifthDomain platform. When you’re stuck or need guidance, Connor provides helpful advice on the generalised direction and approach you can take, keeping you on the right track, without revealing exact answers or bypassing key parts of each challenge.
How to Access Connor
To start chatting with Connor, first open the competition you’re participating in. Once there, follow these steps:
Open the specific challenge you’re working on within the competition.
In the challenge drawer, locate the Connor tab alongside other tabs, such as Challenge Resources and Team Chat.
Click on the Connor tab to access a chat window where you can ask your questions.
📖 Note: The Connor tab will only appear in challenges where Connor is enabled. If a challenge doesn’t include Connor, you simply won’t see the tab. Additionally, Connor is only available in competitions, not in assessments, courses, or trainings on the platform.
When Connor Can be Accessed
You can interact with Connor at any time within challenges during your competition. Connor is accessible at all stages of an individual challenge - from before you start solving it, to even after you've successfully completed it.
Example Questions to Ask Connor
Connor can assist with questions directly related to your current challenge. Here are some ways you might like to prompt Connor:
Guidance on techniques or challenge concepts you’re struggling with:
E.g. “I'm stuck on the part where I need to exploit a buffer overflow vulnerability. Any hints?” or
“Can you give an example of how I might approach SQL injection?”
General encouragement or redirection if you’re feeling stuck:
E.g. “I’ve tried XYZ, I'm not sure what to try next, any help?”
Generalised examples and code snippets relevant to the challenge:
E.g. “Can you provide a basic code snippet for SQL injection?”
Suggestions on resources or topics for learning about concepts in the challenge:
E.g. “Can you recommend resources to learn more about cryptography?”
Guidelines for Interacting with Connor
Connor is designed to offer general guidance and direction, not to provide answers or specific techniques for solving challenges. As such, keep the following in mind as you interact with Connor and ask it questions:
No specific solutions and hints will be provided:
Connor will not reveal any flags, or any parts of a challenge's flag (such as the first letter or first word of a flag).
Although Connor will give general guidance on technical approaches to a challenge, it will not disclose specific techniques required to reach the solution.
Connor won't provide any hints which directly bypass key parts of a challenge.
Responses will be limited to specific challenges:
Connor can only provide insight relevant to the specific challenge you’re attempting. It won't be able to provide insight on other challenges, and it won’t engage in general conversation or unrelated topics.
Connor doesn't retain chat history across different challenges or competitions, so each new challenge has its own separate, independent chat.
Information will only be provided within Connor's knowledge cutoff:
Connor can only offer guidance within its programmed knowledge base and won’t have information on any developments beyond this set limit.
Connor can't modify challenges:
Connor can't modify any challenge or change its required approach or solution for any reason, for example, to make certain steps easier.
📖 Note: Your Connor chat history is private and only visible to you. In team competitions, even your team members won't be able to see each other's chat history with Connor for any challenge.
Sending Messages to Connor
When you're ready to ask a question, simply type it in the input box [1]. You can also upload images (up to 3 per message) to help Connor better understand your question in context. Click the Attach Image button [2] to upload images.
When you're ready, click send [3]. Once sent, your message will appear in the chat feed with a timestamp, and Connor will respond in real time.
Connor’s responses will appear as text in the chat feed, formatted for easy reading (including lists and code snippets when relevant). Note that Connor can only generate text and code snippets - it can't create images or other output forms.
Connor serves as a useful in-platform AI assistant as you work through challenges in your competition. Remember, AI responses may make mistakes. As a beta feature, Connor’s capabilities are still evolving, so if you encounter any limitations, try rephrasing your questions or asking different questions.
If you have specific feedback you would like to provide about Connor, please reach out to the FifthDomain Support team.