When Assistance is unchecked, the descriptions appear in the
clue window.
As you move the mouse over an object's inlets you'll notice that some are blue and some are red. Blue inlets are known as "cold" inlets. They do not produce any output (out the object's outlets) directly. Red inlets are "hot" inlets and can produce output when you send a message into them.
If you make a
subpatcher or
abstraction, you can
add your own assistance messages to describe the patcher's inlets and outlets.