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AI Chat

AI Chat is a docked assistant for CRM questions and actions. It follows the current page, can search custom entities, and keeps separate conversation history for each user.

Docked AI Chat with a sample follow-up draft

Requirements

The user needs:

  • AI Chat permission
  • Normal access to every record, field, relationship, document, or attachment used
  • A configured default provider or usable Chat profile

Grant AI Web Search separately when the user may use provider-supported internet search.

AI and AI Chat permissions in the role editor

Page context

Chat recognizes both list pages and record pages.

  • On a list page, the current entity is supplied as a strong search hint.
  • On a record page, the current record is included after its access is checked.
  • Navigating to another page updates the current hint without rewriting previous messages.

The page is guidance, not a forced search target. Chat can inspect another readable entity when the request requires it.

Add context

Use + to attach a file or include another CRM record. You can also mention supported records while writing a message.

Directly uploaded files require AI Chat access and must belong to the current user. Files selected from existing CRM records retain their normal record and field permissions.

Supported uploads include:

  • PDF
  • JPEG, PNG, GIF, and WebP images
  • DOCX
  • XLSX
  • CSV and text files

A provider or model must support the required file input. Unsupported files return a controlled message instead of being silently ignored.

Search CRM data

Chat can discover readable custom entities, fields, and relationships from CRM metadata. This makes questions such as these possible without naming internal field IDs:

  • “Who did we buy chicken drumsticks from last year?”
  • “Find the item with this UPC.”
  • “Show sales of this product by month.”
  • “Which open opportunities belong to this account?”

Search can use exact identifiers, normalized text, all terms, spelling-tolerant matching, and approved aliases. Approximate matches are identified as approximate.

For custom installations, configure a concise CRM Guide.

Conversations

Use the list button in the Chat header to reopen a conversation. Titles are generated after the conversation starts and update the saved conversation name.

Long conversations are compressed automatically. Recent messages remain available in full while older context is summarized.

CRM actions and confirmation

Chat can read CRM data and, when the user has permission, propose create or update actions.

Before a change is executed, Chat shows a business-readable confirmation card. Review the entity, fields, and values, then choose the confirm or cancel action. Technical tool names and raw arguments are not shown.

Required fields are checked before confirmation. Chat may use unambiguous conversation context or normal CRM defaults; otherwise it asks for the missing information.

Administrative operations are available only to administrators and are checked again by the server at execution time.

Internal and External modes

The mode switch appears only to administrators and only when mode instructions are configured in AI Settings > Chat Modes.

  • Internal applies staff-facing instructions.
  • External applies the configured client-safe instructions.

Non-admin users do not see the switch. Normal record and field permissions apply in both modes.

When the user has AI Web Search permission and the selected provider/model supports native search, Chat can use it for current public information.

Internet search does not replace CRM search. A request about CRM purchases, customers, or transactions should use CRM records unless the user clearly asks for public information.

Troubleshooting

Chat reports a provider error

Ask an administrator to:

  1. Open the provider under Administration > Integrations.
  2. Run Test & Fetch Models.
  3. Confirm the selected default model is still available.
  4. Open AI Log and inspect the failed request.

Administrators see a more detailed provider message in Chat. Other users receive a controlled error that does not expose configuration or credentials.

Chat searched the wrong entity

Open AI Settings > More > Manage CRM Guide and describe the business purpose of the correct entity.

A file cannot be read

Confirm the user can read the source record and file field, and that the selected model supports the file type.