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AI Assistant

The AI Assistant lets you ask plain-language questions about your own cafe data and get instant answers. Instead of building reports, you type a question such as your top members or your most profitable hours. The assistant replies with text, tables, and charts drawn from your live database.

Open it from the AI button in the main toolbar. The button is available to staff whose cashier role grants the AI permission. Owners with the Admin role always have access.

The AI Assistant is a credit-based cloud feature. It requires an active license on a plan with the AI Assistant module, plus a connection to the HandyCafe cloud. See Cloud for how cloud modules and credits work.

Asking a Question

The landing screen is headed Talk to your data and asks What would you like to know about your business? It offers a few example questions you can click to get started, such as:

  • Top 5 most profitable hours last month
  • My top 10 most valuable members
  • Which day this week earned the least
  • Expected revenue next week
  • Best-selling products last 30 days

Type your own question in the box marked Ask a question about your cafe. Press Enter to send, or Shift and Enter together for a new line. You can also attach files to a question (see below).

A small note reminds you that HandyCafe AI can make mistakes. Verify important numbers. Always confirm critical figures against the relevant report.

How Answers Appear

Answers are shown as a chat. Your questions appear on the right. The assistant's replies appear on the left. While the assistant works, three animated dots show that it is thinking.

Replies can include:

  • Text formatted with headings, lists, and links.
  • Tables for row-by-row data.
  • Charts: bar, line, and donut charts to visualize the result.

Hover over any message and use Copy to copy its text. The button briefly changes to Copied to confirm.

Attaching Files

Use Attach file in the input bar to add context to a question. You can attach up to six files per message, each up to 5 MB. Supported types are images, PDF files, and text files such as .txt, .md, .csv, .json, and .log. PDF text is read automatically and included with your question.

Attached files appear as chips above the input box. Use Remove on a chip to drop a file before sending. If a file is rejected, the assistant tells you it is too large or an unsupported file type.

Conversations

Every conversation is saved automatically so you can return to it later.

  • New chat: Starts a fresh conversation and saves the current one. The example questions reappear.
  • History: Opens the Conversation history drawer. Each entry shows its title, date, and message count. A badge on the History button counts unread replies. Select a conversation to reopen it. A delete control appears when you hover over an entry. Removing one asks Delete this conversation? first.
  • Rename: Conversations are titled from your first question. Double-click the title to rename it.
  • Save conversation: Exports the current conversation as a Markdown file containing every question and answer.

When the assistant adds a reply to a conversation you are not viewing, that conversation is marked unread until you open it.

Memory

Use Manage memory to review durable facts the assistant remembers across all of your conversations, such as how you want to be addressed. Each item shows its text and the date it was saved. Use Forget to remove one. Until you tell the assistant something to remember, the memory is empty.

General Chat

The General chat toggle switches the assistant to a general-purpose mode for everyday questions, similar to a standard chatbot. While it is on, your cafe data is not available. Turn it off to ask about your members, revenue, or sessions. The setting is off by default.

Credits

The AI Assistant runs on prepaid credits. The toolbar shows your current balance as a progress bar that turns amber when credits are low and red when they run out. A warning reads AI credits are running low as the balance falls, and No AI credits. Load credits to continue. once it reaches zero. With no credits, the input is disabled until you load more.

To top up, use Load Credits. The Load AI Credits dialog lets you select a credit pack and complete the purchase in your web browser through a secure checkout. Credits are added to your account once the purchase completes.

When the Assistant Is Unavailable

If the feature cannot run, the assistant explains why and offers a recovery action:

  • Your license is not on a plan yet, so the AI Assistant is unavailable. Contact support to activate a plan.
  • The AI Assistant is not included in your current plan. Upgrade to unlock it.
  • Your license is not active. Renew or reactivate it to use the AI Assistant.
  • Not connected to the cloud. Check your license and connection, then try again.

When credits are exhausted, the assistant tells you that you have reached your AI query limit and points you to Load credits.

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