---
title: "The AI data assistant"
description: "Ask questions about your tables — and let the AI create, update, and delete records on its own."
canonical: https://ocho.bot/docs/data-manager/ai-data-assistant
last_updated: 2026-07-12
---

# The AI data assistant

> Ask questions about your tables — and let the AI create, update, and delete records on its own.

The **Data chat** pane on the right side of Data Manager is an AI assistant. Type into the **Ask about your data...** box to start. Conversation history is kept per table — open the clock icon (**Conversations**) in the pane header to revisit past chats for the table you have selected.

The assistant is not limited to the table you have open: it can work with any table in your workspace that has AI access enabled (and that you can access), and it also answers from the knowledge datasets listed in the pane's **Sources** picker. The open table only determines which conversation history you see.

## Ask about your data

For tables created with **Let AI read this table** turned on, ask natural-language questions — "how many open items are assigned to Dana?", "summarize this quarter's entries" — and the assistant can list, search, filter, count, and summarize the table's records.

## Let the AI change data

The assistant can create and update records when **both** conditions are met: the table was created with **Let AI write this table** turned on, **and** you yourself have write rights on the table. Changes are applied directly — there is no approval step, so a request like "close all overdue items" takes effect as soon as the assistant acts. Review the results afterwards in each record's **Activity** feed.

The assistant can also **delete** records in any table where you have delete rights — deleting needs only your own delete permission, not the table's AI write setting.

## Who can do this

- Anyone with access to a table can chat about it, within that table's AI

access settings.

- Only table admins (`table_admin`) can set AI access — the **AI access**

checkboxes appear in the New table dialog, and per-column visibility is in   the **Columns** sheet.

## Good to know

- **Let AI read this table** and **Let AI write this table** are both off by

default and are set in the New table dialog when the table is created —   there is no in-app way to change them afterwards. If the assistant says it   can't see or change a table, that's why.

- Columns can individually be hidden from the AI: untick **Visible to AI** on

a column in the **Columns** sheet (it's on by default). The assistant may   therefore see fewer fields than you do.

- Review AI-made changes in the record's **Activity** feed — entries made by

the assistant are marked **AI**.

- With no table selected, the pane keeps a separate workspace-level

conversation history.

All docs: https://ocho.bot/docs

---

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