Using the AI Assistant
Ask Cashvio about orders, inventory, customers, and reports in plain language. Approve store actions before they run.
What is the AI Assistant?
The AI Assistant is a chat panel inside the merchant portal. Ask questions in everyday language and get answers pulled from your live store data. When the assistant needs to change something (transfer stock, adjust inventory, update fulfillment, or create a refund), it shows an approval card and waits for you to tap Approve or Deny.
Open it from the sidebar (Assistant) or the Dashboard quick action. On mobile, Assistant also appears in the bottom navigation.
Plan and permissions
The AI Assistant requires the AI Assistant plan feature. Analytics-style answers (sales overview, profit, top products, slow movers, inventory valuation) also require the Analytics module and order-view permission. Your role must allow the underlying action before the assistant can run a tool.
Starting a conversation
- Open Assistant from the sidebar (or bottom navigation on mobile).
- Switch threads:
- On desktop (wide screen), your conversation list stays docked on the left. Tap any thread to open it. Use the collapse control at the top of the list if you want more room for the chat.
- On tablet and phone, tap Conversations in the header to open the list as a drawer, then pick a thread.
- Tap New conversation (at the top of the conversation list, or last in the header) to start fresh, or choose a suggested prompt on the welcome screen, for example:
- List products that are low or out of stock
- How are sales today?
- Show my most recent orders
- What are my top-selling products this month?
- What is my inventory worth at cost and retail?
- Which products have not sold in the last 60 days?
Suggested prompts respect your plan and permissions. Analytics-style chips appear only when the Analytics module and order-view permission are enabled. Recently used prompts move to the front of the grid on your next visit.
The assistant streams its reply in real time. While it works, you may see a Thinking indicator or a short note that a tool is running. You can keep typing your next question in the composer during a reply; press Enter only after the current reply finishes. Press Escape to stop generation. Unsent drafts are saved per conversation, so switching threads and coming back keeps your text.
To archive the open conversation, open Other actions in the header and choose Archive conversation. You can also archive from the row menu on any thread in the list.
What you can ask about
| Topic | Examples |
|---|---|
| Products & stock | Search products, read stock levels, list low-stock and out-of-stock items with names |
| Orders | Search recent orders, open order details |
| Customers | Search customers, open a customer profile |
| Dashboard | Today's key metrics for your store |
| Analytics | Sales overview, profit, top products, slow movers, inventory valuation (when Analytics is enabled) |
The assistant only sees data your account can access. If you manage multiple stores, inventory tools use the store selected in your session.
Monthly business snapshot
The suggested Monthly business snapshot reviews the previous completed calendar month. For example, when you open it on October 1, the report covers September 1 through September 30 and labels the report September.
This keeps the snapshot complete and avoids mixing a few days from the new month with the previous month's results. To review the current month instead, ask for this month to date. The assistant will report from the first day of the current month through today.
Check the reported period
The report heading and date range come from the same reporting period. Future dates are never included in sales totals.
Approving store actions
Mutating tools never run silently. The assistant posts a confirmation card with a plain summary of what will happen. When the backend includes an expiry time, the card shows the deadline and a live countdown. Tap Approve to execute or Deny to cancel. If you wait too long, the request expires in place and you can ask the assistant to prepare it again.
Examples of actions that require approval:
- Transfer stock between stores
- Adjust inventory quantities
- Update order fulfillment status
- Create a refund
Read-only lookups (search, details, analytics summaries) do not need approval.
Structured input forms
When the assistant needs missing details before it can continue (for example refund amount, refund method, or an optional reason), it shows a compact input card in the thread instead of asking the same questions only in prose.
- Answer with suggested choices or use Other for a custom text or number when offered.
- Optional fields are marked and may be left blank.
- Tap Continue to submit. The assistant validates your answers and resumes the task.
- You can still type a normal message in the composer. That message counts as your answer and disables the earlier card.
- Submitting the form only supplies parameters. Mutations such as refunds still require a separate Approve step on the confirmation card.
Daily usage limit
Your plan includes a daily token budget for assistant messages. A progress strip above the message box shows how much remains. When the limit is reached:
- You cannot send new messages until the limit resets
- New conversation is disabled
- Suggested prompts and archive actions are disabled until reset
The strip shows when usage resets (midnight in your tenant timezone).
Managing conversations
- Search: when you have many threads, use the search box in the sidebar.
- Archive: remove a conversation from your list. Messages stay on record; archiving only hides the thread from the sidebar.
- Copy: use the copy button under any assistant reply to grab its text.
Tips for better answers
- Name the store or product when you manage more than one location or have similar item names.
- For analytics, mention the date range you care about (today, this week, last 30 days).
- If the assistant asks you to pick between similar orders or products, reply with the number or name it shows.