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The assistant
Viaducta AI works in the designer next to you. Describe what a flow should do and it builds it: components, connections, configuration, types and scripts. It explains flows, changes them, runs and debugs them, reads the logs, and fixes the errors it finds. Open it from Viaducta AI in the left rail, as a floating window or as a tab.
What it can do
- Build and change flows. Create a flow, add and configure components, connect them, write scripts in C#, Python and JavaScript, create types (also from a JSON sample) and arrange the layout. A set of changes is applied as a whole: if one step fails, nothing is changed.
- Run and inspect. Validate, compile, start, stop and debug flows, set breakpoints, capture a record on a connection with the data monitor, run flow tests, and read logs and alarms.
- Explain. Walk through what a flow does, why a component is configured the way it is, or what a plugin offers. It reads the same plugin reference you find under Plugins.
- Fix errors. Every error in the log viewer, the trace console and the flow messages offers Analyze with AI (explain the cause, change nothing) and Fix with AI (find the cause and fix the flow).
- Port existing integrations. Attach source code, configuration files or a zip archive of a project, and ask the assistant to rebuild it as Viaducta flows.
- Work with the repository. Browse folders, compare and restore flow versions, test database links and explore database schemas. It sees the names of expression settings, never their values.
Modes
Pick the mode in the chat, or start a message with /agent, /ask or /plan.
| Mode | What the assistant does |
|---|---|
| Agent | Makes changes to your flows and other objects. |
| Ask | Answers questions only; changes nothing. |
| Plan | Produces a plan and a to-do list without changing anything. You review it on the Plan card and choose Approve & execute, or Revise… to send it back. Approving switches to Agent mode and carries out the plan. |
Approvals
Every action the assistant takes is classed as reading, editing, executing (run, stop, debug) or destructive (delete, restore). The shield menu in the chat sets how much it may do without asking:
| Permission mode | Asks before |
|---|---|
| Ask before changes | every change |
| Auto-edit (default) | running, stopping, deleting, database links and restores |
| Auto | nothing, except in production |
When the assistant needs approval it shows an Approval needed card with Approve, Deny and Always allow (for the rest of the conversation).
Production environments always ask. An environment whose name matches the production pattern (by default any name containing prod) requires approval for every change, whatever the permission mode, and Always allow is not offered there.
Undo
Every turn has a Revert link that puts the flows the assistant changed back to their state before that turn. Flows it created in that turn are kept. Save afterwards to keep the reverted state.
While it works you can pause, resume or stop it. With Follow agent on, the flows it edits come to the front so you can watch the changes.
Chats
Chats are kept per execution environment and are visible to everyone in it, grouped by This flow, Repository, General and the chats of external agents. Filter by All or Mine, pin, rename, archive, and export a chat as Markdown or JSON. The assistant can search earlier chats when you refer to past work.
In the message box, type / for commands and @ to mention a flow, a component or an attached file:
| Command | Does |
|---|---|
/new | Starts a new chat. |
/compact | Summarises the earlier conversation to free context. Done automatically when the context is 70% full. |
/agent, /ask, /plan | Switches the mode, optionally with a message. |
/cost | Shows the token usage and cost of the chat. |
/export | Exports the chat (/export json for everything stored). |
/help | Lists the commands. |
Attachments
Attach files with the paperclip, or drop or paste them into the chat:
- Documents: PDF (text layer) and Word
.docx, read as text. - Images: PNG, JPEG, GIF and WebP, when the model understands images.
- Source and text files of any kind, read as text.
- Zip archives: unpacked into a temporary workspace the assistant can browse, up to 5,000 files and 200 MB.
Up to 30 MB per file and 300 MB per chat. Long pasted text (over 3,000 characters) becomes an attachment automatically.
Memory and skills
Memory keeps facts, preferences, conventions and decisions across chats: for you only, for a flow, for a folder or for everyone in the environment. The assistant saves your personal notes on its own and shows them with Undo. Anything for others, anything it learned from tool output, and anything in production waits for you on a Remember this? card. It never stores secrets.
Skills are named procedures the assistant follows, such as "how we build a polling import". You create them in the chat or on the Memory tab, and import or export them as SKILL.md files. Every new or changed skill is confirmed on a card before it is saved.
Usage
Each turn ends with a line of model calls, tokens in and out, and duration. Under the message box you see the model, the mode, how full the context is and the tokens of the chat, with the cost when prices are configured. The Usage tab shows the environment's usage by model, purpose, person and chat. Administrators also get an Admin tab with backups, retention rules and the audit log.
Who can use it
Designers, viewers and administrators can chat with the assistant. Shared memories and skills are managed by designers and administrators, and the assistant's data store by administrators.
The administrator decides which model provider the assistant uses; see Providers and setup.