Chat

Chat is Basedash’s AI data analyst. You ask a question in plain English, and the AI writes SQL, runs it against your connected data, and answers with a chart, a table, or a short write-up.

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Overview

Use chat for questions you haven’t answered before, or when you want to explore a topic before building a dashboard. Each answer shows the queries the AI ran, so you can check how it got there. When an answer is worth keeping, add its chart to a dashboard. For questions you want answered on a schedule, use automations. Chat uses everything Basedash knows about your organization: the schema of each data source you can access, models, AI context, and skills. The better that context is, the better the answers get. See Accuracy and trust for how answers are generated and checked. You can also chat with Basedash from Slack, from AI tools through the MCP server, and from your phone with Basedash Mobile.

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Start a chat

1. Click Chats in the sidebar, then click + to open a new chat.
2. Type your question in the input under What questions do you have? and press Enter.
3. Ask follow-up questions in the same chat. The AI keeps the earlier questions and answers in mind.

A new chat shows a few suggested questions based on your recent chats, dashboards, and data. They refresh every week. Click one to ask it, or click Dismiss to hide it. Good questions name the metric, the time period, and any filters:

• “Show me weekly signups over the last 6 months, broken down by plan”
• “What are our top 10 customers by revenue this year?”
• “Which customers haven’t placed an order in the last 30 days?”
• “Why did churn go up in September?”

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Read an answer

While the AI works, it shows what it’s doing, such as the query it’s running or the model it’s reading. When it finishes, the answer shows how long the analysis took, for example “Analyzed for 24s”. Open Sources under an answer to see each query the AI ran. For each query you can see the data source, the number of rows returned, a preview of the first rows, and the full SQL with a copy button. To stop an answer early, click Stop generating. Whatever the AI has written so far stays in the chat. Rate an answer with Good response or Bad response. Feedback helps the Basedash team improve answer quality.

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Attach files

You can attach files to a question and ask the AI to analyze them alongside your data.

1. Click + in the chat input and choose Upload files. You can also drag files into the chat or paste them.
2. Ask your question about the files.

Supported files include images, PDFs, CSV and TSV, Excel, Word, PowerPoint, JSON, Markdown, and plain text. Each upload can be up to 50 MB, including all files attached at once. Attached files are only available in that chat. To query a file from charts and dashboards, connect it as a data source instead. See Can I upload my own CSVs of data?.

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Ask with your voice

Click Start voice recording in the chat input, speak your question, then click Finish voice recording. Basedash transcribes the recording into the input so you can review it before you send it. Recordings stop after 5 minutes.

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Save charts and build dashboards

When an answer includes a chart, click Add to dashboard and choose an existing dashboard, New dashboard, or Drafts. The chart keeps its SQL, so it stays up to date on the dashboard. The chart’s menu also lets you copy it as an image, copy its SQL, or export its data. You can also ask chat to build a whole dashboard, for example “Build a dashboard of our sales pipeline by stage, owner, and month”. The AI creates the dashboard with charts, tabs, and filters, and shows a live preview in the chat. Click Open dashboard to keep editing it.

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Download data as CSV

Ask for the data as a file, for example “Export all orders from last month as a CSV”. The AI runs the query and attaches a CSV that you can download from the chat.

• CSV files can contain up to 1,000,000 rows. If the result is larger, the file is cut off and marked Row limit reached.
• The query runs with your data access, so the file only contains data you’re allowed to see.
• Download links expire after 30 days.

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Approve actions

Some actions need your approval before the AI runs them. When that happens, the chat shows a card describing the action, with Approve and Deny buttons.

• Tools from MCP connectors. Admins choose which MCP connector tools always run, need approval, or are blocked.
• Changes to your database. The AI can propose a single INSERT, UPDATE, or DELETE statement on Postgres, Redshift, and Supabase data sources where you have edit access. The card shows the SQL, and nothing runs until you click Approve and run.

Approvals only work in the web app. See Read-only by default for details.

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Share a chat

Click Share in a chat to open Share chat. You can share with everyone in your organization, with groups, or with specific members. The creator of a chat always has full access, and organization admins always have full access to every chat.

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Default chat access

By default, new chats are shared with everyone in the organization with full access. Admins can change this in Settings → Chat → Default access:

• Default audience: Everyone, Creator only, or Creator’s groups.
• Default permission level: Full access, Can edit, or Can view.

These defaults only apply to chats created after the change.

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Manage chats

Open a chat’s menu to Rename it, Favorite it, Copy link, or Delete it. Deleting needs full access, and deleted chats can’t be restored. Chats started from Slack appear in your chat list with a Slack badge. Chats started through the API or the MCP server don’t appear in the list.

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Limits

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FAQ

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Related

• Accuracy and trust
• Dashboards
• AI context
• Slack
• Basedash everywhere