SENSAI on AIMMS Cloud

SENSAI is the AI assistant of the AIMMS Cloud Platform. It is available in three places:

  • The AIMMS Cloud Portal, to answer your questions and guide you step by step through what you want to do in the Portal.

  • The AIMMS IDE, to help you develop your model.

  • WebUI apps, to help app users work with their plans and data.

In each place, SENSAI opens in a chat panel. This page describes how to open SENSAI, what your account needs, and the features of the chat panel. For more about what SENSAI can do, see the SENSAI documentation.

Note

SENSAI is only available when you are connected to AIMMS Cloud, and only for accounts whose Cloud Platform contract includes the matching feature (see Requirements).

Where SENSAI Is Available

In the Portal

Click the SENSAI icon in the Portal. The chat panel opens on the right-hand side of the screen.

In the Portal, SENSAI can tell you how to do things, but cannot do them for you. For example, if you ask for the log of a session, SENSAI explains where to find and download it in the Portal, but does not retrieve the log itself. See SENSAI in the Portal for details.

In the AIMMS IDE

  1. Open Tools > Cloud login and sign in to your AIMMS Cloud account.

  2. Open Tools > SENSAI chat. The chat docks beside your project.

You have to sign in again each time you start a new AIMMS session. See Getting started in the SENSAI documentation for the full steps.

In WebUI Apps

The app developer enables SENSAI per app with the Enable SENSAI Chat setting, available from WebUI 26.12.1. The setting is off by default. When it is on, a SENSAI button appears on the application header bar, and clicking it opens the chat panel on the right side of the app. See Enable SENSAI Chat in the WebUI documentation.

For app users, see Using the assistant in the SENSAI documentation.

Requirements

Your account’s Cloud Platform contract must include the feature for the place where you want to use SENSAI:

  • Portal AI Assistant: SENSAI in the Portal.

  • IDE AI Assistant: SENSAI in the AIMMS IDE.

  • SENSAI Apps: SENSAI in WebUI apps.

Your contract may also set quotas, such as a maximum number of requests. To check which features and quotas apply to your account, open the Usage page in the Portal.

Things to Keep in Mind

  • AI responses may contain errors: always verify outputs before acting on them, particularly for critical or high-stakes decisions.

  • SENSAI is a support tool, not an expert substitute: it does not replace the advice of qualified professionals or official AIMMS documentation.

  • Use of SENSAI is subject to the AIMMS terms and conditions, shown when you first open the chat panel.

Using the Chat Panel

The chat panel works the same way in the Portal, the AIMMS IDE and WebUI apps.

Starting a Conversation

The first time you open the chat panel, the terms and conditions for using SENSAI are shown. Type your question in the message box at the bottom of the chat panel to start.

Use the icons at the top of the chat panel to start a new conversation or view your chat history.

Answers and Suggested Replies

After an answer, SENSAI may suggest a reply, shown in grey text in the message box, for example How can you help me with optimization planning?. To use the suggestion, click Use, then press Enter or click the send button (the blue arrow) to send it. To ask something else, just start typing.

SENSAI matches the length of its answer to your question: short questions get short answers, and complex questions get more detail.

While SENSAI is working on an answer, the chat panel shows Thinking… and the send button changes into a red stop button. Click it to stop the answer. SENSAI then shows the message Stopped at your request. Any changes made before stopping have not been undone.

Important

Stopping does not undo changes SENSAI already made. Check your data if you stop SENSAI while it is changing it.

Keyboard Shortcuts

  • Press the Up arrow key in an empty message box to browse through the questions you asked earlier in the conversation. Edit a question if needed, and press Enter to send it again.

  • Type / to open your skills (see Skills).

  • Press Esc on a question or approval card to choose its way-out option, such as Skip, Cancel or Decline.

Questions and Choices

Sometimes SENSAI needs more information, or your confirmation, before it continues. Instead of a text reply, it then shows a question card in the conversation. A card can ask you to:

  • Choose one option.

  • Choose several options, for example at least 1 and at most 2.

  • Click one of a few buttons, for example to continue or stop.

  • Confirm an action.

While a card is waiting for your answer, the message box is locked. Your answer is checked before it is sent: for example, the card shows Choose at least 1 if you have not selected anything, and a message in red if you select more options than allowed. To answer without choosing, click Skip or Cancel.

After you answer, the card shows Sending… and then your choice, for example Continue · just now. SENSAI uses your answer in its reply, and the message box is unlocked again.

If you scroll away from a waiting card, the message An answer is needed to continue. appears. Click Show it to go back to the card. If you reload the page, the waiting card is shown again so you can still answer it. If you stop the answer while a card is waiting, the card shows No longer available.

Approving Changes

When SENSAI wants to change data, for example set a value or increase a set of prices by 10%, it first shows an approval card in the conversation. The card describes the change. The message box is locked until you decide:

  • Click Approve to make the change. SENSAI confirms what it changed.

  • Click Decline to cancel it. The data stays unchanged.

Changes take effect immediately after you approve them.

Rating Answers

Below each answer, click the thumbs-up icon if the answer was helpful, or the thumbs-down icon if it was not. A comment box then opens with the question What could be better? (optional). Type your feedback, up to 2000 characters, and click Send, or click Cancel to skip the comment. To add a comment later, click Add a comment next to the rating. Your rating is used to improve SENSAI.

Layout

  • Dark mode: The chat panel supports dark mode.

  • Resizing: You can resize the chat panel by dragging its left edge. It opens at a width of 400 pixels, which is also its minimum width, and can be widened up to half of the window. In WebUI apps, resizing is available from WebUI 26.13.1.

Skills

A skill is a set of instructions SENSAI follows for a specific job. To use a skill, type / in the message box. The list shows the skills available to you, with their name, description and where they come from: you for skills you created, or platform for skills provided by AIMMS. Keep typing to narrow the list, and select a skill to use it in your message.

Any user on the AIMMS Cloud Platform can create their own skills on the AI Skills page in the Portal. Administrators can also share skills with everyone in their account or environment.

In WebUI apps, the list also includes skills that the app’s maintainer has set up for that app, for example routines your team uses often. These are pinned to the app through their scope (see AI Skills).

Memory

SENSAI remembers your preferences, such as how to address you or which data to check before making a suggestion. You can review, edit and restore earlier versions of these memories on the AI Memories page in the Portal.

Usage and Quotas

Your account’s contract can set quotas on SENSAI, such as a maximum number of requests per period. The Usage page in the Portal shows each quota, your current usage against it, when the limits reset, and its Exceed action: what happens when the quota is used up.

When a quota is used up, one of the following happens, depending on its exceed action:

  • Hard stop: SENSAI does not accept new requests until the quota resets or is increased. A red warning icon appears next to SENSAI at the top of the chat panel, with the message You have used your AI quota. New requests will not run until the quota resets or is increased. Click View usage to open the Usage page. If you send a message anyway, SENSAI replies that you have reached your plan’s limit, for example You’ve reached your plan’s limit for SENSAI Apps.

  • Overage: SENSAI keeps answering, and the extra requests are billed as overage. While your account is in overage billing, a yellow icon appears next to SENSAI at the top of the chat panel. Hover over the icon to see the message In overage billing.