---
url: https://docs.cybrosys.com/assista-x/ask-questions.md
description: >-
  Ask Assista X about your live Odoo data in plain language. Example questions
  by module, follow-ups, how answers are built, and Analytical versus Normal
  mode.
---

# Ask questions

Type a question about your Odoo data in plain language. Assista X looks the data up live in your Odoo server and answers with a summary, tables, charts and suggested follow-up questions. It carries out the lookup under your own Odoo permissions, so you only see what your Odoo login can see.

## What you can do

* Ask about sales, invoicing and accounting, inventory, purchasing, HR and payroll, CRM, timesheets and projects.
* Search, count, group and compare records without building a filter or a report.
* Ask follow-up questions that keep your earlier filters.
* Trace a cause across modules, for example Sales, Accounting and Inventory.
* Open any record the answer mentions directly in Odoo.

## Ask your first question

1. Make sure an Odoo server is selected. See [Connect your Odoo server](/assista-x/connect-odoo/).
2. Click the box that says "Ask anything about your records..." and type your question.
3. Press `Enter` to send, or `Shift+Enter` to add a line break.
4. Watch the answer stream in. Select the stop button to cancel it.
5. Pick one of the follow-up suggestions at the end of the answer, or type your own.

Long pastes (over 200 characters) are folded into a chip such as "pasted 12 lines". Use the **x** on the chip to remove it.

## Example questions by module

| Module | Questions to try |
| :--- | :--- |
| Sales | Which deals have not moved in two weeks? Who are my top customers by revenue this quarter? Show the pipeline by stage. Top-selling products this month. Which sales rep closed the most deals last quarter? |
| Accounting | Show overdue invoices past 30 days. What is the total outstanding receivables? Which vendor bills are due this week? Show the aging breakdown in 30, 60 and 90+ day buckets. |
| Inventory | Which products are below reorder point? What is the stock value by location? Which items have had no movement in 60 days? List products that are low in stock. |
| Purchase | Which purchase orders are past their delivery date? Who are the top vendors by spend this month? Which RFQs are pending? |
| HR and payroll | Who is on leave this week? Show pending leave requests by department. Show headcount by department. Which contracts expire in the next 30 days? |
| Timesheets and projects | Which employees have unsubmitted timesheets? How many hours are logged per project? Which tasks are overdue this week? Which projects have no activity in seven days? |
| CRM | How is the pipeline distributed by stage? Which leads have had no activity in 14 days? |

You can also ask open questions such as "How are we doing?" or "Give me an overview". Assista X then runs a short business check: this month's revenue against last month, overdue invoices, products at or below zero stock, and the latest confirmed sales orders. It shows what it found and asks which area you want to look into.

## How answers are built

Assista X picks the richest format that fits the data.

| Your data | Format |
| :--- | :--- |
| One number or one status | A bold value with one sentence of context |
| Two or three items | Inline text or a small table |
| A list of four or more records | A table |
| A trend over time | A line or area chart |
| A breakdown or share | A bar, pie or donut chart |
| Tasks, leaves and deadlines across dates | A calendar |

* **Summary and insights.** In Normal mode an answer starts with a short summary, then charts, then the table, then three to five insight points. Each insight names a specific value, name or ratio from your data. It does not use generic filler.
* **Tables.** A table shows up to 25 rows. For a larger result you see "Showing 25 of N records" with a prompt to filter further or ask for more.
* **Money and dates.** Amounts use the currency of your Odoo server. Dates and times are converted to your time zone and use your server's date format. Accounting numbers are not rounded.
* **Live links.** Record names link to the record in Odoo and open in a new tab.
* **Signals.** While answering, Assista X may mention something nearby that it noticed, such as overdue invoices next to a sales answer, and offers to look into it.
* **Questions back to you.** When the choice changes what to fetch, for example the date range or the grouping, Assista X shows a card with two to four options. It waits for your choice before it fetches the data.
* **Follow-up suggestions.** Each answer ends with five suggested follow-up questions, based on the data it found. Select one to fill the chat box.

Use **Copy message** under a message to copy it, and the button on your own message ("Fill input with this message") to bring it back into the chat box.

## Follow-ups keep context

Assista X carries forward the filters, time frames and company scope from earlier in the conversation. If you said "for Q1" two messages ago and now ask "show top customers", you get top customers for Q1. It fetches fresh data again whenever the period or the filter changes, so an answer is never reused from an earlier turn.

## Analytical mode and Normal mode

The brain icon at the left of the chat box switches between the two modes. Hover over it to see "Analytical mode on" or "Analytical mode off". The product tutorials call it Analytic mode. The mode is saved with each chat.

| | Normal mode | Analytical mode |
| :--- | :--- | :--- |
| Use it for | Quick lookups and everyday questions | Data-heavy questions, diagnoses, "why is this number off?" and review preparation |
| Answer layout | Summary, charts, table, three to five insights, follow-ups | Headline, key metrics table, at least three charts, full data table, insight narrative, risk flags, recommended actions |
| Planning | Looks up what it needs | Reads the built-in guidance for each module involved (general, sales, accounts, inventory, purchasing, CRM, timesheets, HR and payroll) and plans which records to check before it queries |
| Cross-module | Possible when your question asks for it | Cross-references several modules by design and traces causes |
| Risks | Mentioned in the insights | A separate **Critical** or **Warning** list, for example overdue invoices over 60 days, or stock below reorder point |
| Token use | Lower | Higher per response |
| Small talk | Answers normally | Replies in one or two sentences, without charts or tables |

Turn Analytical mode on when you want Assista X to reply like a business analyst. Leave it off for quick lookups.

> **Tip.**
>
> Analytical mode uses more tokens per response, so it costs more on your AI provider. See [AI providers](/assista-x/ai-providers/#cost).

## Tips and limits

* Be specific about the period, such as "this quarter" or "in the last 30 days". If the period is missing, Assista X assumes the current year.
* Name the record type when you can, such as "invoices", "purchase orders" or "tasks".
* If a query returns nothing, Assista X checks for a narrow date range or a missing module before it tells you there are no records. It explains problems in plain language, for example when a module is not installed.
* If some records are hidden by your Odoo access rights, Assista X says so. It does not try to reach the same data through related records, even if you ask it to. Ask your Odoo administrator to change your access if you need it.
* If Assista X has no data source for something, it says it does not have access to that information.
* Assista X can be wrong. Check important figures in Odoo before you act on them.

## Next steps

* [Tables and charts](/assista-x/tables-and-charts/)
* [Reports](/assista-x/reports/)
* [Voice](/assista-x/voice/)
* [Troubleshooting](/assista-x/troubleshooting/)