What the assistant does
Restodesk AI is an add-on. If AI Assistant isn't in your sidebar, it isn't on your plan — see What's included, and what's an add-on.
What this is for
Asking questions about your restaurant in plain language, instead of finding the right report, setting the right date range, and reading the right column.
"What were my top five items last week?" rather than opening the item report, setting a range and sorting.
What it can actually see
This is the important part, and it's worth being precise about. The assistant can read:
| Area | Questions it can answer |
|---|---|
| Sales | Revenue, totals, trends over a period. |
| Orders | Counts, types, statuses. |
| Items | What sold, how much. |
| Top items | Best sellers over a period. |
| Categories | Performance by category. |
| Tax | Tax collected. |
| Refunds | What was refunded, and why. |
| Cancelled orders | Cancellations and their reasons. |
| Delivery apps | Platform orders and commissions. |
| Reservations | Bookings. |
| Kitchen delays | How long tickets are taking. |
| Inventory usage | Stock consumption, where Stock & Recipes is on. |
Kitchen delays is worth calling out — it's genuinely hard to get from the reports by hand, and "which dishes are slowest to leave the kitchen?" is a question most owners can't otherwise answer.
What it can't do
Being clear about this saves frustration:
- It doesn't change anything. It reads. It won't create an order, edit a price, or alter a setting.
- It only sees your own restaurant's data, scoped like every other screen.
- It isn't a general assistant. Ask it about supplier contracts or employment law and you're outside what it can see.
- It doesn't replace the reports. For a number you'll act on, check the report.
Starting a conversation
- Open AI Assistant.
- New Conversation.
- Type a question, or pick one of the suggested questions.
It shows Thinking… while it works, then answers.
What Can I Ask? lists its capabilities in the product, which is the authoritative version if this page ever falls behind.
Tokens
Usage is measured in tokens, with a monthly limit from your package that resets when the package renews.
The screen shows tokens remaining. When they run out, it says so and stops until the month rolls over.
That means it's worth spending on questions that save you real time, rather than chatting. Longer answers over longer date ranges cost more.
Who can use it
Access is controlled by allowed roles, set in the AI settings.
Worth thinking about: the assistant can read your sales, margins and refunds. Give it to the people you'd give the reports to, and not automatically to everyone.
Setting it up
Under the AI settings:
- Enable AI Assistant.
- Choose Allowed Roles.
- Save.
The screen also shows your package monthly limit, tokens used and remaining.
If you see "OpenAI API key is not configured", the platform-level key hasn't been set. That's not something you can fix from your own settings — contact support. See Getting support.
A word on trusting it
It's a language model reading your data. It's very good at pulling a number and summarising it, and it can still misread a question or a period.
For anything you'll act on — a tax figure, a decision to cut a dish, a conversation with a member of staff — check the underlying report. Use the assistant to find the question worth asking, and the report to answer it.
Good to know
- Conversations are kept, so you can return to one.
- It reads the branch you're working in.
- It doesn't make changes, so there's nothing to undo.
- Token usage is per restaurant and resets monthly with your package.