# AI tools

> Each tool and behaviour Bonnard offers AI clients, with what it lets the agent do, its default, and what changes when it is off.

Updated: 2026-11-09

A tool is one operation that Bonnard offers to an agent, the model in an AI client that acts for a person. In the console
at `app.bonnard.ai`, select **Settings**, then **AI tools**, to set the tools for all connections in the workspace. Admins
change the switches, and all members can read them.

Verified 9 Nov 2026.

Table: Each setting, its default, and its tools

| Setting | Default | Tools |
| --- | --- | --- |
| **Explore schema** | On, with no switch | `explore_schema` |
| **SQL query** | On, with no switch | `sql_query` |
| **Docs** | On while Charts or Dashboards is on, or for an Editor or higher, with no switch | `explore_docs` |
| **Charts** | On | `render_chart`, `fetch_view_data` |
| **Export data** | On | `create_export_file` |
| **Dashboards** | On | `save_dashboard`, `delete_dashboard`, `explore_dashboards`, `render_dashboard`, `search_param_values`, `fetch_view_data` |
| **Save charts** | On | `save_chart`, `explore_charts`, `delete_chart` |
| Context tools | On for the Editor role and higher, with no switch | `get_versions`, `edit_draft`, `publish_draft` |
| **Allow AI clients to publish context changes** | Off | None. It lets `publish_draft` publish the draft |
| Correct a wrong name | On, with no switch | None. It adds table names to errors |
| **Call intent** | On | None. It adds an `intent` input to each tool |

Select a switch to change it. With a switch off, Bonnard does not offer the tools that need it. The change saves immediately and applies from the next call. Bonnard announces a changed
tool list to AI clients with a connection open. Some AI clients show the changed tools only after you reconnect.

[Image: The AI tools settings: Explore schema, SQL query, and Docs always on, switches for Charts, Export data, Dashboards, and Save charts, Call intent under Activity, and Allow AI clients to publish context changes, set to off, under Context]

## Explore schema

`explore_schema` shows the tables visible to AI clients and finds them by a concept. For one table, it returns the
columns, row count, and sample rows. On a data source with tenancy, it returns no row count. A member gets sample rows
only after selecting a customer in [Preview as](https://bonnard.ai/docs/access/preview-as.md).

## SQL query

`sql_query` runs one read-only query against a data source and returns the rows. A query that names a
[hidden table](https://bonnard.ai/docs/context/hide-tables.md) continues to run.

## Docs

`explore_docs` gives the agent reference pages for building charts and dashboards. The console shows it as always on.
Bonnard offers it only while Charts or Dashboards is on, or to an Editor or higher for Context.

## Charts

`render_chart` draws a chart from a SQL query, or a carousel of up to 10 charts. The chart calls `fetch_view_data` to
load its data.

## Export data

`create_export_file` makes a CSV, a gzip-compressed CSV, or a PNG from a result the agent has, without running the query
again. While it is on, `sql_query` also takes `capture_only` and `max_rows`, so the agent can capture more than the
standard 5,000 rows for a file.

## Dashboards

From the AI client, each person can save, find, and open dashboards, including dashboards that other people give them access
to. Dashboards marked **Verified** come first. When off, people cannot save or open dashboards there.

## Save charts

Each person can save, list, and delete their own charts. `save_chart` needs Export data, so Bonnard does not offer it
while Export data is off.

## Context tools

`get_versions` shows a data source's context versions and the changes in each version. `edit_draft` changes the draft:
descriptions, keys, time columns, joins, metrics, and the tables that AI clients find. While
**Allow AI clients to publish context changes** is on, `publish_draft` publishes the draft.

Bonnard offers these tools to members with the Editor role or higher. Customers' users do not get them. See
[Context](https://bonnard.ai/docs/context/overview.md).

## Allow AI clients to publish context changes

Editors' AI clients can always draft context changes. With this on, they can also
[publish the draft](https://bonnard.ai/docs/context/review-and-publish.md), and all AI clients reading your data get the change straight
away. The switch covers all data sources in the workspace. With it off, `publish_draft` answers with links to this page
and to the Context page.

## Correct a wrong name

When an agent names a table that does not exist, Bonnard adds up to 5 of the closest table names to the error. It also
adds a list of up to 25 tables. This covers `explore_schema` with a table name, and `sql_query`. Hidden tables are never suggested. A wrong
column name gets no suggestions. The console has no control for this behaviour.

## Call intent

While on, each tool takes an optional `intent` of up to 300 characters: why the agent makes the call. Bonnard asks for one
sentence of 15 to 25 words, with no names, emails, IDs, or row values. The intent never changes the result. Bonnard records
it with the call, and the console does not show recorded intents. When it is off, the tools have no `intent` and Bonnard
records none.