Frequently Asked Questions
Everything you need to know about Flowtrail AI, conversational analytics, and AI-powered data insights
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General & Getting Started
What is Flowtrail AI?
Flowtrail AI is an AI-powered conversational data platform that acts as "Your AI Employee who knows your data." It transforms complex data into actionable insights through natural language conversations, enabling businesses to chat with their data without requiring technical expertise.
How quickly can I get started with Flowtrail AI?
You can start immediately with our Free plan. Sign up takes less than 2 minutes, and you can connect your first data source within 5 minutes. No credit card required for the Free plan.
Do I need technical knowledge to use Flowtrail AI?
No! That's the beauty of Flowtrail AI. You can ask questions in plain English, just like chatting with a colleague. No SQL, no coding required. Simply connect your data and start asking questions naturally.
What data sources can I connect?
You can connect MySQL, PostgreSQL, MongoDB, BigQuery, Supabase, and Turso databases. You can also upload Excel files (.xlsx, .xls) and CSV files for instant analysis.
How does Flowtrail AI work?
It's a simple 3-step process: (1) Connect your data sources with secure, one-click connections, (2) Ask questions in natural language and get instant insights, (3) Receive actionable insights through charts, reports, and visualizations ready to share with your team.
What makes Flowtrail AI different from other analytics tools?
Flowtrail AI eliminates the need for technical SQL knowledge, removes dependency on data analysts for simple queries, and provides 24/7 AI-powered data analysis. You can create specialized AI assistants for different roles, automate reports, and access insights through multiple platforms like WhatsApp, Slack, and Teams.
Who should use Flowtrail AI?
Flowtrail AI is perfect for sales teams, marketing departments, customer support teams, business executives, operations managers, and anyone who needs data insights without technical expertise. It works for small businesses to large enterprises.
Is there a free plan available?
Yes! Our Forever Free plan includes 20 AI messages per month, 1 datasource connection, 5 reports, 1 dashboard, and 1 team member. No credit card required to get started.
Features & Capabilities
Can I create custom AI assistants?
Yes! You can create unlimited AI assistants, each customized for different roles, departments, or use cases. For example, you can create a Sales Assistant to analyze revenue trends, a Customer Support Assistant for customer insights, or an Inventory Assistant to monitor stock levels.
How does the chat with data feature work?
Simply ask questions in natural language. For example: "What were our top 10 products last month?" or "Show me sales trends for Q4". Our AI understands your question, generates the appropriate query, and returns results with visualizations - no SQL required.
Can I schedule automated reports?
Yes! You can schedule reports daily, weekly, monthly, or at custom intervals. Reports can be automatically delivered via email, Slack, Microsoft Teams, or WhatsApp. Set it once and let AI handle recurring workflows.
What kind of visualizations can I create?
We support bar charts, line graphs, pie charts, tables, KPI cards, heatmaps, and more. Visualizations are automatically generated based on your data and question. You can also build interactive dashboards in seconds using natural language.
Can I share reports with people outside my organization?
Yes! You can generate public shareable links that don't require login, or export reports as PDF/Excel files. This makes it easy to share insights with clients, stakeholders, or partners.
How does the Dashboard Builder work?
Our Dashboard Builder converts text to dashboards in seconds. Simply describe what you want to see in natural language, and our AI will create a beautiful, interactive dashboard with real-time data updates. You can publish dashboards publicly or keep them private for your team.
What is AI Task Automation?
AI Task Automation lets you set up 24/7 monitoring and automated actions. For example, get alerts when inventory drops below a threshold, receive daily sales summaries, or get notified about performance anomalies. The AI works continuously to monitor your business.
Can I analyze Excel and CSV files?
Absolutely! Upload Excel (.xlsx, .xls) or CSV files and get instant AI-powered insights and analysis. Our AI automatically detects trends, identifies outliers, recognizes patterns, and generates visualizations - no Excel formula expertise needed.
What are AI Agents/Employees?
AI Agents are custom virtual employees you can build for specific business functions. They can be accessed through WhatsApp, Slack, Teams, or Email. For example, create an inventory management agent that responds via WhatsApp, or a customer support agent that answers common queries 24/7.
Can I ask follow-up questions?
Yes! Our AI maintains context throughout the conversation, so you can ask follow-up questions naturally. For example, after asking about sales, you can follow up with "Show me the breakdown by region" or "What about last quarter?"
Technical & Integrations
How long does it take to connect a database?
Database connections typically take 2-5 minutes, including authentication and automatic schema detection. Our system automatically detects your database structure and makes it ready for natural language queries.
What happens if my database schema changes?
Flowtrail AI automatically detects schema changes and updates accordingly. No manual intervention needed. Your AI assistants will continue working seamlessly with the updated structure.
Can I use Flowtrail AI on mobile?
Yes! You can access Flowtrail AI via mobile browser, or use our WhatsApp, Slack, or Microsoft Teams integrations for native mobile access. Ask questions and get insights on the go.
What if I have multiple databases?
You can connect multiple databases and query across them. The Free plan supports 1 datasource, Personal supports 2, Standard supports 10, Premium supports 20, and Enterprise has unlimited datasources.
Do you support real-time data?
Yes! Dashboards and queries reflect your current database state in real-time. When you ask a question or view a dashboard, you get the most up-to-date information from your database.
Can I use my own AI models?
We support multiple AI models including OpenAI (ChatGPT), Anthropic (Claude), Google Gemini, xAI, and DeepSeek. Enterprise customers can configure custom AI model integrations based on their specific needs.
What communication platforms do you integrate with?
We integrate with Slack, Microsoft Teams, WhatsApp Business, and Email. You can receive notifications, ask questions, and get reports through any of these platforms. Enterprise plans also support custom API integrations.
Do you offer API access?
Yes, API access is available for Premium and Enterprise plans. This allows you to integrate Flowtrail AI capabilities into your own applications and workflows.
Data Security & Privacy
Is my data secure?
Yes. We use end-to-end encryption and your data never leaves your infrastructure. We only process metadata to understand your schema and generate queries. Your sensitive data always remains in your own database.
Does Flowtrail AI store any of my data?
No, Flowtrail AI does not store any of your data. We only connect to your database with read-only permission and execute queries when needed. Your data always remains in your own infrastructure and never leaves it.
How does Flowtrail AI access my database?
Flowtrail AI connects to your database with read-only permission. This means we can only read data to answer your questions but cannot modify, delete, or store any of your data. Queries are executed in real-time when you ask questions.
Can you see my actual data?
No. We use metadata-only processing. We only access your database schema (table names, column names, data types) to understand the structure. Your sensitive data never leaves your infrastructure.
What security features do you offer?
We provide end-to-end encryption, role-based access controls (RBAC), two-factor authentication (2FA), secure data connections, activity monitoring, and audit logs. Enterprise plans include additional features like SSO integration, IP whitelisting, and self-hosted options.
Can I delete my data?
Yes, you can delete your account and all associated data at any time from your settings. Since we only store metadata and configuration information (not your actual data), account deletion is quick and complete.
Support & Training
What kind of support do you offer?
All plans include email support and knowledge base access. Paid plans get priority support and live chat. Premium plans include faster response times. Enterprise plans include dedicated support teams, phone support, and custom training sessions.
Is training available?
Yes! We provide comprehensive documentation, video tutorials, and regular webinars for all users. Premium and Enterprise customers receive personalized onboarding and custom training sessions tailored to their specific use cases.
How do I learn advanced features?
We offer a comprehensive knowledge base, video tutorials, and regular webinars. You can also join our Discord community to learn from other users. Premium and Enterprise customers get dedicated training sessions.
What are your support hours?
Email support is available 24/7 with responses within 24 hours. Live chat is available 24/7 (AI-assisted after business hours, human support during business hours). Phone support is available for Enterprise customers during business hours.
Do you have a community?
Yes! Join our Discord community at discord.gg/fzqCPqnPGx to connect with other users, get tips, share use cases, and stay updated on new features. You can also follow us on Twitter (@flowtrailapp), LinkedIn, and Instagram (@flowtrail_ai).
AI & Data Analytics Fundamentals
What is data analytics?
Data analytics is the process of examining raw data to discover patterns, draw conclusions, and make informed business decisions. It involves collecting, processing, and analyzing data to extract meaningful insights that can improve business performance, identify opportunities, and solve problems.
How can AI help with data analytics?
AI revolutionizes data analytics by automating complex analysis, understanding natural language queries, identifying patterns humans might miss, generating insights automatically, and providing 24/7 data monitoring. AI can process large datasets instantly, predict trends, and make data analysis accessible to non-technical users through conversational interfaces.
What is conversational analytics?
Conversational analytics allows you to interact with your data using natural language, just like having a conversation. Instead of writing SQL queries or using complex tools, you simply ask questions in plain English like "What were our top products last month?" and get instant answers with visualizations. It democratizes data access for everyone in your organization.
How does AI data analysis work?
AI data analysis uses machine learning and natural language processing to understand your questions, analyze your database schema, generate appropriate queries, execute them securely, and present results with visualizations. The AI learns your data structure and business context to provide increasingly accurate and relevant insights over time.
What are the benefits of AI in business intelligence?
AI in business intelligence offers faster insights (minutes instead of hours/days), cost reduction (less dependency on data analysts), 24/7 availability, predictive analytics, automated reporting, natural language access, pattern detection, and democratized data access for all team members regardless of technical skills.
AI vs traditional data analysis - what is the difference?
Traditional data analysis requires SQL knowledge, manual report creation, dedicated analysts, and time-consuming processes. AI-powered analysis offers natural language queries, instant automated reports, self-service for any team member, 24/7 availability, and real-time insights. AI makes data analysis faster, more accessible, and more affordable.
What are natural language data queries?
Natural language data queries let you ask questions about your data in plain English (or any language) instead of using technical query languages like SQL. For example, instead of writing complex SQL, you simply ask "Show me revenue by region for Q4" and the AI translates that into the appropriate database query and returns visualized results.
What is the future of AI in analytics?
The future of AI in analytics includes predictive and prescriptive insights, autonomous decision-making, real-time anomaly detection, automated data storytelling, augmented analytics, voice-activated queries, and AI agents that proactively monitor business metrics and alert stakeholders. AI will make data insights as easy as having a conversation, available to everyone, everywhere, anytime.
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