Chat basics

How the chat panel works — sending messages, modes, the provider toggle, and voice.

The MCP pill: amber then green

HISAB runs a local MCP (Model Context Protocol) server on localhost that your AI CLI connects to. The MCP pill at the top of the chat tab shows that link in real time:

• Amber — the MCP server is up, but no AI client has connected yet. Send a message (or check Settings) and it will flip.
• Green — your CLI is connected and a turn is in flight or the client checked in recently. This is the healthy state.
• Warn — the server itself is down. Click the pill for a diagnostic.

Click the pill any time for a diagnostic showing the server URL and port. It polls every few seconds, so it flips within moments of your CLI connecting.

What the AI sees

When you send a message, HISAB attaches sheet-level context automatically: workbook name, sheet names, header rows of each sheet, and the size of each used range. The AI does not see cell values until it asks for them — at which point it calls a read_range tool and HISAB returns the data.

Sending a message

Type into the composer at the bottom of the chat tab and press Enter to send (Shift+Enter for a new line), or click the send button. Each chat tab is its own conversation with its own history — click + to start a new one. The composer also has buttons to Attach external files (CSV, XLSX, images, PDFs), snapshot the current Excel range as context, take an image Snapshot of the active sheet, and Clear this tab's history.

On a brand-new install, just sign in to HISAB and chat — the built-in HISAB AI works right away (your trial includes 50 credits). If you switch to Own-AI mode, sign in to your Claude or Codex account first; the engines themselves were installed automatically with HISAB. See Sign in and Installation for setup.

Ask vs Action — operating modes

The Mode chip in the breadcrumb above the chat sets how much the AI is allowed to do. There are four modes:

• Ask Only — read-only. The AI can read your workbook and run analysis, but cannot write cells or change anything. Safest for exploring.
• Plan — the AI works out a multi-step plan and queues its changes rather than applying them straight away.
• Action — the AI reads and writes. Write or destructive tool calls are governed by the Approval chip next to Mode.
• Automate — used when you want the AI to save a reusable automation script.

The separate Approval chip controls how writes are confirmed in Action mode: Auto applies them, or Ask each queues every write or destructive call for your explicit approval before it runs. See Approvals & safety for the full detail.

Choosing your AI: HISAB AI, Claude or Codex

The AI source toggle in Settings picks between the built-in HISAB AI (zero setup, metered in credits) and Own AI — your own Anthropic Claude Code or OpenAI Codex account. In Own-AI mode, both engines are already installed (they set up automatically with HISAB) and the Active provider radio toggle flips between them (Claude Code is the default). Switching persists across Excel restarts and takes effect on your next message.

Voice input — talk to HISAB

Click the Voice (microphone) button in the composer and grant microphone permission once. Dictation streams into the chat box as you speak; pause for about two seconds after you finish and HISAB sends the message automatically, or click the mic again to stop. Voice input uses the operating-system speech engine built into WebView2 — no API key and no network are needed.

Voice output — HISAB reads replies aloud

Every AI reply has a Speak button (hover the message) that reads just that reply out loud using your built-in Windows voices. To have HISAB read every reply automatically, open Settings › Voice and turn on Speak AI replies out loud.

• Windows voices (free) — the default. Local Windows TTS, no API key, no network. Sounds robotic on older Windows builds.
• Premium voices — for natural, ChatGPT-quality speech, choose OpenAI or Google Cloud as the provider in Settings › Voice, paste that provider's API key, and pick a voice. The key is stored locally.

Effective prompts

Be specific about scope

• ✅ "In the Bank Statement sheet, find rows where Description contains 'TRF' and Amount > 10000."
• ❌ "Show me transfers."

Name the artefacts

• ✅ "Compare GL_Apr (sheet) against the trial balance in TB_Apr — flag any account where the rolled-up GL doesn't match the TB balance."
• ❌ "Reconcile these."

State the output you want

• ✅ "Output the mismatches in a new sheet 'Mismatches' with columns Account, GL, TB, Diff."
• ❌ "Show me what's wrong."

Driving the chat — no commands to memorise

HISAB has no slash commands. You ask for what you want in plain English, and the on-screen controls handle the rest. Here's where the common actions live:

Multi-turn workflows

The AI remembers context within a conversation. Build up complex workflows in steps:

You:  Pull the May trial balance from Zoho Books into a new sheet.
AI:   [pulls 184 accounts to sheet "TB_May"]

You:  Now reconcile it against the GL in this workbook.
AI:   [reads GL sheet, computes per-account diff]
      "Found 3 mismatches over $100..."

You:  Draft a JE to close the variance accounts.
AI:   [drafts JE, places in approvals queue]