Halo AI
What Halo AI does in Halo Data, which model runs each task, where you'll find it, and what it leaves to you.
Halo AI is Halo's own AI, and it runs on Claude, Anthropic's AI model. Nothing hides that: you'll see Claude's model names where they matter, and if you ask what it is, it calls itself Data Halo Bot and says what it runs on. In Halo Data it answers questions about your data, drafts charts and reports, and helps with formulas, SQL and field descriptions. It works as you: it reads only what you can open, and it can't change anything until you apply what it proposes.
What it does
| Feature | What you get | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Ask Halo | A conversation about your data, answered with live charts, tables and numbers | The top bar, or ⌘J |
| Generate with Halo | A chart or a whole report drafted from a sentence | The same conversation, the report editor's Add menu, and the Reports page |
| Rebuild with Halo | A draft report rebuilt from a PDF or screenshots of another tool, over datasets you pick | The Reports page |
| Edit by prompt | A report or chart changed in words, as a proposed change you apply or discard | The Halo AI panel, while the report or chart is open for editing |
| Explain | What a chart shows and what stands out, including changes you haven't saved | The chart's page |
| Summarize | A report's key numbers and what changed | The report's page |
| Describe with Halo | Proposed descriptions for a dataset's fields; you pick which to use | A dataset's Fields tab |
| Catalog descriptions | Proposed descriptions for tables and columns, written after discovery | A connection's Tables tab |
| Insights | Explanations of changes flagged in measures you watch | The Insights page |
| Written summaries | A paragraph at the top of a scheduled email | The report's schedule |
| Alert explanations | A few sentences on what moved when a data alert fires | The alert's history |
| Write with Halo | A formula or a SQL query from a description, or a fix for one that doesn't work | Above the formula and SQL editors |
Select text anywhere in Halo Data and Halo's right-click menu also offers Ask Halo about this, which brings the text and the page into a new question. A dataset's page has its own Ask Halo button, which starts with what the dataset holds and what it can answer.
Halo AI works in the other products too, on the same credits and switches: Generate with Halo drafts a whole website in Halo CMS (Build a website), and Read with Halo turns a page or some text into a proposal in Halo CRM's Inbox (The Inbox).
Ask Halo about your data and Build charts and reports with Halo AI go through each of these.
Halo AI proposes, you apply
Halo AI never publishes, and it changes nothing without you. A chart in an answer is a preview until you press Save to charts. A report plan is a card until you press Create report. A formula goes into the field only when you press Use it, and the dataset changes only when you save it. A proposed change to a report waits for you to choose Apply, and a proposed goal for you to choose Create goal. The one exception is Generate with Halo and Rebuild with Halo on the Reports page, whose jobs leave you a new draft to check.
Answers can be wrong. The Halo AI panel says so under every conversation ("Halo AI runs on Claude and can make mistakes"). It shows the steps it took and draws its charts from real queries, so you can check where a number came from.
Models by task
Halo AI uses three Claude models and picks one for each task, because they differ a lot in cost. Faster models use fewer AI credits for the same work.
| Model | Mode | Used for |
|---|---|---|
| Haiku 5.5 | Fast | Explain and Summarize, conversation titles, field and catalog descriptions, insights, alert explanations and written summaries, formula and SQL help, charts and pages from Generate with Halo in the report editor, and Read with Halo in Halo CRM |
| Sonnet 5.5 | Standard | Conversations, including charts and reports it builds and changes in them, reports from Generate with Halo and Rebuild with Halo on the Reports page, and websites from Generate with Halo in Halo CMS |
| Opus 5.5 | Deep | Hard questions and full reports, only when someone picks it |
The composer has a mode picker with four choices:
Auto. Halo picks the model for each task. This is the default, and it never picks Opus.
Fast. Quick answers and simple questions.
Standard. Deeper analysis and building.
Deep. The most capable model, which uses the most credits. It's off until an Admin turns on Allow Deep mode.
Fast, Standard and Deep hold a question to their model, and you can change the mode for each question. Names, catalog descriptions, insights, written summaries and alert explanations stay on Haiku whatever the mode. On Auto, a formula that still doesn't check after Halo AI repairs it moves up from Haiku to Sonnet.
Who can use it
You need all of these:
Your plan includes Halo AI. Every plan does, with a monthly amount of credits.
Your role has the Use Halo AI permission. Owner, Admin, Builder, Analyst and Viewer do; External guest doesn't. See Roles and permissions.
An Admin hasn't turned off Use Halo AI in Settings, Halo AI. It's on by default.
Without one of those, the button doesn't show. If Halo AI is available but can't answer right now, say because credits have run out, the panel says why and what to do.
What it can see
Halo AI reads your data through read-only tools that run as the person asking, with their row policies. By default it reads up to 200 rows a query, and it can't read fields you've hidden in a dataset. What Halo AI can see has the whole policy.
Settings for Admins
Settings, Halo AI has four tabs, shown according to your role:
Settings. Whether Halo AI is on, the default mode, Deep, individual rows, each feature's switch under Features, and What Halo AI should know: up to 4,000 characters included with every question, such as what your organization does and how you count things.
Usage and billing. Credits used this month, by feature and model. See AI credits and limits.
Members. Each member's use and cap, pauses, and requests to review.
AI tools. Whether members can connect their own tools. See The Halo MCP server.