Set up Tic Buddy

Tic Buddy is the assistant in the bottom right corner of the CRM. Your team asks it questions about the CRM, by typing or by voice, and it can create and change records when asked. See Ask Tic Buddy.

Tic Buddy answers through an AI service of your choice, with your workspace's own key. An owner or admin sets it up under Settings → Tic Buddy (in the AI & integrations group). The same key is used by Ask AI in Analytics and by Guardian's drafted messages.

Get a key

Tic Buddy works with Anthropic, OpenAI or Google. Make an API key in your account with one of them; the link under the key box goes to the right page. The service bills you directly for what Tic Buddy uses.

Switch Tic Buddy on

You need to be an owner or admin.

1. Open Settings and choose Tic Buddy.
2. Under Which AI answers, click the service you have a key for.
3. Paste the key into Your API key.
4. Under Model, keep Usual or pick another model. Once the key is pasted, the list shows the models that key may use. Choose Other — type a model name… to type one in. A faster, cheaper model suits most questions.
5. Choose what it may do (see below).
6. Read What is sent to the AI service, and what is not, and tick I have read this and agree (the first time only).
7. Turn on the switch at the top, so it says Tic Buddy is on.
8. Click Save.

The CRM tries the key and model before saving and says Saved when they answer. Everyone in the workspace then sees Tic Buddy at the bottom right.

The key is stored encrypted and never shown again. The box shows only its last characters, as Saved. To replace it, paste a new one and save.

Choose what it may do

• Send people's names as initials: contacts and leads are described to the AI as initials and a record number, such as "P. S. #12", instead of by name. Answers then refer to people the same way.
• Let it create things: tasks, leads, contacts, deals and calendar events, including department and company events.
• Let it change things: move a deal or lead to another stage, change its value or who is responsible, mark a task done or move its deadline, log a call or note, or comment on a record. It never deletes.

Whatever you allow here, Tic Buddy only ever does what the person asking could do themselves, and it never creates or changes anything until they press Do it.

Which roles may use Tic Buddy, and create or change through it, is set per role under Settings → Access, in the Tic Buddy part: Use Tic Buddy, Create records through it and Change records through it. See Roles and permissions.

What is sent to the AI service

• Sent: each question and the conversation so far, the workspace name, the asker's name and role, the date and currency, and the results of Tic Buddy's lookups: counts, totals and, for lists, up to 15 records with name, number, stage, value, responsible person and dates. For money questions, the period's totals and the five biggest customers and vendors, only for people whose role may open the Ledger.
• Never sent: your database, messages, files, phone numbers, email addresses, or anything the asker's role may not see.

The AI cannot reach your data itself. It can only ask for a lookup, which the CRM runs as the person asking, under their permissions.

Check the AI service's own terms. The settings page notes that a free Google Gemini key may be used for training, so use a paid one.

See what was asked

Questions asked, below the settings, lists who asked Tic Buddy what, what it looked up and what it made. Click a question to see the answer and the lookups. Only owners and admins see this list, and questions are kept for a week.

Switch it off

Turn off the switch at the top and click Save. Nobody sees Tic Buddy until it is switched on again. Forget the key switches it off and deletes the key.