# AI Chat Interface

**AI Chat lets you ask questions in plain English and get the answers back as new tabs you can chart, pivot, or export.**

![OrcaSheets AI Chat interface](/images/orcasheets_chat_graphic.gif)

If you are not sure what to ask, start simple ("total revenue last month") and add constraints one by one.

## Open AI Chat

- **Mac**: `Cmd + Shift + O`
- **Windows / Linux**: `Ctrl + Shift + O`

## Use AI Chat effectively

- **Reference columns**: type `$` to pick a column from the active Sheet.
- **Send the message**: press `Ctrl + Enter`.
- **Iterate**: refine filters, groupings, and metrics based on each result, so each follow-up builds on the previous answer.

## Example prompts you can copy and paste

- "Total revenue last 30 days"
- "Top 10 customers by revenue last quarter"
- "Revenue by country for 2025, sorted descending"
- "Count of orders by status, excluding cancelled"

## Access and credits

AI Chat is available on every plan, including free. Usage is metered in **query credits**, so each question you ask consumes a small amount of your credit balance.

- **Free tier**: a limited monthly allowance, enough to try AI Chat and run light workflows.
- **Paid subscriptions**: a larger monthly allowance, with the exact amount depending on your subscription tier.
- **Additional credits**: you can top up at any time by purchasing extra credits.
- **Rollover**: purchased credits **roll over to the next subscription cycle**, so top-ups you do not use this month are not lost.

You can check your current balance and manage purchases in [Settings](/docs/settings).

## Notes

- Results open as their own tabs, so you can chart them with [Creating Visualizations](/docs/creating-visualizations) or add them to a [Dashboard](/docs/building-dashboards).

## Video walkthrough

[Watch the AI Chat feature video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AFRnkigDNVs#embed)

## Related pages

- [Querying Data](/docs/querying-data)
- [Filtering Data](/docs/filtering-data)
- [OrcAI](/docs/orcai)
- [AI Report Generator](/docs/ai-report-generator)