How to Create an AI Agent in NocoDB, No Code Needed

Ask NocoAI

Copy a prompt, paste it into NocoAI in any base, and replace the words in [brackets] with your own.

Create an agent that answers questions about our pricing from the [Docs] table
Create an agent that lists [stale deals] every [Friday] and posts them to [#sales] in Slack
Create an agent that tags new [support requests], sets their priority and assigns them
Create an agent that emails me the [deals closing this week] each morning

To create an AI agent in NocoDB, you open the Agents page of a project and describe the job. No code is needed. To build an AI agent in NocoDB:

Open the Agents page and click General agent.
Describe the job in the setup chat, or pick a template.
Review the agent settings and click Turn on agent.

The Agents page offers two kinds of agent: a General agent or a Coding agent. You can also fill in the settings of a custom agent yourself, or ask NocoAI to create an agent for you.

Before you begin

You need the Owner or Creator role in the project.
Agents are available on paid NocoDB Cloud plans. See Availability.
Agents open on a larger screen. On a phone, NocoDB shows Agents open on a larger screen.

Open the Agents page

Open the project.
In the mini sidebar, click Agents. The Agents page opens and asks What kind of agent?

The What kind of agent? step with the General agent and Coding agent cards

When the project already has agents, the sidebar lists them. To create another agent:

Open an agent.
In the top bar, click the agent name.
Click Create Agent.

Choose the kind of agent

The What kind of agent? step offers two cards. You cannot change the kind of an agent after you create it. To change the kind, create a new agent.

Card	Description	Next step
General agent	Works across your apps, data and docs through integrations, on a managed machine.	Create a general AI agent
Coding agent	Ships pull requests from issues, each run on its own branch and machine.	Set up a coding agent

Create a general AI agent

After you click General agent, the Create a general agent step opens. The step offers three ways to start:

Option	What happens
Set up by describing	A setup chat opens. You describe the job in your own words, and the chat asks only for what it needs.
A template under Pick a template	A setup chat opens with a draft of the template job. You can change anything in the chat.
Create manually	The agent settings open. You write the name and the instructions yourself.

Each option creates the agent as a Draft. A draft does not run and has no active triggers until you turn it on.

The Create a general agent step with Set up by describing, Create manually and the templates

Set up an agent by describing it

Click Set up by describing. The setup chat opens.
Describe the job: what the agent must look at, what it must do, and when. For example: "Every Friday, list stale deals and post them to #sales".
Answer the questions of the setup chat. Click an answer chip, or type your answer.
When the chat says it has everything, click Finish setting up. The agent settings open.
Review each section. See Review and turn on the agent.

The setup chat with its draft card and Finish setting up

While you chat, a draft card shows what the setup chat has set up so far:

Row	What it shows
Job	What the agent does. The job becomes the instructions of the agent.
Reads	The tables the agent works with. All tables means that you named no table.
Access	Reads records or Reads and changes records, and whether it uses the web.
Runs	When the agent runs, for example Every Monday at 9:00.
Shares	Where the agent sends what it finds, for example Slack #sales.

The setup chat asks for each missing item, in this order:

Question	Example answers
When should it run?	Every weekday at 9:00, Every Monday at 9:00, When a record changes in a table, Only when asked
Which table should it watch?	The setup chat asks this question when the agent runs when a record changes.
Where should it share what it finds?	Here in chat, Slack, Email to you
Which Slack channel should it post to?	The setup chat asks this question when you pick Slack. Type the channel name, for example #sales.

To change something, tell the setup chat, for example "make it daily" or "call it Deal watcher".

Start from a template

Under Pick a template, select a category, or search the templates. A search looks in all the categories.
Click a template. The setup chat opens with a draft of the template job.
Continue as in Set up an agent by describing it, from step 3.

Category	Template	What it does
For everyone	Weekly digest	Sums up what changed in your tables and posts it every Monday.
For everyone	Answer bot	Answers questions about your tables and docs whenever someone asks.
For everyone	Morning brief	Turns what changed in your tables and docs into a short plan, every weekday morning.
For everyone	Meeting prep	Every weekday morning, preps today's meetings from your meetings table: the account, open deals and the last notes.
Sales	Follow-up drafter	Drafts follow-up emails when a record needs a nudge.
Sales	Record enricher	Fills in missing details on new records from the web.
Sales	Deal risk watcher	Flags deals that have stalled and tells the owner why.
Operations	Reorder alerts	Watches stock levels and drafts purchase orders before you run out.
Operations	Data cleaner	Finds duplicates and missing values and fixes them, with a log of every change.
Marketing	Campaign report	Every Friday, sums up campaign results and posts them to Slack.
Marketing	Content calendar keeper	Reminds owners of upcoming posts and flags anything past due.
Support	Ticket triage	Tags new requests, sets priority and routes them to the right person.
Support	Customer check-in	Drafts a check-in for customers who went quiet, ready for review.

Create a custom agent manually

Click Create manually. The agent settings open at Agent & Instructions.
Type a name for the agent.
Write the instructions.
Set the access and the triggers.
Click Create agent. The agent turns on.

An agent that you create manually gets the Viewer role in the project, so it can only read records. To let the agent change records:

Give the agent the Editor role.
Set Tables and records to Edit.

See The project role of an agent.

What the setup chat can change

The setup chat changes only the draft. It cannot read or change your records. It sets these items:

The name of the agent and its job.
The tables the agent works with.
Whether the agent can change records, and whether it can use the web.
When the agent runs: on a schedule, when a record changes in a table, or only when asked.
Where the agent shares its results: in the chat, by email to you, or in a Slack channel.

Set everything else in the agent settings, for example files, channels and skills.

Only the person who started the draft can use its setup chat.

When you click Finish setting up, NocoDB applies the draft to the agent settings and opens them at Tools & access. The settings title is Set up your agent, and the footer shows a Draft tag.

NocoDB applies the draft like this:

Draft item	Result in the settings
Job	The instructions. NocoDB adds the names of the tables that the agent works with.
Runs on a schedule	A schedule trigger, in your time zone.
Runs when a record changes	Two triggers on the table: When record created and When record updated.
Reads and changes records	The agent gets the Editor role in the project. Otherwise it gets the Viewer role.
Uses the web	Web access stays on only when the draft asked for it.
Shares	The results setting. An email goes to you.

Check each section of the settings.
Click Turn on agent in the footer. The agent turns on, and its triggers start to fire.

The agent settings at Tools & access with the Draft tag and Turn on agent in the footer

The Turn on agent button is not available until the agent has a name and instructions. The footer hint says what is missing.

If you close the settings before you turn the agent on, the agent stays a draft. The setup chat then shows Review everything in Settings, then turn it on. To continue, click Open setup.

Discard a draft

In the footer of the settings, click Discard. NocoDB asks Discard this draft?
Confirm. NocoDB moves the draft and its setup chat to the project trash.

Ask NocoAI to create an agent

NocoAI can create an agent for you from the chat.

Open the project.
Open the NocoAI chat.
Describe the agent: its job, the tables it works with, when it runs and where it sends results.
If NocoAI asks you to approve, review the card.
Approve the card.

NocoAI creates the agent and turns it on. There is no draft step.

NocoAI asks you to approve first when the agent runs on its own, is a coding agent, or gets more than read access.

NocoAI sets these items:

Item	Detail
Name and description	The description shows in the sidebar.
Instructions	NocoAI names the tables and fields that the agent works with.
Starter prompts	Up to 4 suggested questions on the agent home page.
Access	Record changes, documents and web access. An agent that changes records gets the Editor role.
Triggers	Up to 5 triggers: a schedule, or a record that is created, updated or deleted in a table.
Results	The chat, an email to you, or a Slack channel.
Kind	A general agent or a coding agent. Add the repositories of a coding agent after NocoAI creates it.

NocoAI can also change an existing agent. Ask NocoAI to:

Rename the agent.
Change its instructions.
Widen or narrow its access.
Turn the agent on or off.

NocoAI asks you to approve before it changes instructions, widens access or turns an agent on.

Good to know

The Free plan has no agents. To create agents, upgrade to a paid plan.
A draft is not turned on. Its triggers do not fire, and people cannot chat with it. Only its setup chat works.