AI features
Ops Copilot
The Ops Copilot is a conversational AI assistant built into Fosterling. It knows your animals, your team's preferences, and your org's history — and it can take actions in your records, not just answer questions.
Opening the copilot
Click the chat bubble in the bottom-right corner of any page. The copilot opens as a slide-over panel and is available everywhere in the app. It stays open as you navigate between pages.
What the copilot can do
The copilot can both answer questions and take actions. Actions are confirmed in the chat before anything is written to your records.
Find information
- "Which dogs have been available for more than 30 days?"
- "Does Marigold have any upcoming vet appointments?"
- "Who are our active fosters right now?"
- "Are there any open volunteer shifts this weekend?"
Update records
- "Log a note for Scout: vet cleared her for adoption"
- "Update Max's status to Available"
- "Log Scout's weight as 4.2 kg"
- "Add a medical note: Biscuit received his rabies vaccine today"
Create records
- "Create an intake for a 2-year-old tabby cat found on Oak Street"
- "Search for a contact named Jamie Torres"
- "Log a foster check-in for Pepper's placement"
Schedule
- "Find open volunteer shifts for dog walking next week"
- "Schedule Maria for the Saturday morning dog walk shift"
Ask anything
- "What's our live release rate this month?"
- "Remind me — what are our adoption requirements?"
- "What does the sanctuary flag do?"
Context awareness
The copilot knows what page you're on. If you're viewing Marigold's record and ask "log a note," it knows you mean Marigold — no need to name her. If you're on the dashboard and ask the same question, it'll ask which animal you mean.
Navigate to the animal's record first when you want the copilot to act on that specific animal. It's faster than typing the name.
Memory — what the copilot remembers
The copilot has shared, persistent memory for your whole org. Anything it learns is remembered for future conversations by any team member — not just the person who told it.
It remembers things automatically when you state them:
- Team preferences ("We always require home visits for dogs")
- Animal-specific facts ("Marigold needs BID meds — morning and evening")
- Workflow rules ("Transport runs go out every Tuesday")
- Role information ("Carlos handles all our TNR outreach")
It also saves information when you explicitly ask: "Remember that we don't adopt to apartments without a yard for large dogs."
Teaching the copilot your style
For AI-generated content like bios and social posts, the copilot learns your rescue's voice through the Teach the copilot button that appears after any AI-drafted content. Click it to give feedback:
- "We always end bios with a call to action"
- "Keep captions under 150 characters"
- "We prefer 'fur family' over 'pet owners'"
These preferences are saved per content type (bios, social posts, reminders) and applied automatically on the next generation.
Agentic actions — the copilot writes to your records
When the copilot takes an action that writes to a record (logging a note, updating a status, creating an intake), it always confirms what it did immediately after:
You: "Log a note for Scout — vet cleared her for adoption"
Copilot: Done — logged a note for Scout: "Vet cleared for adoption." Her record is updated.
If the copilot isn't sure which animal you mean, it'll ask rather than guess. If it can't complete an action (e.g., the animal doesn't exist), it tells you and suggests what to do next.
Asking the copilot to create an intake
- 1Open the copilot and describe the animal: "Create an intake for a 3-year-old male beagle mix found near downtown, tan and white, no microchip."
- 2The copilot creates a draft intake record and confirms the details.
- 3Go to the animal's record to add photos and any additional fields the copilot couldn't fill from your description.
Access by role
All team members can use the Ops Copilot, but what it can do is limited by your role:
- Admins & Coordinators — full access: read, write, create records, update statuses
- Vets — can log medical notes and read animal records via the copilot
- Volunteers — can check shift schedules and ask general questions; cannot write to animal records
- Does the copilot remember things between sessions?
- Yes — memory persists indefinitely. If you told the copilot something last month, it still knows it. There's no spoken 'forget' command, though — to remove something, open the Brain icon in the copilot panel, find it under "What I remember," and click the trash icon next to it.
- Can the copilot see donor or financial information?
- No. The copilot has access to operational data: animals, medical records, fosters, contacts, and shifts. It can't read inventory stock levels either — it'll point you to the Inventory page for that. It does not have access to donation records, financial history, or billing information.
- What if the copilot does something wrong?
- Go to the affected record and correct it directly. The copilot's writes are normal record edits — they show up in the activity log attributed to you (since you directed them) and can be edited or deleted like any other change.
- Is there a history of my copilot conversations?
- Yes — the copilot keeps one rolling conversation thread that reloads automatically every time you open it. It stays that way until you clear it yourself: open the Brain icon → trash icon → Clear chat history.
- Can I use the copilot on my phone?
- Yes — the copilot chat works on mobile. The Fosterling app is responsive, and the copilot panel adapts to smaller screens.