# Autopilot and the AI assistant

> Connect your own AI key, let Autopilot draft newsletters from your sources, and use Ask AI to query and act on your channel with confirmation.

Source: https://sendbroadcast.net/university/email-marketing/autopilot-and-ask-ai

Broadcast has two AI features, and both use your own AI provider key. **Autopilot** writes newsletter drafts from your sources on a schedule. **Ask AI** is an assistant in the dashboard that answers questions about your channel and can act on it. In this lesson you set up both and learn the guard rails that keep you in control.

## Step 1: Add your AI key

Broadcast does not include an AI service. You bring your own key, so you control the model and the cost.

1. Go to **Application → AI Settings**.
2. Choose a **Provider**: Anthropic (Claude), OpenAI or OpenRouter.
3. Paste your **API key**. It is stored encrypted and never shown again.
4. Pick a **Model**, or leave the provider default.
5. Click **Save AI settings**.

![The AI Settings page with Provider, API key and Model fields and a Save AI settings button](https://sendbroadcast.net/assets/docs/ask-ai/ask-ai-settings-922397ba.png)

AI Settings, under Application.

The key applies to the whole installation, and Ask AI becomes available in every channel. Autopilot writes newsletters through OpenRouter. If your installation's provider is OpenRouter, an autopilot can use these settings. Otherwise, give the autopilot its own OpenRouter key in its settings. A separate key also lets you bill one newsletter on its own.

## Autopilot: drafts from your sources

Autopilot collects content from sources you choose and writes newsletter drafts from it. It is for the newsletter that summarizes what happened: posts on your blog, releases of your product, activity in a repository.

To create one:

1. Open **Autopilot** in the sidebar and click **New Autopilot**.
2. Give it a **Name** that says what it produces, such as "Weekly product digest".
3. Optionally tick **Target Segments**. Leave it blank to target the whole channel.
4. Add **content sources**: RSS feeds, GitHub repositories, webpages or a Releases API endpoint.
5. Set the schedule: daily, weekly, biweekly or monthly, at a time in your time zone.

![The Content Sources page listing an RSS feed, a GitHub repository and a webpage, each with a priority and Test and Edit buttons](https://sendbroadcast.net/assets/docs/autopilot/autopilot-sources-083225d1.png)

An autopilot with three sources. Test checks that a source can be read.

A channel can run as many autopilots as you like, each with its own sources, tone, schedule and segments. A weekly digest for everyone and a monthly roundup for one segment run side by side.

## Teach it your voice

The difference between a generic draft and one that sounds like you is in three settings:

- **Tone Description**: describe the style plainly. "Friendly, short sentences, no jargon."
- **Content Instructions**: tell it what to prioritize and what to skip. "Lead with new features. Skip minor bug fixes."
- **Tone Samples**: 1 to 3 examples of your own writing. **Import from Broadcast** turns emails you already sent into samples. This is the fastest way to teach your voice.

**Copies to Generate** asks for 1 to 5 variations per run. More copies give more choice and use more tokens.

![The Add Tone Sample dialog with Import from Broadcast, Import from URL and Write a sample manually](https://sendbroadcast.net/assets/docs/autopilot/autopilot-tone-sample-chooser-822a6832.png)

Import from Broadcast is the fastest route.

## Review, then send

Click **Run Now** to test the setup at once. Each run fetches the sources, analyzes them, and generates the copies. Then it waits for you.

1. **Fetch sources**
2. **Analyze them**
3. **Generate copies**
4. **You pick one** Create Broadcast from This Copy

Every run stops at you. An autopilot never sends anything on its own.

Compare the copies, each on its own tab. The run details show the tokens used and an estimated price. When you pick one, click **Create Broadcast from This Copy**. Broadcast creates a draft broadcast with the autopilot's target segments as the audience. Edit it, send a test, then send or schedule it.

![A run in review with Copy 1, Copy 2 and Copy 3 tabs, a draft with a Create Broadcast from This Copy button, and run details with tokens used and estimated cost](https://sendbroadcast.net/assets/docs/autopilot/autopilot-run-review-746ba020.png)

Each copy has its own tab. Run Details shows the tokens used and the estimated cost.

An autopilot never sends anything on its own. That is by design: a person reads every email before it reaches your list.

There is a second trigger mode. Set **Trigger** to **When a product update ships**, and the autopilot checks your release sources on a schedule and drafts an announcement only when a new version appears. A check with nothing new makes no AI call, so it costs nothing.

## Ask AI: questions and actions

Click the **Ask AI** tab on the right edge of any dashboard page. The drawer stays open as you move around the app.

Ask questions in plain language: "How did last week's broadcast do?", "How many subscribers would match people who clicked in the last 30 days?", "Are there any recent errors?". Read-only lookups run at once, from live channel data.

Ask it to do something, such as draft a re-engagement broadcast, create a segment, tag subscribers or enroll people in a sequence, and it works differently. It proposes the action, shows a summary of exactly what will happen, and waits. Nothing runs until you click **Confirm**.

![The Ask AI drawer with a request to send a sale broadcast and an amber confirmation card with Confirm and Cancel buttons](https://sendbroadcast.net/assets/docs/ask-ai/ask-ai-write-confirmation-3a724497.png)

Nothing runs until you click Confirm.

Warning

Read the confirmation summary before you approve a **send** or **schedule**. Those deliver real email to real subscribers and cannot be undone once sent.

Ask AI can make mistakes. Check anything important against the dashboard.

## Every AI action is logged

Every lookup and action Ask AI performs is recorded under the channel's **Settings → AI Activity**: when it ran, whose conversation triggered it, whether it read or wrote, and who approved it. Use the **Writes only** filter to see what changed data. Each user is limited to 15 messages a minute and 200 an hour by default, which keeps costs predictable.

![The AI Activity table listing each action with its time, user, read or write label, status and who confirmed it](https://sendbroadcast.net/assets/docs/ask-ai/ask-ai-activity-audit-07a45fb4.png)

AI Activity. The Confirmed by column shows who approved each write.

See [Autopilot](/docs/autopilot) and [Ask AI](/docs/ask-ai).

## What you learned

- Both features use your own key, set once under **Application → AI Settings**.
- Autopilot drafts newsletters from your sources, in your voice, on a schedule.
- An autopilot never sends. You create the broadcast from the copy you pick.
- Ask AI reads at once, but every change waits for your **Confirm** and is logged.

## Quiz
1. Does an autopilot ever send a newsletter on its own?
   - Yes, on its schedule
   - Yes, but only in product update mode
   - No, drafts always wait for your review (correct)
   In both trigger modes, an autopilot never sends anything on its own. You create the broadcast from a copy.
2. You ask Ask AI to send a broadcast. What happens next?
   - It proposes the action and waits for you to click Confirm (correct)
   - It sends at once
   - It refuses, Ask AI is read-only
   - It schedules it for the next morning
   Any action that changes data requires your explicit confirmation before it runs.
3. Where do you set the AI provider key for the whole installation?
   - Settings → Sender Details
   - Application → AI Settings (correct)
   - Each broadcast's Settings tab
   The provider and key go under Application → AI Settings, once for the whole installation.