Usage
Day-to-day usage of Smart Agents in Business Central — chat interface, templates, and data export
This page covers the daily use of Smart Agents within Business Central, including the chat interface, working with templates, agent delegation, and exporting data.
Opening Smart Agents
There are several ways to access the Smart Agents chat interface:
- Search bar — Type "Smart Agents Chat" in the Business Central search bar
- Navigation menu — Click the Smart Agents icon in the top navigation bar (if configured by your administrator)
- Role Center — Some Role Centers include a Smart Agents tile on the home page
- Context menu — On supported pages (e.g., Customer Card, Item Card), click Ask Smart Agent in the actions menu to open the chat with page context
Chat Interface
Sending a Message
- Select an agent from the Agent dropdown at the top of the chat page. The default "General Assistant" is available to all users
- Type your question or instruction in the text field at the bottom
- Press Enter or click Send
- The agent processes your query and displays a response
Reading Responses
Agent responses may contain:
- Text — Explanations, summaries, and analysis in plain text
- Tables — Tabular data with sortable columns. Click a column header to sort
- Charts — Bar charts, line graphs, or pie charts. Hover over data points for details
- Links — Clickable links to Business Central pages (e.g., a customer card or sales order)
- Follow-up suggestions — Buttons with suggested follow-up questions
Conversation Context
Agents maintain context within a conversation. You can ask follow-up questions that refer to previous responses:
User: Show me the top 5 customers by sales this quarter
Agent: [displays table of top 5 customers]
User: What are the outstanding invoices for the first one?
Agent: [displays invoices for the top customer from the previous result]Starting a New Conversation
Click the New Conversation button (or press Ctrl+Shift+N) to start a fresh conversation. The agent's context resets, and a new conversation appears in the history.
Conversation History
View and manage past conversations:
- Click the History icon on the left side of the chat page
- Browse past conversations by date
- Click a conversation to resume it
- Right-click a conversation for options: Rename, Export, Delete
Working with Templates
Browsing Templates
- Search for "Smart Agents Templates" or navigate to Smart Agents > Templates
- Browse templates by category using the filter bar
- Click a template to view its details:
- Description and use cases
- Required data tables
- Estimated credit cost per query
- Suggested prompts
Activating a Template
- On the template details page, click Activate
- The template agent appears in your chat Agent dropdown immediately
- Select it and start chatting
Template Categories
| Category | Description | Example Templates |
|---|---|---|
| Finance | Financial reporting and analysis | Aged Receivables, Cash Flow Forecast, Trial Balance |
| Sales | Sales pipeline and customer analysis | Pipeline Analyzer, Customer Segmentation, Quote Builder |
| Inventory | Stock management and forecasting | Stock Monitor, Reorder Advisor, Warehouse Utilization |
| Purchasing | Vendor and purchase order management | Vendor Scorecard, PO Tracker, Price Comparison |
| HR | Employee information queries | Directory Lookup, Absence Tracker |
Agent Delegation
When you ask a question that falls outside the current agent's scope, the agent may delegate the query to a more appropriate agent.
For example, if you are chatting with the Financial Reporter agent and ask about inventory levels, the agent may respond:
This question is better suited for the Inventory Tracker agent.
I'm handing off your query now.
[Inventory Tracker]: Current stock levels for your top 10 items...Delegation happens automatically based on agent data scopes. The conversation continues seamlessly in the same chat window.
Delegation Settings
Administrators can configure delegation behavior:
- Search for "Smart Agents Settings"
- Under Delegation, configure:
- Auto-delegate — Enable or disable automatic delegation
- Delegation prompt — Whether the user is asked before delegation occurs
- Delegation rules — Explicit mappings from one agent to another
Using Agents with Page Context
When you open Smart Agents from a specific Business Central page, the agent receives context about the current record.
Supported Pages
| Page | Context Provided |
|---|---|
| Customer Card | Customer number, name, balance, credit limit, payment terms |
| Vendor Card | Vendor number, name, balance, payment terms |
| Item Card | Item number, description, inventory, unit cost, unit price |
| Sales Order | Order number, customer, order date, total amount, status |
| Purchase Order | Order number, vendor, order date, total amount, status |
Example
From the Customer Card for customer "Contoso Ltd":
- Click Actions > Ask Smart Agent
- The chat opens with the pre-filled prompt: "Tell me about customer 10000 (Contoso Ltd)"
- The agent already has context about the customer's key data
- Ask follow-up questions like "Show recent invoices" or "What is their payment history?"
Exporting Data
Export a Conversation
Export a conversation as a PDF for record-keeping:
- Open the conversation in the chat history
- Click Actions > Export as PDF
- Select a save location and click Save
Export Response Data
Export tabular data from an agent response:
- When a response contains a table, click the Export icon in the table header
- Choose the format: Excel (.xlsx) or CSV (.csv)
- The file downloads to your browser's default download location
Keyboard Shortcuts
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| Enter | Send message |
| Shift+Enter | New line in message |
| Ctrl+Shift+N | New conversation |
| Ctrl+Shift+H | Toggle conversation history |
| Esc | Close the chat interface |
| Up Arrow | Recall previous message (in empty input field) |
Tips for Effective Queries
- Be specific — "Show sales orders over $5,000 from Q1 2026" yields better results than "Show me sales"
- Specify the time period — Agents default to the current fiscal year unless you specify a date range
- Ask for the format you want — "Show as a bar chart" or "Give me a table with columns for..." helps the agent format its response
- Use follow-ups — Build on previous responses rather than repeating context
- Check the agent — Make sure you have the right agent selected for your question type