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Set up an AI provider

Ask, Notebook AI and the AI helpers in Block Studio and App Studio need a language model. Everything else works without one: notebooks, SQL and DQL queries, blocks, certification, Apps and lineage.

Ask needs a model, even for certified answers

Ask uses the model to understand the question before it looks for a certified block. Without a provider, Ask answers Couldn't run this query and says that no AI model is configured.

Pick a provider

  1. Open Settings → AI provider.
  2. Choose a Provider:
    • Anthropic Claude
    • OpenAI
    • Google Gemini
    • Ollama — local
    • Custom OpenAI-compatible
  3. Under How do you want to connect?, choose one:
    • Subscription: sign in with your existing Claude or ChatGPT plan, with Sign in with Claude or Sign in with ChatGPT. No API key, and nothing billed per token.
    • API key: paste a key, or leave the field empty and set the environment variable instead (for example ANTHROPIC_API_KEY).
    • Local (Ollama): enter the Host, such as http://localhost:11434.
  4. Optional: open Advanced enterprise routing to set a Model.
  5. Click Test, save & activate.

When the test passes, the card at the top reads Active · followed by the provider and model. If the test fails, your previous provider stays active.

Test unsaved values checks the form without saving it.

Run everything on your machine

With Ollama — local, questions and data never leave your network:

  1. Install Ollama and pull a model.
  2. In Settings → AI provider, choose Ollama — local.
  3. Set Host to http://localhost:11434 and, under Advanced enterprise routing, the Model name.
  4. Click Test, save & activate.

Embeddings (optional)

Embeddings, on the same page, decide whether a question can match a metric by meaning or only by shared words.

  • Offline (Default) matches words only. It cannot connect "drinks" to a beverage_revenue metric.
  • Ollama (Local) and OpenAI match by meaning.

After you change it, click Re-index catalog.

Where the settings are stored

Provider settings are saved in .dql/provider-settings.json in your project. The starter project's .gitignore keeps it out of git. Keys are never sent back to the browser.

In Ask

The model is shown, not chosen, in Ask: open Answer settings (the sliders icon under the question box) to see Model and pick how much Thinking to use (Auto, Low, Medium or High).