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AI

Cobblr uses AI for a few assists, but only if you turn it on with your own provider. Nothing is sent anywhere until you connect one.

What AI helps with​

  • Identifying what you scan. For a photo with no barcode, AI reads the image. For a barcode, Cobblr looks the code up in public product databases first, and pulls in AI to name it when the databases don't recognize the code or come back with only a bare listing. Either way you get a name to confirm.
  • Drafting a bundle from a plain-language description of what you want to track.
  • Chatting with Cobb, the assistant. Cobb reads your records to answer, and proposes changes (create, update, delete, run an action) that you confirm before anything is written.
  • Smaller assists around the app.

With no AI connected, these features work in a simpler mode rather than disappearing, and the rest of Cobblr works exactly the same:

  • Scanning still captures items into the inbox and still resolves barcodes from the product databases. What you lose is the smart part: reading a photo that has no barcode, and fleshing out a bare listing.
  • Bundle building still works from a description. Cobblr compiles a prompt you copy into your own ChatGPT or Claude, then paste the result back for the kernel to validate. It just isn't automatic the way a connected provider makes it. Starting from the ready-made catalog is always there too.
  • Cobb the assistant drops to a basic mode that answers matched simple phrases, which you can add to per workspace, instead of creating and updating records for you.

Bring your own provider​

AI runs on a provider you connect, using your own key or your own server:

  • A hosted provider like OpenAI, Anthropic, or OpenRouter, with your API key.
  • A local model you already run, by pointing Cobblr at your own Ollama or any OpenAI-compatible v1 endpoint (LM Studio, vLLM, llama.cpp, and the like). This is how you use whatever model you run somewhere else, and nothing leaves your network.

Cobblr ships no built-in AI service, so there's no shared quota and no cost you didn't sign up for. Connect one (for a workspace, or as a personal connection you grant to the workspaces you choose) and the AI features light up.

Turning AI off for one workspace​

Owners and admins can switch AI off per workspace. On Configuration → AI, turn off Use AI in this workspace and that workspace runs in basic mode: Cobblr makes no AI calls on its behalf, even when a provider is available on the instance. A member who connects their own personal key can still use it there.

The status banner on that page is honest about where AI stands. When AI is on, it says where it comes from: a key the workspace added, or a personal connection shared into it. When you have turned it off but a provider is still connected, the page says AI is there to use and that flipping the switch back on will use it, so "off" reads as a choice rather than a dead end.

Reviewing AI activity​

Every AI call is logged under Configuration → AI, with monthly totals and per-capability rows for calls, spend, and failures. Opening a call shows the prompt and the response as labelled, readable sections, with chat turns broken out and any image the call carried shown; the raw JSON stays one click away. When a provider does not report token counts, the log says "tokens not reported" instead of showing a zero it never claimed.

Turning it off entirely​

On a self-hosted install, an operator can disable all built-in AI with one switch, COBBLR_AI_ENABLED=false, no matter what keys are set. That's the hard floor for an instance that should never make an AI call.

Privacy​

When AI is on, the content it needs (a photo, a description) goes to the provider you chose, not to Cobblr. With no provider connected, nothing leaves the box. See Self-hosting -> Privacy.