Automation and collection
AI collection tables
Create forms through conversation; respondents submit by speaking, tapping, or taking photos, and data is saved to a workbook automatically.
AI collection tables collect structured data, such as purchase requests from stores or store inspection records. A manager describes what to collect in one sentence and the AI generates a form; respondents open a link and fill it in with natural language, voice, taps, or photos. The AI organizes the input into a record for confirmation, and confirmed records are saved to a workbook, where agents can analyze them directly.
AI collection tables are in Beta. Creating and managing them requires a project owner or project administrator; respondents do not need to join the project.
Entry: “More” → “Collection tables”.
Create a form
Describe what to collect
After creating a collection table, describe the need in the conversation, such as “Help me collect store, product, quantity, and required date”. The AI generates questions, which you can keep adjusting, such as “make the required date mandatory”. You can also attach Excel or CSV as reference material.
Question types include text, number, date, single choice, multiple choice, location, and image, with validation for phone numbers and ID card numbers. Options can reference existing sheets, and the built-in list of prefecture-level cities in China is available.
Choose who can fill it in
| Scope | Description |
|---|---|
| Organization members only | Members of this organization fill it in after signing in, without joining the project |
| Anyone (no sign-in) | Anyone with the link can fill it in |
The scope cannot be changed after publishing.
Test and publish
Click “Test fill” to try the respondent flow; test data is not written to the formal table. When satisfied, click “Publish” and send the copied link to respondents.
Filling in
Respondents open the link and tell the AI what to submit, such as “People's Road store needs 20 boxes of apples, arriving next Monday”. The AI organizes it into a record and points out missing items or invalid formats.
- On mobile, respondents can hold to talk, take photos to recognize receipts, pick locations on a map, and tap choice questions directly.
- The page shows progress. After filling everything in, respondents review the content and click “Confirm submission”; the record is written to the table and a receipt is shown.
- On desktop, questions, progress, and conversation are shown side by side.
Manage collection
- View data: data is written to a workbook. Single choice, multiple choice, and referenced data are saved as queryable tables and relationships, filterable by option. Sheets written by collection are read-only in the workbook.
- Pause, resume, end: while paused, no new submissions start, but ones already started can continue. After ending, no more submissions are accepted, and existing data and drafts are kept; an administrator can reopen it, and the original link keeps working.
- Change a published form: propose changes in the conversation. Changes are saved as a draft first and take effect only after “Confirm and apply”. Submitted answers are kept; when a question type changes, older records are left empty under the new question; respondents who have not submitted must fill in the new version.
Make good use of it
- One collection table covers one kind of record. For example, “a purchase request”: each submission creates one main record. Do not mix unrelated records in one table.
- Prefer choices over free text. Options for stores and products, or references to existing sheets, are more accurate than free input and easier to analyze later.
- Test before publishing. Use “Test fill” to go through the flow as a respondent and check that the prompts are clear.
Private deployment
- To use Tencent Maps for location questions, configure
AT_COLLECTION_TENCENT_MAP_KEYfor the API. - When upgrading from the earlier AI collection, old collection definitions, sessions, and data are not migrated. Back up the data you need before upgrading, clean up old collections and their dedicated workbooks, then recreate them; do not clean up borrowed or shared workbooks.
Common issues
| Symptom | Cause | Action |
|---|---|---|
| A respondent sees that the link is not accessible | The scope is organization members only, and the respondent is not signed in or not a member | Have the respondent sign in as an organization member |
| “Please fill in the latest version again” | A new form version was applied | Click “Fill in the latest version” and start again |
| Collection is paused or ended | An administrator paused or ended collection | Ask the administrator to resume or reopen it |
| Model processing failed | The model returned an error | Retry on the original message; it will not write twice |