> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.mercora.io/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Copilot

> Ask Mercora about your trades, documents and money in plain words. The Copilot reads what your role can see, and anything it would change waits for your Approve.

The Copilot is the assistant on **Home**. You ask a question in plain words, and it looks up the answer in your workspace: trades, shipments, contracts, invoices, documents, counterparties and more. It can also prepare files for you, such as a spreadsheet export or a Word letter, and propose changes to your records. This page shows you how to ask, point it at records and files, and approve what it proposes.

The Copilot suggests; you decide. Reading never needs a click from you, but anything that would change data or send something outside Mercora stops on a card and waits for your **Approve**.

> [!NOTE]
>
> Available when the **Copilot** module is turned on for your workspace. Ask your workspace admin.

## Who can use it

Each member needs two things:

* The **Copilot** permission on their role (shown as **Use**).
* Permission to see the data they ask about. The Copilot works with your role's access, never more. If your role can't see financials, the Copilot can't read invoices for you either.

If your access changes later, for example a module is turned off or your role is narrowed, chats you started under the wider access are hidden. They come back if the access does. See [Roles and permissions](https://docs.mercora.io/concepts/roles-and-permissions.md).

## Ask a question

**1. Open Home**

Click **Home** in the sidebar. With the Copilot on, the page is titled **Mercora AI**: "Ask about the workflows and records available to your role."

**2. Type your question**

Type into the message box ("Ask about trades, shipments, invoices...") and press **Enter**. Use **Shift + Enter** for a new line. Or click one of the suggested questions, such as "Which invoices are overdue?" or "What's the status of VCS-S-2026-0714?".

**3. Follow the answer as it is written**

The Copilot shows what it is doing while it works. You can leave the page, reload or close the tab: the answer keeps being written and is there when you come back. Only **Stop** ends an answer early.

![Home with the Mercora AI title, overview cards, six suggested questions and the message box](https://mintcdn.com/placeholder-f4ffdeec/22McaegbdDRSI41b/images/copilot/copilot-home.png?fit=max\&auto=format\&n=22McaegbdDRSI41b\&q=85\&s=ec8c9232570c911e66e6a91cf4a5c0b9)

Home with the Copilot on: suggested questions above the message box, which has buttons to attach files, use a skill (/) and mention a record (@).

Good questions name what you want and how far to look, for example:

* "Which trades are currently being shipped?"
* "Which documents failed to process this week?"
* "Show me margin by commodity for open trades as a chart."
* "Draft a reminder to Meridian Foodstuffs about invoice VCS-INV-2026-0731 on VCS-S-2026-0714."

Asked "What's the status of VCS-S-2026-0714?", the Copilot pulls together the trade's stage, its shipment, both contracts, its documents and the money owed each way, and ends with anything worth checking.

![A Copilot answer about trade VCS-S-2026-0714 with its shipment, contracts, documents and a Money table](https://mintcdn.com/placeholder-f4ffdeec/22McaegbdDRSI41b/images/copilot/copilot-answer.png?fit=max\&auto=format\&n=22McaegbdDRSI41b\&q=85\&s=7b4bdbcdba4ef8540fafac6dd3929045)

The answer for Veltana's sugar trade: where it stands, the money on each invoice, and what is worth checking.

When a question covers the whole book, the Copilot says if it only looked at part of it. Links in an answer open the record in Mercora, such as the B/L RCLLCH2607841 or an invoice; a link to a document opens it over the chat.

## Point the Copilot at a record with @

Type **@** in the message box, or click the **@** button, to search for a **trade**, **shipment**, **contract**, **counterparty** or **document**. Pick one, for example the trade VCS-S-2026-0714 or the counterparty Kanchana Siam Sugar, and it becomes a chip in your message, so the Copilot looks up exactly that record instead of searching by name.

You only see the record types your role can view.

## Attach files

Drag files onto the chat, or click the paperclip (**Attach files**). The Copilot reads them for that conversation, for example to compare a supplier's invoice with the contract or to pull the fields out of a certificate.

| Supported | Not supported |
| - | - |
| PDF, Word (.docx), Excel (.xlsx, .xlsm), text (.txt, .csv, .md, .json) and images | Older Office formats (.doc, .xls, .ppt). Save them as .docx, .xlsx or .pdf first. |

Each file can be up to 30 MB. With **Freight Rates** on, you can also attach .xls, .ods and saved emails (.eml) as freight sources. See [Freight rates](https://docs.mercora.io/workflows/freight-rates.md).

> [!TIP]
>
> Attaching a file to the chat doesn't add it to your trade documents. To process a document into the Inbox, upload it instead. See [Uploading documents](https://docs.mercora.io/documents/uploading.md).

## Skills and the / menu

Type **/** in the message box, or click the **/** button (**Use a skill**), to open the skill menu. Skills are saved instructions that teach the Copilot a particular job. The menu lists:

* **Recent**: skills you picked lately.
* **Personal skills**: skills you made for yourself.
* **Workspace skills**: skills your admins made for everyone.
* **System skills**: skills that come with Mercora.
* **Commands**: flows you start, such as **/trade** (capture a deal from a recap you paste, see [Deal capture](https://docs.mercora.io/workflows/deal-capture.md)) and **/feedback** (send a message to the Mercora team).

You don't have to pick a skill: the Copilot uses the right one on its own when your question needs it. **Manage skills** at the bottom of the menu opens the **Skills** page, where you can write your own, or add more from **Explore skills**. Only workspace admins can change workspace skills.

You can also ask the Copilot to turn what a chat just did into a skill ("make this a skill"). It drafts the skill on a card, and nothing is saved until you approve it.

## Files, charts and documents

Ask for the output you need, and the Copilot builds it. You get a link to download the file, and the link only opens for members signed in to your workspace.

| Ask for | You get |
| - | - |
| An export, a list, a reconciliation | An Excel spreadsheet (.xlsx) |
| A letter, memo, summary, or a redline of an attached contract | A Word document (.docx) |
| A deck, a management or lender pack | A PowerPoint deck (.pptx) |
| A printable report, or a copy of an answer | A PDF |
| A breakdown, trend or bridge | An interactive chart in the chat |

Under each answer, **Copy** copies the text and **Save as PDF** makes a PDF of that answer.

With the **Contract drafting** module on, the Copilot can also draft a sales or purchase contract from your firm's own Word templates. See [Draft contracts from your templates](https://docs.mercora.io/records/contracts.md#draft-contracts-from-your-templates).

## Changes wait for your Approve

The Copilot can propose changes to records your role can edit: trades, shipments, contracts, invoices, payments and adjustments. It never makes them on its own. Instead, the answer stops on a review card that shows exactly what will happen, such as the field's value before and after, or the values of a new record.

**1. Read the card**

The card shows the change and waits. Nothing is written yet.

**2. Decide**

* **Approve** runs exactly what the card shows.
* **Edit** lets you change the values first, then **Save and approve**.
* **Reject** writes nothing. You can add a reason.

**3. See the receipt**

The card settles into what happened: **Applied**, **Edited**, **Rejected** or **Not applied** with the reason. The Copilot then writes a short closing line.

When an answer has several waiting cards, decide them one by one, or use **Approve all** or **Reject all**. If you send a new message instead, any card still waiting expires and nothing is changed. If the record changed after the card was prepared, the Copilot treats it as a conflict rather than overwriting it.

The same rule covers anything that leaves Mercora: sending an email or posting in Teams through [Microsoft 365](https://docs.mercora.io/integrations/microsoft-365.md), or changing a freight master workbook (see [Freight rates](https://docs.mercora.io/workflows/freight-rates.md)). Each waits on its own card.

> [!NOTE]
>
> A deal you hand to the Copilot is different: it goes straight into the Inbox as a Deal Capture item, and the review there is the approval. See [Deal capture](https://docs.mercora.io/workflows/deal-capture.md).

## Work on an Inbox item with the Copilot

Some Inbox items have an **Ask Copilot** button, for example a freight change waiting for confirmation. It opens a chat on Home that already knows the item, so you can ask about it or have the Copilot rework it. If you already have a chat about that item, it reopens that one.

## Automations from a chat

If your role can manage automations, each answer also shows **Make this an automation**. The Copilot drafts an automation from what the chat did and shows it on a card with **Review and switch on**, **Edit steps** and **Not now**. Nothing runs until you switch it on. The Copilot can also start an existing automation for you when you agree. See [Automations](https://docs.mercora.io/workflows/automations.md).

## Your chat history

Your chats are saved, and they are the same on every browser and device.

* **Chat history** (the clock button at the top) lists your newest chats. Search them by title, rename one, or delete it.
* **New chat** starts a fresh conversation.
* **Clear all history** removes all of your chats.

Deleting a chat, or clearing your history, removes it for good. Chats are private to you.

## Send feedback

Type **/feedback** followed by your message, or pick **Send feedback** under **Commands** in the / menu. Your words go to the Mercora team as you wrote them, and the Copilot confirms with "Sent to the Mercora team. Thanks."

## The Copilot outside Mercora

You can reach the same Copilot, with the same access, from your phone or from Teams.

> **[WhatsApp](https://docs.mercora.io/integrations/whatsapp.md)**
>
> Link your number and message Mercora. Changes wait for your typed yes.

> **[Microsoft Teams](https://docs.mercora.io/integrations/microsoft-365.md)**
>
> Chat with Mercora in Teams. Changes wait on a card with Approve, Edit and Reject.

On WhatsApp there are no buttons: the Copilot describes the change and runs it only after you reply yes. Charts arrive as images, and answers are kept short for a phone screen.

## Next steps

> **[Deal capture](https://docs.mercora.io/workflows/deal-capture.md)**
>
> Paste a recap with /trade and review the deal in the Inbox.

> **[Automations](https://docs.mercora.io/workflows/automations.md)**
>
> Turn a question you ask every day into a standing instruction.

> **[Walkthrough](https://docs.mercora.io/getting-started/walkthrough.md)**
>
> Follow Veltana's sugar trade from upload to P\&L.


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