# NgageChat

> NgageChat is a conversational AI interface for IFS Cloud ERP. Users type a request in plain English — "show me overdue work orders at site 100", "create a purchase order for 20 bearings from Acme" — and NgageChat finds the right IFS projection, reads or writes the record through the IFS OData REST API, and replies in plain language. It authenticates each user through IFS itself, so every read and write is bounded by that person's existing IFS permissions.

## Key facts

- NgageChat is a conversational AI interface for IFS Cloud ERP, built by EX10 and part of the Ngage Suite.
- It both answers and acts: it queries live IFS data and creates, updates and deletes records, runs IFS bound actions such as release and approve, and calls action imports for wizard-style flows.
- Browser sign-in is per-user: each person authenticates with their own IFS account over OpenID Connect and every IFS call carries that user's access token, so IFS enforces its projection-level permission model. Two other modes — sessions embedded in a host application, and a simpler password-only login — currently reach IFS through a configured connection rather than an individual token.
- Every write is preceded by an on-screen summary of the complete payload and only executes after the user approves it.
- 27 native IFS tools: 6 metadata discovery, 3 API schema, 11 execution, 4 specialised field operations, 3 knowledge and recall.
- It answers "how does IFS work" questions too, via semantic search over official IFS Cloud documentation, returning diagrams and screenshots.
- Integration is through published IFS OData REST APIs only — no database access, no custom entities, no core modifications.
- Knowledge of the IFS data model (projections, entity sets, required fields, enums, list-of-values, endpoint schemas) comes from a curated index NgageChat maintains and keeps current with IFS releases. Customer custom fields are read live from the customer environment via the IFS Solution Manager metadata APIs. Business data is always read live over OData — there is no replica of customer records.
- Every message and tool call is logged with parameters, results, model, timings and errors for audit.
- Deployment: browser and mobile browser, embeddable in another application via signed handoff, self-hosted in your own cloud or managed by EX10. Not a Teams or Slack bot, and not offline-capable.
- Availability: Generally available Summer 2026. Early access is open now.
- IFS, IFS Cloud, IFS.ai and IFS Aurena are trademarks of IFS AB or its affiliates. NgageChat is an independent product built by EX10 and is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by IFS AB.

## Product

- [NgageChat](https://www.ngagechat.ai/): conversational AI for IFS Cloud; what it is and why IFS teams use it
- [IFS Cloud chatbot](https://www.ngagechat.ai/ifs-cloud-chatbot/): the category explained, and what separates the kinds
- [How it works](https://www.ngagechat.ai/platform/): route, discover, resolve, confirm, execute
- [IFS Cloud integration](https://www.ngagechat.ai/ifs-cloud-integration/): the 27 native tools and the OData conventions that make writes succeed
- [Where it runs](https://www.ngagechat.ai/where-it-runs/): browser, mobile, embedded, your own cloud
- [Pricing](https://www.ngagechat.ai/pricing/): per user, not metered per question

## Trust and security

- [Security & permissions](https://www.ngagechat.ai/security/): per-user IFS authentication, confirm-before-write, the audit record schema
- [How IFS Cloud permission sets govern an AI assistant](https://www.ngagechat.ai/learn/ifs-cloud-permissions-and-ai/): How IFS Cloud permission sets govern an AI assistant
- [Can AI safely write to your ERP](https://www.ngagechat.ai/learn/can-ai-take-action-in-ifs/): the five controls that make it defensible
- [What an ERP AI audit trail should contain, and what to test](https://www.ngagechat.ai/learn/erp-ai-audit-trail/): What an ERP AI audit trail should contain, and what to test

## What you can ask

- [Work orders & maintenance](https://www.ngagechat.ai/what-you-can-ask/work-orders/): NgageChat is a work order chatbot for IFS Cloud
- [Purchasing & suppliers](https://www.ngagechat.ai/what-you-can-ask/purchasing/): NgageChat lets you query and update IFS Cloud purchasing data in plain language
- [Customer orders & sales](https://www.ngagechat.ai/what-you-can-ask/customer-orders/): NgageChat answers customer order questions from live IFS Cloud data and can enter and amend orders conversationally
- [Inventory & stock](https://www.ngagechat.ai/what-you-can-ask/inventory/): NgageChat answers IFS Cloud inventory questions in plain language: on-hand balance by part, site, warehouse, location or lot; available-to-promise; movement history; and shortages against demand
- [Manufacturing & shop orders](https://www.ngagechat.ai/what-you-can-ask/shop-orders/): NgageChat gives IFS Cloud manufacturing teams a conversational way to check and update shop orders
- [Projects & finance](https://www.ngagechat.ai/what-you-can-ask/projects-finance/): NgageChat answers IFS Cloud finance and project questions conversationally — supplier invoice status, project cost against budget, expense sheets awaiting approval, cost element breakdowns and period balances — reading live from IFS
- [HSE & field reporting](https://www.ngagechat.ai/what-you-can-ask/hse-reporting/): NgageChat lets field and site teams report HSE incidents, near misses and meter readings into IFS Cloud by describing what happened, from a phone
- [IFS how-to answers](https://www.ngagechat.ai/what-you-can-ask/ifs-documentation/): NgageChat can answer how IFS Cloud works, not only what your data contains

## Use cases by industry

- [Maintenance & EAM](https://www.ngagechat.ai/use-cases/maintenance-eam/): Maintenance work that gets recorded, because recording it is easy
- [Manufacturing](https://www.ngagechat.ai/use-cases/manufacturing/): The supervisor is next to the machine, not the screen
- [Field service](https://www.ngagechat.ai/use-cases/field-service/): IFS in a technician’s pocket, without teaching them IFS
- [Supply chain](https://www.ngagechat.ai/use-cases/supply-chain/): Stock cover, late POs and order status — just ask
- [Energy & utilities](https://www.ngagechat.ai/use-cases/energy-utilities/): Regulated assets, distributed crews, one way to ask
- [Aerospace & defence](https://www.ngagechat.ai/use-cases/aerospace-defence/): Conversational access, without loosening a single control
- [Construction & engineering](https://www.ngagechat.ai/use-cases/construction-engineering/): Project truth, from the site rather than the site office
- [Finance teams](https://www.ngagechat.ai/use-cases/finance/): Fewer report requests, because people can just ask

## Guides

- [What is conversational AI for IFS Cloud?](https://www.ngagechat.ai/learn/what-is-conversational-ai-for-ifs/): Conversational AI for IFS Cloud is software that lets a person use IFS by typing or speaking plain language instead of navigating screens
- [Does IFS Cloud have a chatbot?](https://www.ngagechat.ai/learn/does-ifs-have-a-chatbot/): Yes — IFS Cloud includes IFS.ai Copilot, an assistant panel that answers questions grounded in IFS documentation, first released in the 24R1 release
- [How natural-language queries reach IFS Cloud data](https://www.ngagechat.ai/learn/natural-language-query-ifs-cloud/): A natural-language query against IFS Cloud is translated into an OData REST request in four steps: find the projection that owns the data, read that entity’s real field definitions, build a $filter/$select/$expand query validated against those fields, then execute it with the signed-in user’s IFS access token so permissions are enforced by IFS.
- [Can AI safely take action in your ERP?](https://www.ngagechat.ai/learn/can-ai-take-action-in-ifs/): AI can write to an ERP safely when five controls are in place: it acts as the signed-in user rather than a service account, it shows the exact payload before committing, permissions are enforced by the ERP itself, concurrent changes are detected, and every step is logged
- [How IFS Cloud permissions govern an AI assistant](https://www.ngagechat.ai/learn/ifs-cloud-permissions-and-ai/): IFS Cloud enforces access at the projection level through permission sets, granting each projection none, read-only, custom or full access
- [What an ERP AI audit trail should contain](https://www.ngagechat.ai/learn/erp-ai-audit-trail/): An ERP AI audit trail should let you reconstruct any action end to end: who asked, in what words, which tools ran with which parameters, what the ERP returned, which model was involved, and what changed
- [Documentation questions vs live-data questions](https://www.ngagechat.ai/learn/ifs-documentation-vs-live-data/): Questions about IFS split into two kinds
- [How to use AI with IFS ERP: a practical starting point](https://www.ngagechat.ai/learn/how-to-use-ai-with-ifs-erp/): The practical way to use AI with IFS ERP is to start where the friction is highest and the risk is lowest: let people ask questions of live IFS data before letting anything write to it

## The Ngage Suite

- [Ngage Suite](https://www.ngagesuite.com): the AI-native product set for IFS Cloud, by EX10
- [NgageFlow](https://www.ngageflow.com): agentic AI workflows for IFS — unattended, event-driven automation
- [NgageEase](https://www.ngageease.com): no-code AI forms for IFS — mobile and offline-first capture
- [NgageCode](https://www.ngagecode.ai): AI app builder for IFS — durable custom apps, forms and reports
- [NgageConsult](https://www.ngageconsult.com): AI co-pilot for IFS implementation — documentation and API knowledge
- [EX10](https://www.ex10global.com): the boutique IFS consultancy behind the Ngage Suite

## Optional

- [FAQ](https://www.ngagechat.ai/faq/): direct answers, including the objections buyers raise
- [About](https://www.ngagechat.ai/about/): why EX10 built NgageChat, and our position on IFS
- [Contact](https://www.ngagechat.ai/contact/): book a demo on your own IFS environment
- [Full reference](https://www.ngagechat.ai/llms-full.txt): expanded capabilities, IFS integration detail and complete FAQ