Overview
What the Telflo AI assistant does and how to use it.
The AI assistant is a chat panel docked at the right edge of the editor. It can plan a pipeline from a description, generate or modify the configuration on the canvas, test the result, and answer OpenTelemetry questions.
Open the assistant
Select the AI button in the editor toolbar. The assistant opens as a docked panel; the navigation menu and the editor's right panel collapse to icon rails to make room, and expand again when you hide the assistant with the AI button or the panel's close control. The panel is resizable by its left edge, keeps the chat while you work on the canvas beside it, and reopens at its last size on your next editor visit.
The AI button appears when AI is enabled for your account. Enabling AI requires the Enable AI Features setting and, depending on your account, access granted by Telflo. See AI access.
What you can ask
Create a configuration:
- "Create a pipeline that receives OTLP and exports to two backends."
- "Build a Kubernetes monitoring setup with metrics and logs."
Modify the current configuration:
- "Add a batch processor to the traces pipeline."
- "Change the OTLP exporter endpoint to
otel.example.com:4317."
Ask a question:
- "What is the difference between OTLP and OTLP/HTTP?"
- "How does tail sampling work?"
How it works with the canvas
The assistant reads and edits the configuration you are working on, and consults reference material as it works.
| Tool | Action |
|---|---|
| Read current YAML | Reads the current configuration, so answers and edits are based on what you have. |
| Update YAML | Applies a change to the configuration. The canvas and the YAML update to match. |
| Validate YAML | Validates generated configuration before it is applied. |
| Reference lookup | Consults curated OpenTelemetry reference documentation for components, OTTL, and naming conventions. The chat shows a progress line while a reference is consulted. |
| Semantic conventions | Queries a pinned release of the OpenTelemetry semantic-conventions registry for attribute, span, and metric names, in Build and Ask modes. |
| OTTL syntax check | Checks OTTL expressions against the collector's grammar before they are used. |
| Run a pipeline test | Runs the configuration in the testing sandbox against a sample and evaluates assertions on the output, in Build mode. Up to three runs per request; the runs appear in the test history. |
| Save validation rules | Saves assertions from a test to the pipeline's validation rules, in Build mode. See Validating output. |
| Web search | Looks up current OpenTelemetry information as a fallback, for topics the built-in references do not cover. |
Tool calls appear in the chat as collapsible cards while they run, and update in place when they finish. Expand a card to see the request and the response. Tool cards are saved with the conversation.
When the assistant updates the configuration, the change appears on the canvas as if you made it. Review, edit, undo, and save it as usual.
Modes
Select a mode in the composer to direct the assistant: Plan, Build, or Ask. See Modes.
Conversations
Chats are saved, and Telflo generates a title for each one. The conversation list shows your chats from the last 30 days.
Usage and safety
AI usage is metered with tokens. See AI access. Every request and response passes through guardrails.
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