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

# Ask Koala AI

> Query your cloud costs in plain language and get answers with charts and totals

Ask Koala AI is the fastest way to answer a cost question. Type it in plain language on the **Chat** page and get back an answer with the **charts and totals** to match — in seconds, no query writing required.

## What you can ask

Questions about cost and usage across your clouds — for example:

* "What was our daily spend last month? Show it as a bar chart."
* "Top 5 services by cost this quarter, by provider."
* "How much did the `payments` application cost in June?"
* "Which regions grew the most month over month?"

## How it answers

Koala's chat is an agent that turns your question into a real query and runs it:

<Steps>
  <Step title="Understand">
    It classifies your intent and pulls out the **time window** and **dimensions** you asked about.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Ask if unclear">
    If a question is ambiguous, it asks a **clarifying question** rather than guessing.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Query and answer">
    It compiles and runs SQL over your ingested data, then formats the result as a readable answer with a chart and totals.
  </Step>
</Steps>

<Note>
  As with insights, **the numbers come from SQL, never from the model** — the AI phrases the answer, the query provides the figures. See [The evidence principle](/finops/how-it-works#the-evidence-principle).
</Note>

You can also ask Koala **what it can do** or **what data it has**, and it will answer from its own capabilities and schema.

## Quick prompts, follow-ups, and memory

* **Quick prompts** get you started with one click — for example *"Show me my top 5 most expensive services,"* *"Show me optimization opportunities this month,"* *"Spend trend for the last 30 days,"* or *"Quick wins."*
* After each answer, Koala suggests **follow-up questions** to keep the thread going.
* A chat remembers its **session context** so you can refer back to earlier turns; **New chat** clears it and starts fresh.

<Note>
  Chat needs an AI provider configured. If none is set — or a plan's token cap is reached — Koala prompts you to set one up in **Settings → AI Providers**. See [The AI engine](/finops/account/ai-engine).
</Note>

## Next steps

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="The AI engine" icon="robot" href="/finops/account/ai-engine">
    Which model powers chat, and the evidence guardrail.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Insights" icon="lightbulb" href="/finops/insights">
    The findings Koala surfaces without being asked.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>