AI Data Assistant (AIDA) #

Starburst’s AI Data Assistant (AIDA) is a conversational analytics assistant. AIDA accepts natural language queries and translates them into SQL, then executes those queries against the data sources configured in your Starburst Galaxy account. AIDA returns results in formats that best suit your query, such as summaries, observations, or grids.

AIDA lets you perform data analysis using natural language. It is designed for business users and decision-makers who want answers from their data without writing SQL, and analysts and data engineers who want to explore data quickly.

Requirements #

To use AIDA, you need:

• Existing data products (curated datasets) that you want to analyze. Consider enriching your data products to improve answers from AIDA. More detailed metadata improves the quality of AIDA’s responses.
• A role with privileges to access a cluster and query the underlying schema of the data product/datasets that you want to analyze.
• A license that includes AIDA. If you cannot access AIDA in your Galaxy account, contact Starburst support.

How AIDA works #

AIDA uses a large language model (LLM) to interpret your question, with the data product you select as context. When you ask AIDA a question, it:

1. Generates and executes SQL. Before producing a final answer, AIDA may return exploratory queries (such as sampling rows with a LIMIT clause) to understand the data, observe the results, and refine its approach. AIDA repeats this pattern as needed, then generates the final query against the data specified in your data product. Depending on the complexity of your question, AIDA might show you the generated SQL for review before running it.
2. Returns an answer. AIDA executes queries against live data and presents results in a readable format (for example, a summary or data grid). Depending on the persona you select, AIDA might return executive or technical summaries, key observations, implementation warnings, or recommended next steps. Responses reflect the current state of your data. AIDA does not cache results.

AIDA uses a chat-style interface that supports follow-up questions, query refinements, and requests for AIDA to explain its reasoning or the SQL it generated. This lets you explore data iteratively, without requiring you to restart the session.

AIDA only queries the datasets exposed by the data product you select. The data product provides the context AIDA needs to generate accurate queries. To analyze data from a different source, switch to a data product that includes it.

Personas #

AIDA supports three personas. Each persona tailors its responses and level of detail to suit different user roles. To view the specific prompt used for each persona, click the rule icon next to the Persona menu.

The following sections describe the executive, analyst, and data engineer personas.

Executive #

Provides high-level summaries tailored to executives and decision-makers.

• Focuses on business insights and trends.
• Omits technical detail unless explicitly requested.
• Presents concise bullet points for quick understanding.

Analyst #

Offers detailed analytical summaries suitable for analysts and data scientists.

• Includes statistical analysis and relationships in the data.
• Adds contextual information and potential implications.
• May include suggestions for further exploration.

Data engineer #

Provides technical summaries tailored to engineers.

• Focuses on structure, data quality, and metadata.
• Includes schema details, cardinality, and patterns.
• Highlights potential data issues or anomalies.

Accessing AIDA #

You can access AIDA in multiple ways.

• A standalone version of AIDA is always accessible from the role selection menu:

  

• You can also access the standalone version of AIDA through a URL. Append /agent to your fully qualified Galaxy domain. For example:

https://domain.galaxy.starburst.io/agent

• AIDA is also embedded within Galaxy. From the Galaxy navigation menu, click AI > AIDA.

• Additionally, you can access AIDA directly from a data product:

1. In the Galaxy navigation menu, click Data > Data products.
2. Select an existing data product.
3. Click the Ask AIDA icon next to the Enrich with AI button.

Using AIDA #

1. In the AIDA UI, select a persona from the Persona menu to control the format and detail level of AIDA’s responses. Click the rule icon next to the Persona menu to review the specific prompt used for that persona.
2. From the Cluster menu, select a cluster. Click the rule icon next to the Cluster menu to see the cluster details.
3. From the Data product menu, select the data product that you want to analyze. Click the View data product link to see the data product’s datasets, overview, or usage examples.
4. Enter a question or prompt for AIDA in the text box. For example, you can:
   • Query specific metrics or trends (“What are our top-selling products?” or “Show me revenue by region”).
   • Explore available data (“What tables do we have?” or “What customer data is available?”).
   • Run specific analyses or create reports.
5. Press Enter or click the send submit button. Double-check all AIDA responses.

Suggested prompts #

AIDA can suggest prompts for you to run. These prompts come from the Description field in any usage examples created for the data product. Click the tips_and_updates Suggestions tab.

Chat history #

Use schedule Chat history to review past AIDA conversations, including the persona active during each session. Chat history shows the steps that AIDA performed, including any tool calls and SQL queries executed during the conversation. AIDA deletes chat sessions after 90 days.

AIDA chat sessions belong to a specific user, not a role. Only the user who initiated the chat session can view its history. The exception is users assigned a role with the Manage Security privilege, who can view all AIDA chat sessions across all users.

Manage chats #

Each conversation appears in the schedule Chat history.

• To pin a chat, hover over it and click the push_pin pin icon. Pinned chats appear at the top of your history list, sorted by most recent activity. Click the icon again to unpin. For more information, see Pinned chats.

• To rename a chat, hover over it and click the more_vert options menu, then select Rename.

• To delete a chat, hover over it and click more_vert options menu, then select Delete.

• Use the search search bar to find previous chats by name.

The following table describes the icons used in the AIDA chat dialog:

Pinned chats #

Pinned chats appear at the top of your chat history. Pin a chat to keep important or ongoing chat sessions easily accessible.

To pin or unpin a session:

• Navigate to the scheduleChat history tab, hover over the chat you want to pin, and click the push_pin pin icon.

• Click the push_pin pin icon again to unpin.

Pinned chats appear above unpinned chats in the chat history. Chats within each group are sorted by most recent activity. When you resume a pinned chat and send a message, it moves to the top of the pinned group.

Deleting a chat session also removes its pin.