The AI cover-note helper lives inside the Send Quote dialog on a quote's detail page, next to the "Add a note (optional)" field. Click "Suggest with AI" and it drafts three short, ready-to-send notes a rep can attach when texting or emailing a quote link to a customer. It only knows what's already on the quote — the customer's first name, your shop's name, the quote number, and that quote's own line items — and it never sends anything on its own. Picking a suggestion just fills the note textarea, which stays fully editable either way, and nothing actually goes out until you click Send in that same dialog.
Getting a suggestion
Open a quote's detail page and click Send Quote to open the send dialog. In the "Add a note (optional)" section, click Suggest with AI — it shows "Thinking…" while it works — and three options appear underneath in a "Pick one to start from" box. Click any one of them and it drops straight into the note field above, replacing whatever was already typed there. That means if you'd started writing your own note first, clicking a suggestion overwrites it rather than adding to it. You can also dismiss the suggestions without picking one, or click Suggest with AI again for a fresh batch. Whatever ends up in the field — AI-drafted, hand-edited, or entirely your own — is the same note used for both channels: it's prepended to whichever of SMS and email you send, and it's meant to stay short since the full quote details live behind the link itself.
What the notes are grounded in
Each suggestion is personalized using only what's already saved on that quote — the customer's first name, your shop's name, the quote number, and what's on the line items. Nothing is made up: you won't see numbers, dates, or claims that aren't actually part of the quote. The note also stays separate from the price and the quote link itself, which show up elsewhere in the message you send, so there's no need for the suggestion to repeat them. If a quote has a lot of line items, a suggestion may not call out every single one by name.
Things to know
- Available on every plan. This isn't part of a premium AI add-on, so there's no plan-tier gate on it specifically. Like every AI feature on SalesThumb, using it still counts against your shop's monthly AI allowance.
- Stub mode: if your shop's environment doesn't have `ANTHROPIC_API_KEY` configured, you'll still see three note options, but they're the same canned examples every time — a generic, friendly greeting using the customer's first name and your shop name, not a real read of the quote — with a small "Stub examples" note underneath telling you so.
- Suggestions overwrite, they don't merge. Clicking a suggestion replaces the note field's current text with whichever one you pick, so save or finish any custom note first if you're just curious what the suggestions look like.
- Nothing shows until you ask for it. The suggestion box only appears after you click "Suggest with AI" — it's not offered automatically when you open the send dialog — and it disappears again if you dismiss it.
- One note, both channels. Whatever is in the field gets prepended to both the SMS and the email version if you're sending the quote both ways at once.
Frequently asked questions
Q: Does clicking a suggestion send the quote or just draft the note?
A: Just the note. Picking a suggestion only fills the note textarea, which stays fully editable — the quote (and the note along with it) only goes out when you click Send in that same dialog.
Q: What does the AI actually use to write the notes?
A: Only facts already saved on that quote — the customer's first name, your shop's name, the quote number, and what's on the line items. It sticks to what's really there and won't make up numbers, dates, or claims that aren't part of the quote.
Q: Does the note include the price or a link to the quote?
A: No. Both are left out on purpose — the price and the link already appear elsewhere in the message you send, so the note itself stays short and personal.
Q: Do I need a specific plan to use this?
A: No. It's available on every plan — it isn't gated behind a plan tier — though like every AI feature, using it does count against your shop's monthly AI allowance.
Q: What if I already started typing my own note and then click Suggest with AI?
A: The suggestion you pick replaces whatever was already in the field rather than adding to it, so it's worth finishing or copying your own draft first if you just want to see what the suggestions look like.
Q: How do I know if I'm seeing real AI-drafted notes or placeholders?
A: If your shop's environment doesn't have ANTHROPIC_API_KEY configured, you'll get the same three generic canned examples every time, with a small "Stub examples" line underneath the suggestions telling you so.