# Formstep Docs — Using AI chat

# Using AI chat overview

AI chat builds and edits forms, translates them and answers questions about your submissions. It runs on AI credits, which you buy in packs on any plan.

## What AI chat does

Open it from **Ask anything** in the bottom-right corner and say what you need. It can build a form from a description, a PDF or a screenshot, change a form as you talk, translate it, and answer questions about your submissions. Before it publishes, deletes or cancels anything, it asks you to approve.

![AI chat floating over the bottom-right of the editor, with starter prompt suggestions, the message input, and the remaining AI credits above it.](https://formstep.io/docs/images/building-forms/ai-chat-panel.png)

AI chat, floating over the editor.

## What it costs

AI chat runs on credits that you buy in packs, on any plan. Credits never expire. If you would rather use your own AI tool, such as Claude or ChatGPT, [connect it to Formstep](https://formstep.io/docs/guides/ai-agents/connect/): that uses no Formstep credits.

## Pages in this section

- [Use AI chat](https://formstep.io/docs/ai/using-ai/) — Build a form from a prompt, a PDF or a screenshot, edit and translate it, ask about your answers, and let AI chat do workspace tasks.

- [AI credits & usage](https://formstep.io/docs/ai/ai-credits-usage/) — How AI credits work, what an AI action costs, and how to buy more.

# Use AI chat

Build a form from a prompt, a PDF or a screenshot, edit and translate it, ask about your answers, and let AI chat do workspace tasks. It asks before it publishes or deletes.

## Open AI chat

Click **Ask anything** in the bottom-right corner, or press `⌘`+`A` / `Ctrl`+`A`. The chat floats over the page and stays open while you work, and its suggestions follow the page you are on. Say what you need in a sentence. If you are not sure yet, try _“Help me create a form”_ and AI asks questions until it has what it needs. AI chat needs a signed-in account and runs on [AI credits](https://formstep.io/docs/ai/ai-credits-usage/).

> **Reply language and chat history**
>
> AI replies in your dashboard language; ask for another, such as _“reply in French”_. **New chat** clears the conversation for good, and **Minimize** hides it and keeps it.

## Build a form

Describe the form: who it is for, what it should collect, and anything special such as a payment, a file upload or a question that appears only after a certain answer. AI builds the pages, questions, validation and logic, in a new form or in the one you have open. A detailed first message gets you a closer first draft, for example:

> __
>
> _Job application for a senior backend role. Ask for name, email, country, years of experience, a GitHub link and a CV upload (required). Ask if they need visa sponsorship, and if yes, ask a follow-up question._

### From a PDF or a screenshot

Attach a paper form, a PDF or a screenshot to your message, and AI builds matching questions. You can attach up to 5 files per message: JPEG, PNG or WebP up to 3 MB, GIF or PDF up to 1 MB. For a long or dense PDF, switch to Claude Sonnet 4.6 first.

## Change a form

Keep chatting to change the result, or edit it by hand between messages. AI sees the form as it is now. For example: _“Add a phone number after email”_, _“Make question 3 required”_, or _“Split this into two pages”_.

To have AI check answers while people fill in the form, add an [AI Validation](https://formstep.io/docs/building-forms/ai-validation/) block (Pro).

## Translate

In **Translate**, AI fills in missing translations, updates outdated ones and polishes them, in one language or several. See [Translating form content](https://formstep.io/docs/building-forms/translating-form-content/). AI can also [translate a submission](https://formstep.io/docs/submissions-analytics/translating-submissions/) into your language.

## Ask about your answers

On the Submissions tab, ask about your responses, or pick a suggestion such as **Give me the headline** or **Find trends and outliers**.

## Workspace tasks

AI chat can also create forms and folders, publish forms, send and follow requests, and set up share links.

## AI asks first

Before AI publishes, unpublishes or deletes something, changes a share link, or cancels a request, it shows the action with **Approve** and **Deny**, and does nothing until you approve.

## Choosing a model

Pick a model with the model button under the message box; it applies to the current chat. Claude Haiku 4.5, the default, builds and edits forms well. Claude Sonnet 4.6 is better for questions about your answers, harder tasks and dense PDFs, and costs three times as much.

## Your own AI tool

You can also work with Formstep from your own AI tool, such as Claude or ChatGPT. That uses no Formstep credits. See [Connect an AI agent](https://formstep.io/docs/guides/ai-agents/connect/).

## Next steps

[AI credits & usage](https://formstep.io/docs/ai/ai-credits-usage/) — What an action costs and how to buy credits

[AI Validation](https://formstep.io/docs/building-forms/ai-validation/) — Have AI check answers while people fill in the form

[Multilingual forms](https://formstep.io/docs/building-forms/translating-form-content/) — Translate a form by hand or with AI

[Connect an AI agent to Formstep](https://formstep.io/docs/guides/ai-agents/connect/) — Work with Formstep from Claude or ChatGPT

# AI credits & usage

How AI credits work, what an AI action costs, and how to buy more. Credits come in one-time packs on any plan, never expire, and belong to each person.

## How credits work

Every AI action uses credits: a chat message, translating a submission, a summary of answers, or an AI Validation check. The more text and files AI reads, the more it uses. 100 credits are worth $1 of AI use, and a typical chat uses about 5. No plan includes credits, and every plan pays the same.

## Credit packs

| Pack | Credits | About |
| - | - | - |
| Starter | 490 | 98 chats |
| Pro | 1,990 | 398 chats |
| Max | 4,990 | 998 chats |

The Pro pack is a credit pack, separate from the Pro plan. Prices are in your currency, before tax.

## Buying credits

Click **Add credits** in the sidebar, pick a pack and pay. Your balance goes up as soon as the payment completes.

To protect against stolen cards, how much you can buy in 24 hours depends on your plan: one Max pack’s worth on Free, three on Pro, ten on Business. On Free and Pro, you wait an hour between packs. In its first 30 days, an account without a paid plan can buy up to $50 in all. For more, email [support](mailto:support@formstep.io).

## What an action costs

A quick question costs about 1 credit, a typical chat 5, and a long task with many steps 25. Translating a submission costs about 1, and an AI summary of answers about 2. An AI Validation check costs under 1 credit for a text answer, and about 1 for a photo or a one-page PDF, plus 0.4 for each further page.

Formstep runs Anthropic’s Claude models inside the EU. Claude Sonnet 4.6 costs three times as much as Claude Haiku 4.5, the default (see [choosing a model](https://formstep.io/docs/ai/using-ai/#models)). Costs follow what the model providers charge, so they can change.

## Your balance

The sidebar and the AI chat show about how many chats you have left, and **Running low** at 100 credits or fewer. Without credits, AI stops and everything else keeps working.

An action needs a few more credits free than it usually costs, because Formstep sets aside the most it could cost and then charges what it used. If your balance is too low, the chat says so.

## Who pays

Credits belong to each person, not to the workspace, and each member buys their own. A form’s [AI Validations](https://formstep.io/docs/building-forms/ai-validation/) always use the workspace owner’s credits.

On Business, the owner can turn on **Share my AI credits with members** in Workspace Settings. Members’ AI use in that workspace then spends the owner’s credits, and stops when they run out until the owner adds more. Sharing ends if the owner leaves Business.

## Your own AI tool

When you use Formstep from your own AI tool, such as Claude or ChatGPT, it spends no Formstep credits. Your AI tool bills you. See [Connect an AI agent](https://formstep.io/docs/guides/ai-agents/connect/).

## Next steps

[Use AI chat](https://formstep.io/docs/ai/using-ai/) — Build, edit, translate and analyze with AI

[Plans & pricing](https://formstep.io/docs/subscription-billing/plans-pricing/) — What each plan is for