AI Features

Nero Bot Commands

Nero Bot is a universal command system that works across all channels: Slack, WhatsApp, SMS, and Email.

Slash Commands

All commands start with / and work identically on every channel.

/help

Show an overview of all available commands.

/ask <question>

Search the knowledge base with semantic (AI-powered) search. Nero finds the most relevant articles and returns the top 3 results.

Aliases: /search, /kb

/ask how does onboarding work for new customers?

How it works:

  1. Your question is converted to an embedding (OpenAI)
  2. Hybrid search: combination of full-text search (30%) and vector search (70%)
  3. Top 3 results are returned directly

/addknowledge <text>

Add a new knowledge base article as a draft. The first line is used as the title.

Alias: /addkb

/addknowledge Return policy webshop
Customers can return within 30 days. Send return label via email.

How it works:

  1. Article is saved as draft in the knowledge base
  2. Embedding is automatically generated in the background
  3. Review and publish the article in Nero → Knowledge Base

/task <description>

Create a new task in Nero directly. AI triage starts automatically.

/task Customer BeamTracking has billing issue: high priority

How it works:

  1. Task is created with type support and urgency medium
  2. If there's a linked contact, the task is associated with them
  3. AI triage runs automatically (classification, priority, routing)

/status <name>

Look up a contact or company by name and see their status, including open tasks.

/status Jan de Vries

Returns:

  • Contact details (email, phone, lifecycle stage)
  • Number of open tasks per contact
  • Linked companies with industry and website

AI Answers (Natural Language)

Besides slash commands, Nero can also answer natural language questions based on the knowledge base. This works only for internal team members. External contacts do not get this feature.

How it works

Send a regular message (without /) and Nero:

  1. Searches the knowledge base with your question
  2. Sends the relevant articles to the AI engine
  3. Generates a concise, evidence-based answer
  4. Cites the sources used

When is it active?

Channel When AI is active
Slack On @nero mention or if you're an internal team member
WhatsApp If the sender is an internal team member (phone matched)
SMS If the sender is an internal team member (phone matched)
Email If the sender is an internal team member (sender_email matched)

External contacts who send messages are processed normally as inbound messages: no AI answer, no command processing.

Channel-specific details

Slack

  • Trigger: @nero mention in a channel or direct message
  • Response: Nero replies in a thread on your message
  • Mention resolution: <@U12345> is automatically replaced with @Real Name

WhatsApp & SMS

  • Trigger: Send a message to the configured Twilio number
  • Response: Nero sends a reply directly to your number
  • Media: Attachments (images, documents) are stored as media URLs

Email

  • Trigger: Send an email to the configured inbound address
  • Command detection: Nero checks the subject first (if it starts with /), then the first line of the body
  • No auto-reply: To prevent email loops, Nero does not send automatic replies for email commands. The command is still executed.

Internal vs External users

Feature Internal External
Slash commands Yes Yes
AI answers Yes No
Inbound messages Skipped Saved as message + task
Auto-reply Yes (Slack, WhatsApp, SMS) No

How is an internal user recognized?

  • Slack: profiles.slack_id matches the Slack user ID
  • WhatsApp/SMS: profiles.phone or profiles.mobile matches the phone number
  • Email: profiles.sender_email matches the sender address

The user must be a member of the organization to be recognized as internal.

AI Procedures Next: Troubleshooting & FAQ