CarSignalOpen Shop Brain from the sidebar for the full-page chat, or press Cmd+K (Ctrl+K on Windows) anywhere in the app for the quick floating panel — same brain, same conversation, two ways in. Shop Brain reads your live shop data, so answers come from what is actually on your board, not generic advice.
What you can ask
About your shop, right now
- "What's on the floor today?"
- "Which quotes are still waiting on customers?"
- "What's on the schedule tomorrow?"
About any customer or vehicle
- "What have we done for Sarah Chen?"
- "When was the Hendersons' Odyssey last in?"
- "Does anyone owe us money?" (admins)
Answers link straight to the record, so the vehicle, invoice, or customer it mentions is one click away.
About your text threads
- "Did John reply to our text?"
- "Any new messages today?"
- "Show me the thread with Sarah"
How-to questions
- "How do I set up texting?"
- "How do quotes and approvals work?"
It answers from these help docs and links the page, so you get the current, accurate steps.
It does the work too
Tell it what you need, in your own words:
- "Add a 2023 BMW M5" (year, make, and model is all it needs; a customer or VIN can be attached later)
- "Create a vehicle for plate 8ABC123" (it decodes the plate or a VIN into full specs, same as the Add Vehicle form)
- "Add 3 days storage at $150 a day on the Prius" (charges are money, not repairs — flat or per-unit, with the note the customer sees)
- "Check in the Silverado, 84,210 miles"
- "Start repair on the Camry's brakes" / "The Honda's done"
- "Price the oil change" (the estimate agent builds it with real fitment parts and book labor; Shop Brain waits for it to finish and hands you the priced total with a link to review and send)
- "Quote the brake job to the customer" then "send it"
- "What's on that quote?" then "take 10% off" or "make the oil change $89" (draft quotes only; once a quote is sent the numbers are frozen)
- "He approved it over the phone" (approves the quote in shop)
- "Move Tuesday's 9am to Thursday at 2"
- "Mark the M3 picked up"
- "Text Sarah that her parts came in" (you approve the exact wording first)
- "Request a $200 deposit on the Tahoe" (the customer gets a pay link preset to that exact amount, on the same invoice)
- "Start an inspection on the M3" / "what did the Civic's inspection find?" / "make me a summer road-trip inspection checklist" (it can start and read inspections and author checklist templates; filling out items and sending to the customer stay with your team)
- "Who should we follow up with?" then "draft it" and "send it" (the follow-up queue, drafts in your shop's voice, sent only on your approval; opt-outs always respected)
- "Any new leads from the receptionist?"
- "Make Acme Fleet tax exempt" (their quotes and invoices calculate zero tax from then on)
- "Delete the Civic" (the preview spells out exactly what gets removed; paid history always stays)
- "Make me a front-brakes template, 2 hours plus pads and rotors" or "make the oil change package $89" (admins; same templates as the Templates page, parts auto-sourced per vehicle on apply)
Booking checks the schedule before it asks: a closed day, the vehicle's tech being off or double-booked, or a day with nobody on duty comes back as a heads-up (with who is free) instead of a booking, and it only books over a conflict if you say so.
Ask for several things in one message ("new customer John Smith, 2016 Audi A5, estimate for front brakes and a water pump") and Shop Brain bundles the whole setup into one card listing every step — a single Confirm runs them all in order. Anything that reaches a customer (sending a quote, invoice, or text) always gets its own separate confirmation.
Once a chat has found a vehicle or customer, it stays in focus: follow-ups like "send it", "add brakes too", or "how much" keep working on that same car without looking it up again. Name a different vehicle and the focus switches.
Every action shows a preview card first — nothing happens until you press Confirm. The same rules that protect you in the app protect you here: work can't start before check-in, unapproved work can't start at all, and cancelling an appointment sends the customer the same notice the Schedule page would.
Chat history
Conversations are saved automatically. The clock icon shows your past chats; pick one to continue it, or start fresh with the plus. Chats are private to you, not shared with the team.
Who sees what
Shop Brain has exactly your permissions, nothing more. Technicians can look up vehicles, run their work, and create jobs, but financial answers, team management, and shop settings stay admin-only — and if your shop restricts techs from customer sends, Shop Brain honors that too.