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AI

Cobblr uses AI for a few assists, but only if you turn it on with your own provider. Nothing is sent anywhere until you connect one.

What AI helps with​

  • Identifying what you scan. For a photo with no barcode, AI reads the image. For a barcode, Cobblr looks the code up in public product databases first, and pulls in AI to name it when the databases don't recognize the code or come back with only a bare listing. Either way you get a name to confirm.
  • Drafting a bundle from a plain-language description of what you want to track.
  • Chatting with Cobb, the assistant, to create or update records by describing them. Cobb proposes the change and you confirm it before anything is written.
  • Smaller assists around the app.

With no AI connected, these features work in a simpler mode rather than disappearing, and the rest of Cobblr works exactly the same:

  • Scanning still captures items into the inbox and still resolves barcodes from the product databases. What you lose is the smart part: reading a photo that has no barcode, and fleshing out a bare listing.
  • Bundle building still works from a description. Cobblr compiles a prompt you copy into your own ChatGPT or Claude, then paste the result back for the kernel to validate. It just isn't automatic the way a connected provider makes it. Starting from the ready-made catalog is always there too.
  • Cobb the assistant drops to a basic mode that answers matched simple phrases, which you can add to per workspace, instead of creating and updating records for you.

Bring your own provider​

AI runs on a provider you connect, using your own key or your own server:

  • A hosted provider like OpenAI or Anthropic, with your API key.
  • A local model you already run, by pointing Cobblr at your own Ollama or any OpenAI-compatible v1 endpoint (LM Studio, vLLM, llama.cpp, and the like). This is how you use whatever model you run somewhere else, and nothing leaves your network.

A self-hosted Cobblr ships no built-in AI service, so there's no shared quota and no cost you didn't sign up for. Connect one (for a workspace, or as a personal connection you grant to the workspaces you choose) and the AI features light up.

Turning it off entirely​

On a self-hosted install, an operator can disable all built-in AI with one switch, COBBLR_AI_ENABLED=false, no matter what keys are set. That's the hard floor for an instance that should never make an AI call.

Privacy​

When AI is on, the content it needs (a photo, a description) goes to the provider you chose, not to Cobblr. With no provider connected, nothing leaves the box. See Self-hosting -> Privacy.