Chat Client Apps
Two ways to chat with the AI Crew — the purpose-built Chat2DB screen for data work with Athena, and Element Web for standard team-style conversations with all agents.
Table of Contents
- Two Chat Interfaces, Different Strengths
- Chat2DB — Data-Focused AI Chat
- Element Web — Team Chat for All Agents
Two Chat Interfaces, Different Strengths
ReportBurster gives you two ways to talk to the AI Crew — each designed for a different workflow:
| Interface | Available Agents | Best For |
|---|---|---|
| Chat2DB | Athena only | Data exploration, SQL queries, visualizations, ER diagrams, HTML mockups, code previews |
| Element Web | All AI Crew members | General conversations, project discussions, implementation guidance, mobile access |
Both interfaces connect to the same AI agents with the same persistent memory — switch between them anytime without losing context.
Chat2DB — Data-Focused AI Chat
ReportBurster includes its own Chat2DB screen inside the FlowKraft AI Hub web app — a purpose-built chat interface with capabilities tuned specifically for data exploration and visualization use cases.
Currently, only Athena is available in the Chat2DB screen. This is by design — Athena is the AI Crew member with data modeling, SQL, and business analysis expertise. She is the one who understands your database schemas, writes queries, and generates visual artifacts from your data.
What makes Chat2DB different from a standard chat interface is its rich output rendering. When Athena generates SQL, diagrams, charts, or mockups, Chat2DB renders them inline — you see the actual visualization, not just the code. This turns a conversation into an interactive data exploration session.
Conversational Chat
At its core, Chat2DB is a conversational interface. Ask Athena about your data, your ReportBurster configuration, or your reporting needs — she responds in natural language with context from your database schemas and previous conversations.
Good afternoon! Yes, I'm here — Athena at your service.
I can see you're connected to a Northwind SQLite database (13 tables — Products, Orders, Customers, Employees, etc.).
How can I help you today? I can assist with:
- Data queries — SQL questions, analysis, reports
- ReportBurster — setup, configuration, report bursting/distribution
- Database design — data modeling, schema guidance
- Business analysis — writing PRDs, structuring requirements
What would you like to explore?
SQL & Data Tables
Ask a question in plain English — Athena writes the SQL, ReportBurster executes it against your database, and the results appear as an interactive table right in the chat.
Absolutely! Let me find your top 3 customers by total order value:
SELECT c.CustomerID, c.CompanyName, COUNT(DISTINCT o.OrderID) AS TotalOrders, SUM(od.UnitPrice * od.Quantity * (1 - od.Discount)) AS TotalRevenue FROM Customers c LEFT JOIN Orders o ON c.CustomerID = o.CustomerID LEFT JOIN "Order Details" od ON o.OrderID = od.OrderID GROUP BY c.CustomerID, c.CompanyName ORDER BY TotalRevenue DESC LIMIT 3;
| CustomerID | CompanyName | TotalOrders | TotalRevenue |
|---|---|---|---|
| ALFKI | Alfreds Futterkiste | 2 | 549.3 |
| BERGS | Berglunds snabbköp | 2 | 445.59999999999997 |
| ANATR | Ana Trujillo Emparedados y helados | 2 | 173.5 |
Charts & Visualizations
Ask Athena to visualize your data and she generates charts inline — bar, line, pie, area, and more. The charts render directly in the conversation, making it easy to explore trends and patterns visually.
You make a fair point! A pie chart specifically shows proportional distribution, which can work well even with 3 segments — it highlights market share among the top customers. Let me show you.
Show SQL
SELECT
c.CompanyName,
SUM(od.UnitPrice * od.Quantity * (1 - od.Discount)) AS TotalRevenue
FROM Customers c
LEFT JOIN Orders o ON c.CustomerID = o.CustomerID
LEFT JOIN "Order Details" od ON o.OrderID = od.OrderID
GROUP BY c.CompanyName
ORDER BY TotalRevenue DESC
LIMIT 3;| CompanyName | TotalRevenue |
|---|---|
| Alfreds Futterkiste | 549.3 |
| Berglunds snabbköp | 445.59999999999997 |
| Ana Trujillo Emparedados y helados | 173.5 |
And here's the pie chart:
Revenue Share - Top 3 Customers
To your question: Yes, I can create visualizations. My earlier comment was that a horizontal bar chart doesn't add much value for just 3 rows — you can read the numbers as easily as compare three bars. But a pie chart serves a different purpose: it shows proportional distribution (market share), which is meaningful even with small datasets.
The chart shows each customer's percentage of the total revenue among those top 3.
PlantUML ER Diagrams
Ask Athena to diagram your database schema and she generates PlantUML ER diagrams — entity-relationship diagrams rendered directly in the chat. See your tables, columns, primary keys, and foreign key relationships at a glance.
Here's a simplified ER diagram showing the core Northwind relationships:
This shows the main order processing flow: Customers place Orders (handled by Employees, delivered by Shippers), each containing multiple Order Details lines for various Products organized by Categories.
Ready for your next test! What would you like to try?
Mermaid.js Diagrams
Athena also generates Mermaid.js diagrams for flowcharts, sequence diagrams, and other visual representations. These render live in the chat — no external tools needed.
Here are all three diagrams — the invoice lifecycle state machine, plus the Stripe and PayPal payment flows:
Three diagrams in one view:
- Invoice Lifecycle — state diagram showing Draft → Sent → Paid/Overdue/Cancelled transitions, with a late payment path from Overdue → Paid
- Stripe Payment Flow — sequence diagram: Customer Portal → Backend API → Stripe API (create PaymentIntent, confirm, mark as paid)
- PayPal Payment Flow — sequence diagram: Customer Portal → Backend API → PayPal API (create order, redirect for approval, capture payment)
All rendered with Mermaid.js — click "View Full Screen" to see them at full size.
HTML Mockups & Previews
Ask Athena to design a dashboard layout, a portal page, or any HTML mockup — and Chat2DB renders it as a live preview right in the conversation. This is how the CFO Analytics Dashboard mockup was created — in a single conversation turn.
Key CFO KPIs in this dashboard:
- Financial Health — Total Revenue ($847K) + growth trend, Gross Profit ($292K) + margin (34.5%), Outstanding AR ($128K)
- Operational Performance — Total Orders (1,247), avg. $680/order, Days Sales Outstanding (28 days, below 30-day target)
- Customer & Product Insights — Top Customer: Save-a-lot Markets ($89K), Top Product: Côte de Blaye, Top Region: Germany (23.4%)
- Risk Management — AR Aging buckets ($42K at risk in 60+ days), Revenue by Country (geographic concentration)
The dashboard uses a dark theme with glassmorphism effects — professional, modern, and data-dense for executive decision-making.
Ready for more tests!
Code Snippets
When Athena generates Groovy scripts, SQL stored procedures, or any code artifact, Chat2DB renders them with syntax highlighting and a code preview panel — making it easy to review, copy, and integrate into your project.
Let me check if there's an employee preferences table in your database...
Execution failed on sql:
SELECT pdf_password FROM employee_preferences WHERE employee_id = ? LIMIT 1000;
org.sqlite.SQLiteException: [SQLITE_ERROR] SQL error or missing database (no such table: employee_preferences)
unable to rollback
It looks like the Northwind database doesn't have an employee_preferences table. Let me try a different approach...
Got it! Here's the modified encrypt.groovy script — instead of hardcoding the SSN, it connects to your database and fetches the password from an Employees table at runtime:
Key changes from the original:
- Added database connection — configurable for SQLite, MySQL, PostgreSQL, SQL Server, or Oracle
- Dynamic password lookup — queries the Employees table using the burst token as the employee identifier
- Graceful fallback — skips encryption if no password is found, with optional fallback to burst token
You'll need to customize the database connection settings and column names to match your environment. Want me to walk through any specific part?
Tip: To see Athena's visualization capabilities in action — including ER diagrams, flowcharts, HTML mockups, and dashboards — check out the real AI conversation demos on Athena's page.
Element Web — Team Chat for All Agents
Login credentials: username admin, password admin.
In addition to the custom Chat2DB interface, all AI Crew members are available to chat with inside the Element Web application — a standard Matrix chat client that ReportBurster ships pre-configured and ready to use.
Element Web gives you a familiar, team-style chat experience. Each AI Crew member has a dedicated chat room with persistent, encrypted conversation history. Chat with Athena about data modeling, ask Hephaestus about ETL pipelines, get Hermes's advice on Grails portals — all from the same interface, just like chatting with human team members.
Why Element Web matters:
- All agents, one interface — Chat with Athena, Hephaestus, Hermes, Pythia, and Apollo from the same app. No switching between tools.
- Standard chat experience — The same chat interface you would use to talk with human colleagues. Message history, search, notifications, file sharing.
- Mobile access — Element is available on Android and iPhone. This means you can chat with any AI Crew member from your phone. Ask Athena a quick question about your data while away from your desk. Get Hephaestus's advice on a cron schedule from the train. Review a portal design with Hermes during lunch.
- Persistent & encrypted — Conversations are stored in your self-hosted Matrix server (Synapse). Your chat history stays on your infrastructure, encrypted end-to-end.
- Pre-configured — ReportBurster ships with Synapse (Matrix server), Element Web (chat client), and all AI Crew agents already connected and ready. No setup required.
Yes, you can ask Athena questions about ReportBurster and about your data from your phone. The same Athena, the same persistent memory, the same expertise — just from your pocket.