Set up Pioneer AI

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This page shows how to choose where Pioneer AI gets its answers, how to limit what it can cost in a month, how long conversations are kept, and, on the MSP plan, which clients get Pioneer AI. When you finish, the people on your team who hold ai:use can work with Pioneer AI from the source you chose.

Pioneer AI chat is on by default with Outpost Cloud AI as the source, so on most Outposts it already works before anyone visits this page.

Before you begin

You need the ai:manage permission, which the owner holds. Anyone with ai:use can open Settings > AI and read the settings, but cannot change them. See Roles and permissions.
To use your own endpoint, have its base URL, its API style (OpenAI-compatible or Anthropic), an API key if it needs one, the exact model name, and the model’s context window.
On an Outpost hosted by Outpost, your own endpoint must be reachable on the public internet. Addresses on private networks, such as 10.0.0.0/8, 192.168.0.0/16, loopback, and link-local, are refused. A self-hosted Depot or Remote Outpost can use an endpoint on your LAN.

Turn Pioneer AI chat on or off

Go to Settings > AI.
On the Pioneer AI card, turn Pioneer AI chat on or off.
Select Save.

When chat is off, the chat says Pioneer AI is turned off. for everyone.

The Proactive AI features switch beside it lets Outpost use AI without anyone asking, such as the Ask AI step in a workflow. It is off by default, and AI steps take their fallback until it is on. See AI steps in workflows.

Choose how long conversations are kept

Go to Settings > AI.
In Keep conversations for (days), enter a number from 0 to 365. The default is 30.
Select Save.

The period counts from a conversation’s last message. 0 deletes a conversation after a day without activity. A shorter period applies to existing conversations too, so conversations older than the new period are deleted within the hour. See Pioneer AI data and privacy.

Choose automatic approval

Automatic approval on the same card lets a separate AI safety review approve some actions for technicians who opt in. It is off by default. See Turn on automatic approval.

Choose whether read-only shell commands ask

Pioneer AI judges every command it sends to a shell before it runs. See Shell commands. Run read-only shell commands without asking, on the Pioneer AI card, decides what happens to commands that only read, such as hostname or ipconfig:

On, the default: they run at once, and the reply says so with the reason.
Off: they ask for approval like a change.

Commands that change the endpoint always follow the approval rules, whatever this setting says. Select Save after changing it.

Choose web search

Pioneer AI can search the web for current versions, patches, and advisories. It is on by default. See Pioneer AI web search for what a search may contain and what it costs.

Go to Settings > AI.
Turn Web search on or off.
Select Save.

With your own endpoint, Pioneer AI searches only with your own key. Enter a Brave Search API key in Your own search key (optional), under the endpoint fields, and select Save. The key is encrypted and never shown again. When no search is available from your source, the Web search setting says so.

Choose Outpost documentation

Pioneer AI can search and read this documentation site to answer questions about Outpost itself. It is on by default and free. See Pioneer AI and the Outpost documentation.

Go to Settings > AI.
Turn Outpost documentation on or off.
Select Save.

Choose what sub-agents may do

Pioneer AI can hand parts of a large task to sub-agents. Under Sub-agents on Settings > AI, select what they may do, then select Save:

Area	What it allows	Default
Read Outpost data	Looking things up, as Pioneer AI does	On
Research: web search, documentation and memories	Web search, your documentation and knowledge base, and memories	On
Draft scripts	Writing script text in the report, without running it	On
Endpoints, Run and save scripts, Tickets, Software deployment, Policies	Changes in that area, listed under Changes	Off

Changes a sub-agent makes still need approval, the same as Pioneer AI’s own. A sub-agent can never take a high-impact action, whatever you allow.

Set a spending limit per reply

Spending limit per reply (USD) on Settings > AI caps what one reply may cost, including its sub-agents and web searches. The default is 0.50, and the range is $0.01 to $100. When a reply reaches it, Pioneer AI says what it found and what is left, and waits for the technician to continue.

The limit uses the estimated cost of each call. On your own endpoint the estimate needs both prices under Cost and budget, so without them there is no limit.

Give Pioneer AI instructions

Instructions for Pioneer AI and Safety review policy on the same card tell Pioneer AI how your team works and add rules to the automatic approval review. See Give Pioneer AI instructions.

Use Outpost Cloud AI

Outpost Cloud AI is not available on Remote Outpost, and the option is not shown there. The card says This Depot runs offline, so answers come from an endpoint you run.

Go to Settings > AI.
Under Source, select Outpost Cloud AI.
In Default tier, choose Fast, Standard, or Premium. Each option names the model that answers for it. Under the list, the console shows that model, its input and output rates per 1M tokens, and the model it falls back to if it is unavailable.
Optional: in Monthly budget (USD, optional), enter the most you want Outpost Cloud AI to cost in a month, such as 50.00. Leave it blank for no limit.
Select Save.

The card also shows Estimated so far this month. When the month’s estimate reaches the budget, Pioneer AI stops for the rest of the month and the chat shows This month’s Pioneer AI budget has been reached. Raise it in Settings to keep using Pioneer AI. Raising or clearing the budget lets it start again at once.

Outpost Cloud AI is billed by use, at the rates the console shows for each tier. Usage appears as Pioneer AI lines on your Outpost invoice. See Invoices, taxes, and payments.

On Home Lab

Home Lab is not billed for Outpost Cloud AI. Instead, it includes a free monthly allowance. When the month’s allowance is used, the chat shows Your plan’s free Pioneer AI allowance for this month is used up. It resets on followed by the date. The allowance resets on the first day of each month (UTC). To keep working before then, use your own endpoint.

During a free trial

Outpost Cloud AI has a spending limit of its own during a trial. When the trial reaches it, the chat shows This trial has reached its Pioneer AI limit. Activate your subscription to keep using it. See Free trials.

Use your own endpoint

Go to Settings > AI.
Under Source, select Your own endpoint.
In Endpoint URL, enter the base URL including the port, such as http://ollama.example.com:11434/v1. OpenAI-compatible URLs usually end in /v1. Anthropic URLs do not, for example https://api.anthropic.com.
In API style, choose OpenAI-compatible or Anthropic.
In API key, enter the key. Leave it blank if the endpoint needs none.
In Model, enter the model name exactly as the endpoint expects it.
Optional: in Fast model (optional) and Premium model (optional), enter the models for those tiers. A tier with no model of its own uses Model.
Optional: in Vision model (optional), enter a model that can read images. Pioneer AI uses it to read images attached in a conversation and to see the screen when it controls a remote session. Leave it blank to turn both off.
In Default tier, choose the tier Pioneer AI uses.
Under Advanced, set the options in the next section.
Select Save.

The key is encrypted when it is saved and is never shown again. Once a key is saved, the field shows Saved. To keep it, leave the field blank when you save other changes.

If you change the host, port, or scheme of Endpoint URL, or change API style, enter the key again in the same save. Otherwise the save is refused with Changing the endpoint address or API style would send the stored API key somewhere new. Enter the API key again as part of this change.

Usage through your own endpoint is never billed by Outpost.

Advanced options

Option	What to enter
Context window (tokens)	The model’s real context size, such as `131072`, and at least 16,384. Pioneer AI summarizes older messages before a conversation outgrows it. Left blank, it assumes 32,768 tokens.
Reasoning effort	Model default, Low, Medium, or High, for models that take a reasoning effort. Takes effect only with Send the reasoning effort.
Send a prompt cache key	Sends a key for each conversation, so an OpenAI-compatible endpoint can reuse the conversation’s cached prefix. Leave it off if the endpoint rejects unknown fields.
Send the reasoning effort	Sends Reasoning effort with each request. Only for models that take one. Leave it off if the endpoint rejects unknown fields.

The Anthropic API style ignores both send options.

Set budgets for your own endpoint

Outpost does not bill your own endpoint, but it can estimate each call from the prices your provider charges you, and stop Pioneer AI when a budget is reached.

Go to Settings > AI.
Under Cost and budget, enter Input price (USD per 1M tokens) and Output price (USD per 1M tokens). Without both prices, every call is estimated at nothing and no budget can be set.
Optional: in Monthly budget (USD, optional), enter the organization budget, such as 50.00.
Select Save.

The card then shows Estimated so far this month and when the budget resets. Budgets run by calendar month in UTC. When a budget is reached, Pioneer AI stops for the people it covers until the month resets.

To give one person a budget of their own:

Go to Settings > Team.
On the Pioneer AI budgets card, find the person and select Set budget, or Change if they have one.

Under How it relates to the organization budget, choose one:

Option	Effect
Personal cap within the organization budget	Their spend counts toward the organization budget, and they stop at whichever runs out first.
Separate budget, not counted	Their spend does not count toward the organization budget, and the organization budget does not stop them.
Separate budget, still counted	Their spend counts toward the organization budget, so it can stop others, but the organization budget does not stop them.

In Monthly budget (USD), enter the amount, such as 25.00.
Select Save.

The card lists each person’s Spent this month, their Budget, and how many of their requests a budget refused. Use the organization budget removes a personal budget. A person with a budget sees what is left under the message box.

Verify the source

Verify sends one short question to the saved source and shows the answer. It checks what is saved, not what is on the screen, so save first.

On the Verify card, select Verify.
Read the result:
- The endpoint answered., with the reply, the model, and the time it took, means the source works.
- Anything else is a message that says what failed.

The card keeps the last result, such as Last verified with Working or Failed.

Message starts with	What to check
The host name could not be resolved.	The URL for typos, and that the Depot server can resolve the name.
The connection was refused.	The port, and that the AI service is running and listening on it.
The TLS handshake failed.	`http` against `https`, and that the certificate is valid for the host.
The endpoint did not answer in time.	The address, firewalls, and that the model is loaded.
The endpoint rejected the API key	The key and its permissions.
The endpoint returned 404.	The base URL path, the API style, and the model name.
The endpoint is rate limiting requests	Your plan with the provider, or try again shortly.
The endpoint returned a server error	The AI service’s logs.
The endpoint answered, but not in the expected format.	That API style matches the service.
This address is on a private network	Use a publicly reachable endpoint. Shown only on an Outpost hosted by Outpost.

Choose which clients get Pioneer AI

On the MSP plan, the settings on Settings > AI in your practice view apply to every client, and the Pioneer AI card has a Clients list.

Go to Settings > AI.

In Clients, choose one:

Option	Effect
Off for all clients	Pioneer AI is off for every client and for your practice. Per-client overrides are hidden.
Off unless enabled per client	Off for each client until you turn it on for that client.
On unless disabled per client	On for each client until you turn it off for that client. This is the default.

Select Save.

To override the default for one client:

Go to Clients and open the client.
On the AI card, in Pioneer AI, choose Use MSP default, Force off, or Force on.
Select Save.

In effect now shows whether Pioneer AI is on for that client. The AI card is not shown when the policy is Off for all clients. Changing an override needs ai:manage. Anyone who can read the client sees the card read only.

Verify

Open Pioneer AI with Open Pioneer AI in the header.
Send a short question, such as Which of my endpoints are offline?

A reply streams in under Pioneer AI. On the MSP plan, select a client whose setting is off and open Pioneer AI again. It shows Pioneer AI is turned off for this client.

Every change to these settings, to a personal budget, and to a client override is recorded in the audit log. The API key is never recorded.

Next steps

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