What AI could do in CiviCRM¶
Fifteen capabilities, who they help and how they could be provided. "Your AI" marks capabilities used by an outside assistant; "In CiviCRM" marks ones where CiviCRM calls a model itself (the two directions).
| # | Capability | Direction | Who it helps most | How it could be provided | Status (Oct 2026) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C1 | A safe connection between an AI assistant and CiviCRM: sign-in, permissions, audit | Your AI | Everyone | An MCP gateway extension (civicrm_mcp is one) | Alpha |
| C2 | Ask questions of your own data | Your AI | Existing users | The gateway's built-in read tools | Alpha (read-only) |
| C3 | Task-specific tools for fundraising, cases, events, volunteers | Both | Existing users | Domain tool packs: separate extensions registering tools with the gateway | One site-specific pack |
| C4 | Make changes, always previewed: log an activity, update a record | Both | Existing users | A shared preview-and-confirm framework that every write tool uses | Planned |
| C5 | Set CiviCRM up by describing what you need: fields, groups, searches, forms, previewed | Both | Small organisations without an administrator | A configuration extension built on C4 | Idea |
| C6 | Starter kits: ready-made configurations for common kinds of organisation, applied by the AI | Both | New organisations | A starter-kit extension, or packaged configurations | Idea |
| C7 | Bring your data in from spreadsheets or another CRM, with the AI mapping fields | Both | New organisations | An import assistant, using CiviCRM's existing import tools | Idea |
| C8 | Search by meaning, not just exact words, across notes and activities | Both | Existing users | A semantic search extension with an external index (MySQL can't hold one) | Idea |
| C9 | Data quality: duplicates, gaps, inconsistencies | Both | Existing users | A data-quality pack using CiviCRM's dedupe rules | Idea |
| C10 | Help before you've installed anything: is CiviCRM right for us, which hosting, how to start | Your AI | New organisations | A knowledge service over CiviCRM's docs and directories, most likely run by civicrm.org; the Core Team's DocBot is the natural start | Partly (DocBot) |
| C11 | Knowing when to call an expert, and pointing to the partner directory | Both | Everyone | A shared convention every tool follows, plus a partner lookup in C10 | Principle |
| C12 | Background work: scheduled or long-running AI tasks | In CiviCRM | Existing users | An external worker, because CiviCRM's request cycle can't run long agent loops | Idea |
| C13 | AI inside CiviCRM's own screens: a chat page, a "summarise" button | In CiviCRM | Staff without their own AI assistant | An in-app assistant extension, using the organisation's own model key and the same tools as C1 | Prototypes |
| C14 | Privacy controls: keep contacts, fields or groups away from AI entirely | Both | Everyone | Data scoping in the tool registry, plus a "safe for AI" marker on fields | Partly (permissions and ACLs today) |
| C15 | One place to set an AI provider, its key and a spending limit | In CiviCRM | Organisations that want C12 or C13 | An AI provider layer extension, eventually core | Prototypes |
Extensions that could provide them¶
| Extension (working name) | Capabilities | Depends on | Exists today? |
|---|---|---|---|
| MCP gateway | C1, C2, C4 framework, C11 convention, C14 | — | Alpha (civicrm_mcp); other MCP servers exist, see related work |
| Fundraising tool pack | C3: donor summaries, lapsed and upgrade lists, pledge follow-up | Gateway | — (Circle Interactive's SearchKit reporting agent is related) |
| Case and programme tool pack | C3: case summaries, caseload, follow-ups | Gateway | One site-specific pack |
| Events and volunteers pack | C3 | Gateway | — |
| Configuration assistant | C5 | Gateway (C4) | — |
| Starter kits | C6 | Configuration assistant | — |
| Import assistant | C7 | Gateway (C4) | — |
| Semantic search | C8 | Gateway, external index | — (Skvare has described a Drupal-side approach) |
| Data-quality assistant | C9 | Gateway | — |
| AI background worker | C12 | Gateway, provider layer | — |
| In-app assistant | C13 | Provider layer; the gateway's tools | Prototypes: JMA's ai-connection, Kurund Jalmi's AI Assistant, Compucorp's CiviAI |
| AI provider layer | C15 | — | Prototypes inside ai-connection and Kurund Jalmi's AI Assistant |
| CiviCRM knowledge service | C10, C11 | — (runs on civicrm.org) | Partly: DocBot |
The gateway's job¶
The MCP gateway is the piece every other AI extension would depend on, so it should stay small and trustworthy. Where civicrm_mcp fits sets out what it takes on and what belongs in other extensions.
Where to start¶
Several capabilities are open for anyone who wants to help: a shared AI provider setting (C15), AI-assisted data quality (C9), a reusable way to keep personal data away from AI (C14), and AI-proposed changes approved by a person (C4). The proposed building blocks suggest an order. Community work so far shows who is already building what.