Build a Configurator with AI

The five steps

1. 1Describe it. Open Dashboard → Projects and click "Generate with AI", then say what you are selling — for example "a lounge chair configurator with oak, walnut and black frames, and a fabric or leather seat".
2. 2Review and edit the plan. The right-hand Build plan panel fills in as you talk: project name and type, 3D models, materials and finishes, option blocks, rules, pricing, form and store checkout. Every row has a small ✕ — remove anything you do not want, rename the project, or switch the type.
3. 3Attach anything missing. If a model or texture is not in your library yet, use the 3D model / Texture / Graphic buttons under the message box. The upload runs while you keep chatting.
4. 4Build it. Click "Build my configurator". A progress checklist replaces the chat and ticks off each step. It pauses when it needs an answer from you, and again for each change that needs approval.
5. 5Review the draft. When the build finishes it lists what to check next, and "Review draft in editor" takes you straight there — confirm the 3D targeting, adjust variants and pricing, and set up modular snapping if you need it. Carry on by hand, or ask the AI Assistant inside the project.

Before you build: when is the button enabled?

Build my configurator turns on once the plan has the minimum to produce something worth having. When it is off, the reason is written in amber directly above it — you never have to guess. The badge at the top of the panel shows how many things still need fixing.

The panel also shows amber warnings. Those do not stop the build — they tell you about something that will happen and might surprise you:

Editing the plan yourself

You do not have to ask the assistant for everything. In the Build plan panel you can rename the project, switch the type, add or remove a finish, rename an option block, set a base price and currency, add or remove form fields, pick or unlink a store product, and delete a rule. Renaming a block also updates any show/hide rule that refers to it. Your edits win — the assistant is told the current plan is authoritative every turn, so it will not quietly re-add something you removed.

It can look at your actual workspace

While you talk, the assistant can open your real 3D models and read their part names, check which materials and categories you already have, look at your existing projects and templates, read your store connection and its products, and search the official documentation. When it does, the reply says so — a small "Checked your 3D models, the documentation" line underneath it. That is why it can tell you which of your models is closest and what its parts are called, instead of guessing from your description.

Asking it how Simplio3D works

The builder is not only for describing a product — you can ask it how a feature works ("what is the difference between a dropdown and a thumbnail selector?", "how does the Shopify checkout work?"). It searches the real Simplio3D documentation and cites the pages it used underneath its reply, so you can read the source yourself. That is also why it will tell you plainly when something is not supported instead of inventing a setting. It links the page inside its answer, where the sentence actually refers to it.

Every reply also tells you what it just changed in the plan and what is most worth doing next — so you can follow along without reading the whole panel after each message. If a turn genuinely could not change anything, it says why: when it cannot find a 3D model in your library that matches the product, it tells you so and offers an Upload a 3D model button right there in the conversation, rather than attaching an unrelated model to fill the row.

Attaching models, textures and graphics

"I haven't uploaded the model yet" is the most common reason a first build comes out empty, so you can upload without leaving the dialog. Everything you attach lands in your normal Assets library — it is a real asset you can reuse in any other project, not a one-off for this build.

Materials: reused or created

Each finish in the plan is matched against your material library first. A finish with a small green tick is one it recognized and will reuse; the rest are created as new materials in your library, using the colour shown on the swatch.

When a very similar name already exists — you ask for "Walnut" and the library has "Walnut Veneer" — the build stops and asks whether to reuse it or create a second one, instead of silently duplicating your library.

What waits for your approval

Three steps touch money or a live storefront, so none of them apply on their own. Each appears on the progress card as a proposal with Apply and Decline.

Connecting a store first

The Store checkout section reads your connection status when the dialog opens. If Shopify or WooCommerce is already connected you get a product search right in the plan; if not, you get a Connect a store link and can still build a quote form now and connect later.

Modular projects

After the build: developing the draft

The build finishing is the halfway point, not the finish line. The summary lists what to look at first, and there are two ways to carry on — most people use both.

Worth checking first, because these are the parts a description cannot fully specify:

• 3D targeting. Open each option and confirm the highlighted parts in the viewport are the ones you meant — the AI verifies that the part names exist, but only you know which ones a customer should be changing.
• Prices. You approved them during the build, but check them against your real price list once you can see the whole configurator.
• Wording. Block and variant labels are what shoppers read. Rename anything that sounds like a description of a product rather than a choice.
• Preview it. Use Preview mode to click through it exactly as a customer would before you share it.

What it never does

• Publish. The build ends by handing you a draft to review. Share links and embeds are always turned on by you in the Share dialog.
• Connect or disconnect a store. That stays a human-only wizard.
• Delete anything. It only ever creates a new project; your existing projects, materials and assets are untouched.
• Upload files for you. Uploads only happen when you drop a file into the attach tray.
• Invent a 3D model. It works with the models in your library — it cannot generate geometry.

Limits per build

One build stays deliberately small so the plan is reviewable at a glance. Ask for more than this and the plan is trimmed — build the rest in the editor, or run a second build.

If you close the dialog mid-build

Nothing is lost. Every build is listed under Dashboard → AI Workflows, where you can see what it is waiting on, answer its questions, apply or decline its proposals, and pick up a build you started in an earlier session. See AI Workflows.

Troubleshooting