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Dalfred — AI Agent and AI Assistant for Dolibarr

Dalfred is an AI agent integrated into Dolibarr. It turns your ERP into an intelligent assistant: ask questions, dictate tasks, create documents and explore your data in natural language — without navigating through menus, building complex filters, or training.

The Dalfred widget on the Dolibarr dashboard

Under the hood, Dalfred uses the MCP (Model Context Protocol) to securely query your ERP, and works with your preferred AI provider: Anthropic, OpenAI, Mistral, Google or Ollama (self-hosted).

Why Dalfred?

  • Query your data in plain language — "What was my revenue last quarter?", "List my top 10 customers"
  • Create documents by dictating — A single sentence is enough to create an invoice with lines, totals, and calculations
  • Smart Queries — Save your favourite queries, parametrise them, share them with your team
  • Business memory — Dalfred learns your business context (margins, customer preferences, procedures)
  • PDF attachments — Send a PDF invoice and Dalfred extracts the lines and creates it automatically (v2.13)
  • White-label customisation — For resellers: brand, logo and colours fully customisable
  • Open MCP — The server can also be consumed by external clients (Claude Desktop, Cursor, ChatGPT Desktop, etc.)

Prerequisites

Component Minimum version
Dolibarr 16.0 to 23.x
PHP 8.1 or higher (8.2 and 8.3 supported)
PHP extensions json, curl, mbstring, openssl
Dolibarr module Api (enabled)

You will also need an API key from an AI provider — or a self-hosted Ollama instance (free, your data stays on-premises).

Note: AI API usage costs are billed directly by the provider, independently of the Dalfred licence. With Ollama, usage is entirely free.

Installation

From the DoliStore

  1. Purchase Dalfred on the DoliStore (€299 excl. VAT, one-time purchase, 1 year of updates included)
  2. Download the ZIP archive
  3. Extract the archive into the htdocs/custom/ folder of your Dolibarr installation
  4. The final folder should be htdocs/custom/dalfred/

Activation

  1. Log in to Dolibarr as an administrator
  2. Go to Home → Setup → Modules/Applications
  3. Search for "Dalfred" and click Enable

Once enabled, the floating widget appears in the top bar of every Dolibarr page, and a new Dalfred menu becomes available.

Configuration

Configuration is done through several administration pages, accessible from Dalfred → Setup.

General settings

Dalfred general configuration page

The general configuration page (setup.php) groups the basic settings:

  • Enable MCP server — Enables the built-in MCP server (usable by external clients)
  • Rate limiting — Maximum requests per user per hour (protection against abuse)
  • Log retention — How long the activity log is kept (default: 30 days)
  • Debug mode — Enables detailed logging for diagnostics
  • Threads per user — Maximum number of conversation threads per user

AI configuration

AI provider and model selection

The ai_setup.php page configures the connection to the AI provider:

  1. AI provider — Choose from Anthropic, OpenAI, Mistral, Google (Gemini) or Ollama
  2. Model — Select the model to use (Claude 4 Sonnet, GPT-4o, Mistral Large, Gemini 2.5 Pro, Llama, etc.)
  3. API key — Enter your API key (encrypted at rest in the database)
  4. Custom URL — For Ollama or a custom OpenAI-compatible endpoint
  5. Max tokens — Maximum response size (default: 16,384)
  6. Context window — Tokens kept for conversation history (default: 150,000)
  7. Custom system prompt — Overrides the default prompt (leave empty to use the optimised built-in prompt)

Click Test connection to validate your configuration.

Important: Model choice affects both response quality and cost per request. The most powerful models (Claude Opus, GPT-4) are more expensive but handle complex requests better. For basic lookups, a Haiku or Mistral Small model is more than enough.

MCP tool permissions

Granular permissions per user group

Dalfred can perform actions via MCP tools. The toolkit_permissions.php page provides granular control:

  • Query tools — Reading third parties, invoices, orders, products, payments, etc.
  • Creation tools — Creating quotes, invoices, orders
  • Modification tools — Updates, line additions/deletions, document validation
  • SQL tools — Read-only SQL queries (with whitelisted tables)
  • Content tools — Generating descriptions, emails, translations

For each tool you can define:

  1. Enabled/Disabled globally
  2. Authorised Dolibarr groups — restricts access to specific user groups

Security tip: Only enable the tools you actually need. Restrict modification tools (invoice creation, record edits) to trusted users.

White-label customisation

Customisation: name, logo, colours

The branding.php page allows integrators and resellers to offer Dalfred under their own brand:

  • Assistant name — Replace "Dalfred" with the name of your choice
  • Logo and avatar — Upload your logo and a custom avatar
  • Colours — Primary and accent colours aligned with your brand
  • Description — Text shown on the chat welcome screen
  • Welcome message — The assistant's first message

All visible surfaces (widget, full-screen chat, welcome page) reflect your branding immediately.

Knowledge base (business memory)

Editing a business memory entry

The knowledge.php page lets you enrich Dalfred with your business information:

  • Business facts — "Our target margin is 35% on consulting services"
  • Customer preferences — "Customer Martin prefers 30 days end-of-month invoicing"
  • Procedures — "When invoicing in Belgium, apply 21% VAT"
  • Categories — Organise entries to make retrieval easier
  • Visibility — Private (only you) or shared (whole team)

Dalfred consults its memory automatically before answering, providing increasingly relevant responses over time.

Usage

Two complementary interfaces

Dalfred offers two ways to interact:

The floating widget

Dalfred widget open on an invoice page

A discreet button is added to the Dolibarr top bar. A click opens a compact chat window. The widget knows the current page and adapts its responses accordingly (for example: opening it on an invoice lets you ask questions directly about that document).

The dedicated chat page

Full-screen Dalfred chat interface

For longer sessions, access Dalfred → Chat from the menu. The full-screen interface offers:

  • The complete conversation history in the sidebar
  • Thread management — one thread per topic
  • Access to Smart Queries
  • Access to the business memory

Multi-conversation (threads)

List of Dalfred discussion threads

Each user can maintain several discussion threads in parallel:

  • New conversation — "+" button to start a thread on a new topic
  • Resume — Click an existing thread to resume the conversation with its full context
  • Rename — Give each thread a clear title
  • Delete — Remove threads you no longer need

Each thread keeps its own history and context (handy for handling multiple cases in parallel without mixing contexts).

Smart Queries — your built-in Business Intelligence

Smart Queries are one of Dalfred's most powerful features: turn any question into a saveable, parametrisable, shareable query.

List of saved Smart Queries

Creating a Smart Query

Ask Dalfred a question in the chat. When a SQL query is executed and the result interests you, click Save as Smart Query:

Editing a Smart Query with transparent SQL and parameters

You can then:

  • Rename the query and give it a clear description
  • Define dynamic parameters (start date, end date, customer, sales rep…)
  • Adjust the SQL if needed (the SQL is transparent — you can read and tweak it)
  • Mark the query as shared to make it available to the whole team

Running a Smart Query

Parameter input before execution

Click a Smart Query, fill in the requested parameters, run the execution:

Tabular result — monthly revenue

The result appears in a formatted table with built-in CSV export for Excel or Google Sheets.

Result — sales by product

Typical use cases: monthly sales dashboard, margin report by category, supplier outstanding by due date, top customers by revenue. Once the query is saved, your team can re-run it in one click — no SQL knowledge required.

MCP tools

When Dalfred needs to access your data or perform an action, it uses an MCP tool:

  1. You ask a question or give an instruction
  2. Dalfred identifies the required tool(s) (list, create, modify, calculate)
  3. The tools are executed (query, creation, modification in Dolibarr)
  4. Dalfred presents the result in a readable format — table, summary, or confirmation message

More than 12 built-in MCP tools cover the main Dolibarr entities: third parties, contacts, products, quotes, orders, invoices (customer & supplier), payments, projects, shipments, stocks, etc. And Dalfred automatically discovers APIs exposed by installed third-party modules — added an HR module? Dalfred can query leave records. A fleet module? It can list vehicles.

Note: The available tools depend on the permissions configured by the administrator (see MCP tool permissions).

PDF attachments (v2.13)

Creating an invoice from an attached PDF

Attach a PDF file to a message and ask Dalfred to extract the information:

"Here is the supplier invoice received by email — create the matching invoice in Dolibarr"

Behaviour by provider:

  • Anthropic, Google Gemini, OpenAI (gpt-4o, gpt-4-turbo, gpt-4.1, o1, o3 models) — The PDF is sent natively to the model, which reads the content, OCR and charts
  • Mistral, Ollama, others — Text is extracted server-side (PdfParser) and injected into the prompt

Limits: 10 MB per file, 5 files per message, 50 KB of extracted text for models without native PDF support.

Using MCP from an external client

Dalfred's MCP server can be used from any compatible client:

  • Claude Desktop — Talk to your Dolibarr from the Claude app
  • Cursor / Windsurf — IDEs that can query your ERP while you code
  • ChatGPT Desktop (via custom GPT) — If you prefer the OpenAI ecosystem
  • Any other MCP client — The protocol is open and standardised

To configure an external client, retrieve the MCP server URL and authentication key from the general settings page.

Multi-provider AI

Dalfred works with:

Provider Models Hosting
Anthropic Claude 4 Sonnet, Claude Opus, Claude Haiku Cloud (API)
OpenAI GPT-4o, GPT-4 Turbo, o1, o3 Cloud (API)
Mistral AI Mistral Large, Medium, Small Cloud (API, European servers)
Google Gemini 2.5 Pro, Gemini 2.5 Flash Cloud (API)
Ollama Llama, Mistral, Phi, any open-source model Self-hosted

Maximum privacy: With self-hosted Ollama, no data ever leaves your infrastructure. Ideal for organisations with strict GDPR constraints or data sovereignty requirements.

Security

Permissions

Granular permissions

  • Dolibarr permissions — Each user only accesses the data their Dolibarr permissions allow (same API, same restrictions)
  • API key isolation — Each user has their own Dolibarr API key — no shared accounts
  • Per-group permissions — The administrator decides which tools are available to which user groups

Activity log

Activity log — who did what, when

The activity_log.php page records every interaction with Dalfred:

  • Who — User who issued the request
  • When — Timestamps of the request and the response
  • What — Question asked, MCP tools executed, tokens consumed
  • Cost — Token cost estimation (useful for budget tracking)
  • Errors — Failed requests with error details

Filter by user, by period, by tool type. Export to CSV for analysis.

Additional protections

  • Encryption — AI provider API keys are stored encrypted in the Dolibarr database
  • Rate limiting — Automatic protection against abuse (X requests per hour per user)
  • SQL whitelist — Only authorised tables are accessible via SQL tools (read-only)
  • Anti-spoofing validation — Attachments are validated (a file named .pdf but detected as text/plain is rejected)

Maintenance and diagnostics

The maintenance.php page lets you check the health of your installation:

  • AI connection — Connectivity test with the configured provider
  • MCP server — Verifies the MCP server is functioning
  • PHP extensions — Validates required extensions
  • Permissions — Checks write permissions on directories
  • Knowledge base — Data integrity check

Debug logs

When debug mode is enabled (general settings):

  1. Detailed logs are written to documents/dalfred/logs/
  2. Each interaction generates an entry with the request, response and tools used
  3. API errors are recorded with their code and full message

Common issues

Dalfred does not respond or returns an error

  • Check your API key in the AI configuration
  • Run the connection test from the Maintenance page
  • Verify that your server can reach the provider's API (no firewall blocking)
  • With Ollama: check that the Ollama service is running and the URL is reachable

MCP tools are not working

  • Check that the tools are enabled in Tool permissions
  • Verify the user belongs to an authorised group
  • Inspect the activity log to identify the precise error

Slow responses or timeouts

  • Check server load and internet connection
  • Try a lighter model (Claude Haiku, GPT-4 Mini, Mistral Small)
  • Increase your server's PHP timeout (max_execution_time)

High API costs

  • Inspect the activity log to identify the most active users
  • Lower per-user rate limits
  • Switch to a less expensive model for simple tasks
  • Consider self-hosted Ollama (free after the hardware investment)

Missing icons after update (Bug fixed in v2.13.2) If you see empty squares instead of icons after installing from the DoliStore ZIP, upgrade to 2.13.2 or later.

FAQ

Which AI providers are supported?

Dalfred supports Anthropic (Claude), OpenAI (GPT), Mistral AI, Google (Gemini) and Ollama (self-hosted). You can switch from one provider to another without reinstalling the module.

Is my data sent to the AI provider?

With a cloud provider (Anthropic, OpenAI, Mistral, Google), yes — the data needed to answer your question is transmitted via their API. Consult their respective privacy policies.

With self-hosted Ollama, no data ever leaves your infrastructure. This is the recommended solution for strict GDPR constraints or sensitive data.

Can I use MCP without the chat interface?

Yes. Dalfred's MCP server is usable independently from any MCP client: Claude Desktop, Cursor, Windsurf, or any other client compatible with the standard protocol.

How much does Dalfred cost?

€299 excl. VAT — One-time purchase, 1 year of updates included. No subscription on the module itself. Only AI API costs are added based on your usage (or free with Ollama).

Can Dalfred modify data in Dolibarr?

Yes, if modification tools are enabled in the permissions. The administrator precisely controls which tools are available and to which groups. By default we recommend enabling only query tools, then expanding gradually.

How do I update the module?

  1. Download the new version from the DoliStore
  2. Replace the files in htdocs/custom/dalfred/
  3. Open Dolibarr — the module will detect the update and apply migrations automatically
  4. Check the Maintenance page to verify everything is working

Are Smart Queries shareable?

Yes. When creating a Smart Query, you can mark it as shared to make it available to the whole team. Ideal for standardising business reports (monthly revenue, top customers, supplier outstanding).

Does Dalfred work with Multicompany?

Yes. Each Dolibarr entity can have its own configuration (AI provider, branding, permissions). Data remains strictly isolated between entities.

Where can I find help?