What Base by Zaweba sends to an AI, and what it keeps back
Base by Zaweba sends your AI only the database design and open item, never records unless asked, guards AI SQL, previews changes and lets you undo them.
Putting an AI near your records raises fair questions. What does it see? Could it change or delete something? Where are the keys kept? A database of members, customers or patients deserves clear answers, and Base by Zaweba gives them in the way it is built. The AI features are optional, they use your own account, and they work under rules that keep your data on your PC unless you choose otherwise.
Without a connected account, the AI menu is greyed out and nothing is ever sent.
What is sent
When you use an AI feature, Base sends the database's design. That means the tables, fields, types, rules and relationships, and the names of queries, forms and scripts. It also sends whatever you have open and are asking about: the query, the script or the table.
Records are not sent. The one exception is a tick box called Include sample rows, which sends the first three records of each table to give the AI a feel for the data. It starts off every time, so you have to choose it on purpose, for that request only. For most jobs, from writing a query to suggesting rules, the design alone is enough.
A guard on AI-written SQL
Any SQL an AI suggests passes through a guard before it runs. A single SELECT, which only reads records, runs read-only. A single INSERT, UPDATE or DELETE, which would change records, needs a confirmation shown in red, so you can't approve it without noticing. Anything else is refused outright.
That means an AI can't quietly drop a table, run a batch of statements, or change records behind your back. The worst a misunderstanding can do is show you the wrong results, or ask for a change that you then decline.
Preview and undo
Changes suggested by the AI are previewed before they are made, whether that is a new table, a set of rules or a batch of sample records. And AI > Undo reverses the AI's changes for the session. If you accept something and then think better of it, you can step back.
Base's ordinary protections still apply on top: rules that existing records break are refused, sample records go in all together or not at all, and the daily backups are there as usual.
Your keys
The keys that connect Base to your AI account are encrypted with Windows DPAPI and kept in the shared store that Zaweba apps use. They are tied to your Windows account on that PC.
Choosing a provider
Base works with many providers, including Claude, OpenAI, Gemini, Azure, Mistral, Grok and DeepSeek, as well as local models such as Ollama and a copy and paste route through a chat website. If you want nothing at all to leave your computer, a local model is the natural choice. If you use an online provider, its own terms apply to what you send, which is one more reason Base keeps that to the design unless you decide otherwise.
Thinking about what you hold
Even the design can say something. Table and field names such as "Safeguarding concerns" describe what a database is for. If that matters, choose a local model or keep the AI features switched off for that database.
For most databases, though, sending a list of tables and fields to get a working query is a modest exchange. Base keeps it modest by default and leaves every larger step to you.
