AI Collaboration Drawer — Vanio AI Docs

When Vanio AI encounters a situation it cannot handle alone, it opens the Collaboration Drawer — a workspace where you teach it, direct it, or let it handle things its way.

What is the Vanio AI Collaboration Drawer?

The Collaboration Drawer appears at the bottom of any reservation when Vanio AI needs your input. Instead of sending you a vague notification, Vanio AI explains exactly why it needs help and gives you clear options to choose from.

When does it appear?

The drawer opens automatically when Vanio AI encounters:

Missing policy — A guest is asking about something Vanio AI has no policy for (e.g. extra supplies, pet fees, parking rules)
Judgment call — Vanio AI has the facts but needs your strategic decision (e.g. whether to offer a discount or hold firm)
Unknown preference — Vanio AI does not know how you handle a specific situation (e.g. early check-in pricing)
Capability gap — Something requires a human to physically act (e.g. delivering items to the property)

What can you do in the drawer?

Each situation comes with options tailored to the context:

Draft a Policy

Vanio AI pre-fills a policy article based on what it knows. You can:

Edit the title and content directly
Use the Instruct Vanio bar to refine with AI — e.g. "make it firmer" or "add pricing in EUR"
Set the scope (global, property group, or specific listings)
Approve and save as a Knowledge Base article

Once saved, Vanio AI will use this policy for all future guests — it never needs to ask about this topic again.

Defend Mode

When you know a guest will be difficult and a bad review is likely regardless, activate Defend Mode. Vanio AI will handle all remaining communication firmly and politely — sticking to policy, not over-apologizing, and not escalating again. Learn more about Defend Mode →

Specific Action

Give Vanio AI a direct instruction: "Ask the cleaner to bring extra towels" or "Offer a 10% discount." Vanio AI executes your instruction.

Chat About This

Open a conversation with Vanio AI to discuss the situation. Useful when the right approach is not obvious and you want to think through options together.

Multiple actions

You can take multiple actions on the same situation — for example, draft a policy and activate Defend Mode. The drawer stays open until you click Done.

Deactivating Defend Mode

To deactivate Defend Mode, reassign the conversation to a team member from the reservation header.

How it learns

Every decision you make in the drawer teaches Vanio AI. Over time, it learns your preferences — which situations you handle firmly, where you offer goodwill gestures, and when you want to be notified. The goal: fewer interruptions, better autonomous decisions.