MeshWorks v1.2.4 - The AI & Operations Expansion

MeshWorks v1.2.4 — The AI & Operations Expansion

We are proud to release MeshWorks v1.2.4, our most ambitious update yet. This release is built around three pillars: AI integration at every level of the platform, complete procurement and inventory operations, and precision improvements that make the core experience faster and more reliable.

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AI Agent Framework

MeshWorks now ships a full External AI Agent Integration Framework — the infrastructure that allows AI systems (your own Claude, GPT, or custom agent) to securely interact with your MeshWorks data.

How it works:
- Generate scoped API tokens per organization under Admin → AI Settings → Agent Tokens
- Three permission levels: Read Only (query data), Suggest (propose changes for human approval), and Auto Execute (execute approved actions directly)
- All auto-execute actions flow through a Confirmation Queue — every proposed change is logged, reviewable, and auditable before it takes effect
- Token names, prefixes, last-used timestamps, and expiry dates are all visible in the UI

This is the foundation for the next generation of AI-powered manufacturing automation.

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AI Provider Settings & Token Wallet

You now have two ways to power the AI features in MeshWorks:

Bring Your Own Key
- Connect your own OpenAI or Anthropic API key in Admin → AI Settings
- Choose your preferred model (e.g., GPT-4o, Claude 3.5 Sonnet)
- Your key is stored encrypted server-side; only the last 4 characters are shown in the UI

Platform-Managed Token Wallet
- Starter, Pro, and Enterprise plans include 1,000,000 tokens per month
- Tokens are consumed across all AI features and reset on your billing date
- Purchase top-up token packages if you need more
- Full usage ledger available in the AI settings panel

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Six Purpose-Built AI Assistants

BOM Intelligence Advisor
A dedicated AI analysis panel for your BOM. It reads your full bill of materials and surfaces:
- Cost reduction opportunities (alternative suppliers, material substitutions)
- Risk flags (single-sourced critical parts, long lead times)
- Make-vs-buy recommendations based on your production setup
- Supplier diversification suggestions

AI BOM Assistant
A contextual AI help panel embedded directly in the BOM table. Select any row, ask a question, and get an instant answer. Useful for part research, compliance checks, and engineering queries without leaving the BOM view.

AI Quote Narrative
Automatically generates professional cover letters and executive summaries for your sales quotes. Draws on the project scope, line items, customer data, and your company profile to produce polished, on-brand text in seconds.

AI Quote Completion
Detects incomplete line items in your quote and intelligently suggests missing values: quantities, lead times, unit pricing, and descriptions — based on your historical data and real-world market context.

AI Procurement Advisor
Analyzes your open purchase requests and recommends optimal sourcing strategies. Identifies consolidation opportunities, flags over-budget items, and suggests preferred suppliers based on past performance.

AI Production Scheduler
A conversational scheduling assistant. Describe your priorities, deadlines, and machine constraints in plain language. The AI generates an optimized production schedule and explains the trade-offs.

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MeshCoPilot & AI Onboarding Coach

MeshCoPilot lives in the Quick Access Drawer (the slide-out panel). It is a persistent AI chat assistant that knows your current project, BOM, and organization context. Ask it anything — from "what is my most expensive supplier this month" to "help me write a procurement policy".

The AI Onboarding Coach guides new users and organizations through the platform setup step by step, answering questions and suggesting next actions as they go.

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Onboarding Checklist

New organizations now see an interactive onboarding checklist with a visual progress widget. It tracks key milestones:

1. Complete your company profile
2. Invite your first team member
3. Create your first project
4. Import or add your first BOM
5. Configure your first production route
6. Send your first sales quote
7. Create your first purchase order

Steps are automatically marked complete as you use the platform. Dismiss the checklist at any time once you are set up.

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Quote Expiry & Follow-Up Automation

Quotes that expire without a response are a common source of lost business. MeshWorks now handles this automatically:

- Set a follow-up window (e.g., 3 days before expiry) in your quotation settings
- The platform sends a professional follow-up email to the customer automatically
- Customers can use a one-click extend link in the email to request more time
- Customers can also opt out of follow-up emails
- All follow-up activity is logged per quote

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Purchase Orders

The full Purchase Order module is now live under the Procurement menu:

- Create POs against suppliers with line items, quantities, unit costs, and delivery dates
- PO lifecycle: Draft → Issued → Partially Received → Fully Received → Cancelled
- Link PO lines directly to BOM items for full traceability
- Receive goods against a PO to automatically update inventory stock levels
- PO history and audit trail per supplier

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Inventory Management

The new Inventory module gives you real-time stock visibility:

- Track stock levels, reorder points, and minimum stock quantities per part
- Automated low-stock alerts when stock falls below the reorder threshold
- Full movement history: receipts, issues, adjustments, and returns
- Stock is automatically updated when PO goods are received
- Filter by category, location, or stock status

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RFQ Lifecycle Management

Requests for Quotation now have a complete lifecycle workflow:

- Create an RFQ from a BOM selection or from scratch
- Send to one or multiple suppliers simultaneously
- Track supplier responses: pending, submitted, declined
- Compare all supplier responses side by side
- Award the RFQ to the winning supplier — automatically creates a draft PO
- Full audit trail from RFQ creation to PO award

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BOM Saved Views

Power users with complex BOMs often need different views for different contexts. Saved Views let you:

- Save a named combination of active filters, visible columns, and sort order
- Instantly switch between views with one click
- Create role-specific views (e.g., "Purchasing — RPSC parts only", "Engineering — full BOM with weights")
- Views are saved per project and visible to all team members

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Advanced Quote Template Styling

The Quote Template Designer now offers full visual control:

- Grand Total block — custom background color, text color, and style variant (solid, gradient, outlined)
- Section headers — banner background color and text color per section
- Body text color — global override for all line item text
- Alternating row colors — toggle and customize odd/even row shading for readability
- Grand total label — customize the text (e.g., "Total Investment", "Project Total")

All changes preview live in the template designer.

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Classification Engine Overhaul

The BOM part classification engine has been significantly improved:

- Rule priority reordering — Standard rules (RPSC prefix, material code, fastener keywords) now fire before the generic "has manufacturing operations" fallback. Previously, any part with a route set was classified as Non-Standard before more specific rules could fire.
- Field name aliases — Rules using CSV column names like "PART NUMBER", "Descrição", or "MATERIAL" now correctly map to internal fields. No more silent rule failures due to column name mismatches.
- Pipe-separated multi-value matching — Keyword rules with values like "PERNO|perno|bolt|screw" now correctly check each keyword independently instead of matching the literal pipe-delimited string.
- Route operations correctness — Parts with `route_type = supplier_order` and empty `route_operations` are no longer mis-classified as fabricated. Only parts with actual manufacturing operation steps trigger the operations-based rule.

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Sticky BOM Header — Restored

The sticky column header in the BOM table was broken after a recent UI update. The outer wrapper had `overflow: hidden` which prevents CSS `sticky` positioning from working relative to the page scroll. Fixed by switching to `overflow: clip`, which clips visually for the border-radius effect but does not create a scroll container.

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Email Signature Redesign

Organization email signatures have been rebuilt with updated MeshWorks branding:
- New logo placement and proportions
- Cleaner typographic layout
- Improved rendering across email clients
- Better dark mode compatibility

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What Is Next

The next release will focus on deeper customer portal intelligence, expanded AI agent capabilities, and the first version of the automated production order generation from BOM + schedule.

Thank you for building with MeshWorks.