omni-ai-optimizer

Omni AI Optimizer

Optimize your Omni semantic model so Blobby (the Omni Agent) returns accurate, contextual answers.

Tip: Use omni-model-explorer to inspect current AI context before making changes.

Prerequisites

# Verify the Omni CLI is installed — if not, ask the user to install it
# See: https://github.com/exploreomni/cli#readme
command -v omni >/dev/null || echo "ERROR: Omni CLI is not installed."

# Show available profiles and select the appropriate one
omni config show
# If multiple profiles exist, ask the user which to use, then switch:
omni config use <profile-name>

# Confirm the active profile is authenticated and inspect your permissions:
omni whoami whoami

Auth: a profile authenticates with an API key or OAuth. If whoami (or any call) returns 401, hand off — ask the user to run ! omni config login <profile> (OAuth 2.1 browser flow; it blocks ~2 min on the browser). Don't run config login yourself in a headless/CI session (no browser → timeout); on a local interactive machine you may. See the omni-api-conventions rule for profile setup (omni config init --auth oauth) and discovering request-body shapes with --schema.

Requires Modeler or Connection Admin permissions.

Discovering Commands

omni models --help                    # List all model operations
omni models yaml-create --help        # Show flags for writing YAML

Tip: Use -o json to force structured output for programmatic parsing, or -o human for readable tables. The default is auto (human in a TTY, JSON when piped).

Safe Model Write Defaults

• Branch first — never write AI optimization YAML directly to the shared model unless the user explicitly asks for a production change. Create or use a model branch, then pass the branch id to omni models yaml-create.
• Read before writing — inspect the current topic/view YAML before adding ai_context, ai_fields, sample_queries, descriptions, or synonyms. If the requested optimization already exists, report that it is already configured instead of duplicating it.
• Topic requests stay on topics — when the user asks to improve a topic, prefer topic-level ai_context, ai_fields, or sample_queries. Use field-level synonyms only when the request is clearly about alternate names for one specific field.
• Do not add "supporting" synonyms after a complete topic mapping — for requests like "Blobby confuses revenue with order count" or "map these terms correctly", if topic-level ai_context already maps the business terms to the correct fields and includes the needed negative guardrails, stop and report that no duplicate write is needed. Adding field-level synonyms in that case is redundant and increases prompt/token surface.
• Create branches with --name — omni models create-branch <model-id> --name <branch-name> does not accept a JSON --body.

How Blobby Works

Context priority order

Omni assembles the context window in this order:

1. Context and tuning pre-built by Omni Engineering
2. ai_context on the model, topics, and views
3. Topic description
4. Topic name and base_view
5. Prioritized field properties — name (fully qualified, view.field) and field ai_context. Never pruned.
6. Pruned field properties — everything else, dropped in the order below when space runs short.

hidden: true fields are excluded entirely. ai_chat_topics (model-level) controls which topics Blobby can see at all.

Pruning order

When a topic's metadata exceeds its allotment, Omni removes properties lowest priority first, clearing each one from every field before moving to the next:

all_values → sql → sample_values → description → group_label → label → aggregate_type → data_type → synonyms

Two consequences worth internalizing:

• all_values goes first, because the AI can fetch a field's values on demand. synonyms go last, because they do the most work matching user phrasing to fields.
• ai_context is never pruned when Omni assembles context for a specific topic — at any level (model, topic, view, field). If it still doesn't fit, Omni drops whole views from model search, and past that the request fails with an error. Bloated ai_context is not a soft cost — it can starve field metadata and break queries outright. The one exception is topic selection, where view-level ai_context is trimmed first (see the caps table below).

Context is guidance, not instruction

All context is passed to the LLM together, and the LLM decides how to weight it:

• Model-level ai_context does not reliably override topic-level ai_context. Don't design around precedence that isn't guaranteed.
• Instructions may be followed partially or not at all, especially when complex or self-contradictory.
• Behavior is non-deterministic — the same question can pull different context on different runs.

Prefer few, unambiguous, non-conflicting instructions over exhaustive rulebooks. Debug what the AI actually received with the workbook inspector.

Where context applies

Not just Omni Agent — also embedded chat (including topic selection and model search), Workbook Agent query/SQL generation, Dashboard Agent summaries, AI visualization and summary generation, AI filter generation, and the Modeling Agent. A context change affects all of them.

Writing ai_context

Add via the YAML API:

omni models yaml-create <modelId> --body '{
  "fileName": "order_transactions.topic",
  "yaml": "base_view: order_items\nlabel: Order Transactions\nai_context: |\n  Map \"revenue\" → total_revenue. Map \"orders\" → count.\n  Map \"customers\" → unique_users.\n  Status values: complete, pending, cancelled, returned.\n  Only complete orders for revenue unless specified otherwise.",
  "mode": "extension",
  "branchId": "{branchId}",
  "commitMessage": "Add AI context to order transactions topic"
}'

What Makes Good ai_context

Terminology mapping — map business language to field names:

ai_context: |
  "revenue" or "sales" → order_items.total_revenue
  "orders" → order_items.count
  "customers" → users.count or order_items.unique_users
  "AOV" → order_items.average_order_value

Data nuances — explain what isn't obvious from field names:

ai_context: |
  Each row is a line item, not an order. One order has multiple line items.
  total_revenue already excludes returns and cancellations.
  Dates are in UTC.

For "map these terms correctly" or "Blobby confuses X with Y", the fix is a positive mapping in topic-level ai_context — synonyms alone can't arbitrate between two competing measures. If synonyms already exist but the topic context only says what not to use, add the missing positive mapping rather than more synonyms.

Good:

ai_context: |
  "revenue" or "sales" -> order_items.total_revenue
  "order count" or "number of orders" -> order_items.count
  Never use order_items.count when the user asks for revenue.

Avoid stopping at:

measures:
  total_revenue:
    synonyms: [revenue, sales]
  count:
    synonyms: [order count, orders]

Behavioral guidance — direct common patterns:

ai_context: |
  For trends, default to weekly granularity, sort ascending.
  For "top N", sort descending and limit to 10.

Persona prompting — set the analytical perspective:

ai_context: |
  You are the head of finance analyzing customer payment data.
  Default to monetary values in USD with 2 decimal places.

Keeping Context Concise

ai_context is the one property Omni can't reclaim under pressure, so it is the scarcest budget in the model — not the most generous. Verbose entries evict field metadata first and can ultimately fail the request.

• Target 1-2 sentences per ai_context entry. Focus on disambiguation and gotchas, not general explanation.
• Keep labels short and human-readable — avoid redundant qualification (e.g., "Order Total Revenue Amount" → "Total Revenue").
• Rewrite long description values to be direct. If a description restates the field name, remove it.

Model-Level Context

Model-level ai_context carries guidance shared across every topic, and also informs topic selection — useful when Blobby picks the wrong topic rather than the wrong field.

Use it for instance-wide conventions (currency, fiscal calendar, tone, privacy rules) and keep topic-specific mappings on the topic.

There is also a model-level sample_queries parameter for example queries that span the model's topics.

Advanced ai_context Templating

These apply to ai_context at the model, topic, and view levels only.

Personalize with user attributes

{{omni_attributes.<attribute_name>}} is substituted with the current user's attribute value at query time:

ai_context: |
  You are a sales analyst. When someone asks about their team or pipeline,
  always filter by account.segment = {{omni_attributes.segment}}
  and account.region = {{omni_attributes.region}}.

Caveat: Not supported in dimension or measure ai_context — there the value is used verbatim, un-substituted. Field references and filter conditions are also unsupported and raise a validation warning.

Target specific model tiers with omni_llm

Scope instructions to the AI model tier — smartest, standard, or fastest — so expensive reasoning instructions don't burden fast models. Sections use Mustache syntax: {{# ... }} for "when", {{^ ... }} for "when not".

ai_context: |
  This topic focuses on financial transactions.

  {{# omni_llm.smartest }}
  For complex multi-table queries, consider indirect relationships and provide rationale for join path selection.
  {{/ omni_llm.smartest }}

  {{# omni_llm.fastest }}
  Prefer single-table queries when possible.
  {{/ omni_llm.fastest }}

Target specific agents with omni_agent

Scope context to the agent that will read it, so bulky agent-specific content doesn't inflate the window for the others:

• analyze — model search and query generation
• build — topic metadata generation, learn-from-conversation
• simple_summarize — tile/visualization summaries, query metadata

ai_context: |
  {{# omni_agent.build }}
  Modeling conventions: Always define primary keys. Use snake_case for field names.
  {{/ omni_agent.build }}

  {{^ omni_agent.build }}
  Keep queries focused and efficient.
  {{/ omni_agent.build }}

{{ omni_agent.name }} interpolates the reading agent's name.

Reuse blocks with constants

Define constants once and reference them with @{constant_name} across model, topic, view, and sample-query ai_context — the fix for the same tone/privacy/domain paragraph duplicated in a dozen places:

constants:
  tone:
    value: "Keep responses concise and professional."
  privacy_high:
    value: "Never show individual customer names or emails."

ai_context: |
  @{tone} @{privacy_high}

Curating Fields with ai_fields

The real limits

Omni caps how much of the context window model metadata may consume. These caps — not the model's full context window — are what trigger pruning:

Do not optimize against a field count. A lightly annotated field costs ~100 characters; one with a rich description, sample values, and ai_context costs several times that, so the number of fields that fits varies widely. Check the workbook inspector to see the context actually delivered instead of estimating.

Conversation history is budgeted separately — see conversation_prune_length.

Curating

Curate for precision, not just for size: a smaller, well-described field set gives the AI fewer chances to pick the wrong field. Reduce noise for large models:

ai_fields:
  - all_views.*
  - -tag:internal
  - -distribution_centers.*

# Or explicit list
ai_fields:
  - order_items.created_at
  - order_items.total_revenue
  - order_items.count
  - users.name
  - users.state
  - products.category

Same operators as topic fields: wildcard (*), negation (-), tags (tag:).

Tagging is the most maintainable pattern — tag the fields users actually ask about, then curate with a single selector:

ai_fields: [tag:use_for_ai]

Controlling Topic Visibility with ai_chat_topics

ai_chat_topics is a model-level property that controls which topics Blobby can see:

• No ai_chat_topics property (default) — Blobby can query across all topics.
• ai_chat_topics: [] (empty list) — Blobby cannot query any topics. This effectively disables AI chat for the model.
• Explicit list — only the listed topics (or tag matches) are available. Supports all_topics, tag selectors (tag:customer_facing), and negation (-tag:internal, -staging_events).

Check this first — if a topic isn't in ai_chat_topics, no amount of ai_context or ai_fields on it will matter. Use omni-model-builder to modify this property.

Adding sample_queries

Teach Blobby by example. Especially effective for recurring questions and for date-filter patterns Blobby tends to get wrong.

The supported authoring path is through the workbook: build a query that returns the correct answer, then Model > Save as sample query to topic. Check Include in AI context (otherwise it only shows on the topic overview and never reaches the AI), and fill in the optional Prompt and AI context fields.

To write one directly in YAML instead — build the correct query in a workbook, retrieve its structure, then add it to the topic:

sample_queries:
  revenue_by_month:
    prompt: "What month has the highest revenue?"
    ai_context: "Use total_revenue grouped by month, sorted descending, limit 1"
    query:
      base_view: order_items
      fields:
        - order_items.created_at[month]
        - order_items.total_revenue
      topic: order_transactions
      limit: 1
      sorts:
        - field: order_items.total_revenue
          desc: true

Note: When exporting queries from Omni's workbook, you'll get JSON with table, join_paths_from_topic_name, and sorts using column_name/sort_descending. Map these to YAML as follows:

• table → base_view
• join_paths_from_topic_name → topic
• column_name → field, sort_descending → desc
• Workbook JSON includes filters, pivots, limit, column_limit which you can include in YAML (though filter syntax requires consulting the Model YAML API docs directly)

Focus on questions users actually ask — if you don't know which those are, ask the user rather than guessing at plausible-sounding ones.

AI-Specific Topic Extensions

Create a curated topic variant for Blobby using extends:

# ai_order_transactions.topic
extends: [order_items]
label: AI - Order Transactions

fields:
  - order_items.created_at
  - order_items.status
  - order_items.total_revenue
  - order_items.count
  - users.name
  - users.state
  - products.category

ai_context: |
  Curated view of order data for AI analysis.
  [detailed context here]

The extended topic inherits the base topic's joins and filters, so add only what differs: a narrower field set, extra ai_context, or sample_queries (same shape as above).

Improving Field Descriptions

Keep the value list in all_values and the AI-only rule in ai_context — a description that restates either is paying twice for one fact:

dimensions:
  status:
    label: Order Status
    description: Current fulfillment status of the order.
    all_values: [complete, pending, cancelled, returned]
    ai_context: Use 'complete' for revenue calculations.

Enumerating Values for Categorical Fields

For closed-set enums, use all_values so Blobby knows every valid filter value:

dimensions:
  status:
    all_values: [complete, pending, cancelled, returned]
  payment_method:
    all_values: [credit_card, debit_card, bank_transfer, paypal, gift_card]

For open-ended categoricals where a full list isn't practical, use sample_values to give representative examples:

dimensions:
  product_category:
    sample_values: [Electronics, Clothing, Home & Garden, Sports, Books]
  city:
    sample_values: [New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, Phoenix]

Note: all_values is pruned first, so don't count on it surviving in a context-tight topic — put anything load-bearing in ai_context instead.

When the dbt integration is enabled, dbt accepted_values tests are ingested as all_values automatically — check before hand-authoring them.

Adding synonyms

Map alternative names, abbreviations, and domain-specific terminology so Blobby matches user queries to the correct field. Works on both dimensions and measures.

dimensions:
  customer_name:
    synonyms: [client, account, buyer, purchaser]
  order_date:
    synonyms: [purchase date, transaction date, order timestamp]

measures:
  total_revenue:
    synonyms: [sales, income, earnings, gross revenue, top line]
  average_order_value:
    synonyms: [AOV, avg order, basket size]

Synonyms vs ai_context: Use synonyms for field-level name mapping. Use ai_context for topic-level behavioral guidance, data nuances, and multi-field relationships.

When to add them — synonyms earn their place when users genuinely say a word the model doesn't contain (AOV, top line, basket size). They do not earn it by restating the field's label or name, or by reinforcing a mapping topic-level ai_context already makes. Adding synonyms to a field whose disambiguation is already handled on the topic is the most common wasted write in this skill — see Safe Model Write Defaults.

Pruning: synonyms are pruned last, after description and label. So for a field that genuinely needs alternate vocabulary, synonyms are the most durable place to put it — but that survivability is a reason to choose synonyms over a description for that purpose, never a reason to add more of them.

Avoiding Duplication

ai_context and description serve different audiences. description is human-facing (shown in the field picker and docs). ai_context is an AI-only hint. Don't put the same text in both — ai_context should add guidance the description doesn't cover (disambiguation, gotchas, when to use one field over another).

Consolidate shared context at the view level. If multiple fields in a view share the same ai_context (e.g., "all monetary values are in USD"), move it to the view-level ai_context instead of repeating it on each field. Field-level ai_context should be specific to that field.

Shared fact hoisted to the view, description and ai_context each carrying only what the other doesn't:

ai_context: "All monetary values in this view are in USD."

dimensions:
  gross_revenue:
    ai_context: "Revenue before refunds."
    description: "Total revenue before refunds and cancellations are applied."
  net_revenue:
    ai_context: "Revenue after refunds. Use this for profitability analysis."
    description: "Total revenue after refunds and cancellations."

Optimization Checklist

Prioritize high-impact changes. Improve wording without changing semantics.

1. Inspect current state with omni-model-explorer
2. Check model-level ai_chat_topics — ensure the right topics are visible to AI
3. Curate with ai_fields down to the fields users actually ask about, rather than to a field count
4. Write ai_context mapping business terms to fields (keep to 1-2 sentences; it is never pruned)
5. Add synonyms to key dimensions and measures (skip if they duplicate the label)
6. Improve field description and label values
7. Add all_values/sample_values for categorical fields
8. Add sample_queries for top 3-5 questions
9. Remove duplication between ai_context and description; consolidate shared context at view level, and shared blocks into constants
10. Consider extends for AI-specific topic variants
11. Scope tier- or agent-specific instructions with omni_llm / omni_agent rather than paying for them on every request
12. Test iteratively — ask Blobby and refine

Troubleshooting order when Blobby answers wrong: confirm the topic is reachable (ai_chat_topics) → confirm the field is in context (workbook inspector; check it wasn't pruned or excluded by ai_fields/hidden) → then add or sharpen ai_context. Writing more context for a field the AI never received fixes nothing.

Docs Reference

• Optimize models for Omni AI
• ai_context reference: model · topic · view
• Topic parameters: ai_fields · sample_queries · extends · all topic parameters
• Model parameters: ai_chat_topics · constants · sample_queries · query_all_views_and_fields · conversation_prune_length
• Synonyms · User attributes · Workbook inspector
• Model YAML API · Omni AI Overview · AI data security

Related Skills

• omni-model-explorer — inspect existing AI context
• omni-model-builder — modify views and topics
• omni-query — test queries to verify Blobby's output