AI Tutor

Portal: /lms · Desk: Learning workspace

Overview

The AI Training Assistant (AI Tutor) is a floating chat widget on lesson pages in /lms. Learners ask questions about the current lesson; the system calls ask_tutor(lesson_name, question) with lesson content as grounding context, returning concise answers scoped to the material.

Unlike general-purpose chatbots, the tutor system prompt restricts responses to lesson topics and redirects off-topic questions politely—supporting self-paced employee training without waiting for instructor email replies.

Accessing the tutor

1. Open any Course Lesson in /lms while AI enabled (get_ai_enabled true).
2. Click the bot icon button fixed at bottom-right (AI Training Assistant).
3. Panel opens with suggested prompts: e.g., "Summarize key points", "Give me an example."
4. Type a question and press Enter or click send.

Component: AITutor.vue mounted on lesson views when settings allow.

If the button is absent, AI is disabled site-wide or lesson has no content body yet.

How answers are generated

Backend flow:

1. Load Course Lesson document and truncate body to ~12,000 characters if needed.
2. Fetch course and chapter titles for context headers.
3. Send system message with role instructions + full lesson content.
4. Send user question.
5. Return { answer, lesson } JSON to portal.

Model and API key come from LMS Settings (get_ai_client). Temperature 0.4 balances accuracy and readability; max tokens ~800 keeps responses brief.

The tutor does not mutate lesson content or grades—read-only assistance.

Suggested use cases

Encourage employees to use tutor before retaking failed quizzes—improves pass rates on mandatory training tracked in Employee Compliance.

Relationship to lesson summaries

Separate from tutor chat, summarize_lesson generates cached AI Summary stored on lesson record (ai_summary field):

• Executive summary paragraph
• Bullet key takeaways

Summaries display in lesson UI when generated by instructors or automated jobs—static reference vs interactive tutor.

get_lesson_summary retrieves cache without calling OpenAI again.

Privacy and acceptable use

• Questions and answers traverse OpenAI API—include in employee training policy disclosures.
• Avoid entering personal identifiable information about coworkers into chat.
• Tutor cannot access other employees' records or HR data—only lesson HTML.
• Instructors should verify AI answers during course QA; incorrect tutor responses indicate lesson ambiguity to fix.

For regulated content, add disclaimer near tutor button: "AI assistance does not replace official policy documents."

Administrators

Enable/disable via LMS Settings without code deploy.

Monitor usage through OpenAI dashboard metrics; no built-in per-user tutor log in LMS.

If API costs spike during large cohort launches, temporarily disable AI while keeping static lessons available.

Pair tutor availability with Statistics → Employee Engagement to correlate active learning weeks.

Tips for learners

• Ask specific questions referencing section headings.
• If answer seems wrong, re-read lesson and ask again with quoted text.
• Use tutor before submitting open-ended quiz responses for phrasing ideas—not copy verbatim for graded work.
• Download quiz PDF after passing to file in Employee Document if required by HR.

Troubleshooting

Frequently asked questions

Does LMS training completion automatically update Employee Compliance?

No. Smooth LMS tracks learning progress, quiz scores, and certificates. Smooth HR Employee Compliance is updated separately by HR when a regulatory or policy requirement is satisfied. Download LMS PDFs and attach them to Employee Document, then mark the matching compliance row Complete with the correct renewal date.

Where should quiz PDFs be stored for audits?

Use Employee Document on the employee record with an appropriate Employee Document Type (for example Training Record or Policy Acknowledgment). Include the Quiz Submission Report PDF exported from LMS. For organization-wide retention policies, align document type expiry settings with Employee Compliance renewal periods.

Which desk workspace manages LMS content?

Open the Learning workspace from the app switcher. Desk paths use /app/list name slugs—for example /app/lms-quiz and /app/lms-enrollment. Learners consume training at /lms on the same site.

How do new hires get enrolled in mandatory training?

When Employee Onboarding is created in HRMS, the LMS integration enrolls the employee user in every published Mandatory course and creates LMS Training Assignment rows with default due dates. Ensure the Employee record has a linked User with the LMS Student role.

What is the difference between an LMS Certificate and HR compliance?

An LMS Certificate proves course completion inside Smooth LMS. Employee Compliance in Smooth HR tracks regulatory obligations (training renewals, I-9, background checks) with scheduled expiry alerts. Course certificates do not automatically appear on the HR compliance ledger—HR attaches LMS PDFs to Employee Document and updates Employee Compliance when policy requires.

Can managers view their team's quiz scores?

Managers with Moderator or Course Creator roles can open LMS Quiz Submission list views filtered by course and member. The Statistics dashboard summarizes average assessment scores by course. For official personnel files, export PDFs and store under the employee's HR documents rather than sharing desk login credentials.

Glossary

Smooth LMS + Smooth HR capability map

Use Smooth LMS for training delivery and assessments, and Smooth HR for employee files and compliance records — both on the same account.

Course completion certificates from LMS are separate from HR compliance records until HR explicitly files them. Attach LMS PDFs to Employee Document or update Employee Compliance when a training record must appear on the official employee file for audits.

LMS roles reference

HR users without LMS roles can still manage Employee Document and Employee Compliance records when L&D provides exported PDFs.

Connecting training records to Smooth HR

Smooth LMS and Smooth HR share one account. Completing a course does not automatically update HR compliance—you connect the two when your policy requires it.

Recommended workflow: When an employee completes mandatory training and passes required assessments, download the LMS certificate or quiz PDF from the Learning portal or desk, then attach it to an Employee Document or update the corresponding Employee Compliance record. HR Managers can configure Compliance Type with renewal periods so expiring certifications trigger scheduled reminders—complementing LMS Training Assignment due dates.

New hires enrolled via Employee Onboarding may receive automatic LMS enrollments for courses marked Mandatory; HR still uses Employee Compliance for regulatory items (I-9, background checks) that live outside LMS.

Related guides

• AI Overview
• Taking Quizzes and Results

Last updated: May 2026