Redmine AI Plugin

FAQ

General Questions

What is the Redmine AI Plugin and what is it used for?

The Redmine AI Plugin is an extension for Redmine that allows you to use artificial intelligence directly in your project management. It supports AI-powered features such as composing responses, summarizing comments, analyzing attachments, or creating status reports – directly within tickets, wikis, news, or other Redmine areas. The goal is to speed up workflows, improve content quality, and relieve teams of routine tasks.

Which AI models are supported?

The plugin supports all models that are available via a valid API connection. By default, these are for example:

OpenAI: gpt-3.5-turbo, gpt-4o

Ollama (self-hosted): Llama3, OpenHermes, Mixtral, Gemma

Azure OpenAI: with appropriate API configuration

When submitting a prompt, users can freely choose between all activated models – regardless of the project.

What is the difference between the free and the full version?

The free version enables basic functions such as sending prompts in tickets or text fields, inserting answers, and using prepared prompts.

The full version additionally offers:

• Analysis of attachments (e.g. PDFs, Word)

• Management of chat history and user rights per context

• detailed settings for fields and contexts

• Support for streaming answers (e.g. via Redis)

• global chat (without Redmine data)

• extended rights and role concept

This makes the full version suitable for teams with higher requirements for control, data protection, and integration.

What are the system requirements?

Redmine: from version 5.0

Ruby: from version 3.1

Database: all supported by Redmine – MySQL/MariaDB, PostgreSQL, SQLite (development/testing only), MS SQL

AI access: API key for OpenAI/Azure or local Ollama installation

Optional (Streaming): Adapter (e.g. Redis) for real-time streaming of answers

Installation & Configuration

How do I install the Redmine AI Plugin?

An installation guide can be found in the supplied manual or at the following link:https://redmine.services/en/redmine-plugins/redmine-ai-plugin/manual

The guide contains all steps for installation, configuration, and activation of the plugin in your Redmine system.

How do I set up an AI connection?

Setup is done via Administration AI Connections. There you can create a new AI connection:

• select the provider (e.g. OpenAI, Ollama, Azure),

• enter the AI service (connection name), API key, URL, and model (if required),

• make the connection available for projects by checking 'Active',

• then click 'Save' to create the connection.

How do I activate the plugin for my project?

Go to the desired project to 'Settings Modules' and check the box for 'Redmine AI'.

Save the change – the AI functions are then available in the project (e.g. in tickets, wiki, or news).

How do I assign user rights for the AI function?

Open Administration Roles and Permissions, select the desired role and activate the appropriate permissions in the AI section:

• In the free version, only access to AI is available.

• In the full version, you can also specifically enable individual contexts, e.g.:
• Access to attachment context
• Access to ticket context
• Access to ticket description
• Access to wiki content
• Manage AI Chat etc.

This allows you to control in detail which functions are available to the different user roles.

How do I create predefined prompts in the AI plugin?

Go to Administration AI Prompts New AI Prompt. There you can:

• Enter the following information:
• Title: A short, meaningful name for the template
• Prompt text: The actual content or instruction to the AI

set the context (e.g. ticket, ticket description, journal, wiki, news...),

• Select the desired AI context type (e.g. ticket, ticket description, journal, wiki, news...) in the AI Context Type field.

• Click Create to save the template.

This function is only available in the paid full version.

Tip: Templates help to standardize frequent requests in the team – for summaries, status reports, or text improvements.

Can I limit the number of prompts or messages?

Yes, you can set the following limits in the AI settings:

• Predefined AI prompts limit: Specifies how many predefined prompts are visible per user.

• Message limit: Limits the number of chat messages that are sent as context to the AI for a request (e.g. only the first and last 5 messages of a conversation).

These options help to control the context and improve clarity.

Can individual users use their own AI connections?

No, it is currently not possible to set up user-specific AI connections.

All AI connections are configured centrally and activated per project. They are then available to all authorized users within the project.

Individual assignment per user (e.g. depending on role or personal selection) is not currently planned, but is intended for future versions.

Functionality

Which contexts are supported (tickets, wiki, attachments, etc.)?

The plugin supports various contexts in which AI functions can be used, including:

• Issue Context – entire ticket including linked fields

• Issue Description Context – only the ticket description

• Issue Journal Context – comments and notes

• Issue Query Context – ticket lists (e.g. for evaluations)

• Attachment Context – analysis of file attachments (only in the full version)

• Wiki Content Context – content of wiki pages

• News Context – content of news posts

• General text fields (e.g. custom fields, forms)

• Global context (chat without Redmine data) (only in the full version)

In the full version, administrators can:

• restrict access to certain contexts based on roles,

• specifically activate or deactivate contexts

• for each context, specify which fields are used or preselected (e.g. only description, but not the start date).

This allows precise control over which Redmine data is passed to the AI.

Can the plugin automatically create or prioritize tickets?

No, the plugin cannot currently automatically create, close, or prioritize tickets.

These functions (e.g. automatic classification, prioritization, status change, or ticket creation based on AI answers) are planned for future versions.

What are system prompts (default context) and how are they used?

System prompts are predefined instructions that are automatically passed to the model at the start of each AI request.

They set the basic tone, behavior, or role of the AI (e.g. "Always respond briefly and factually" or "Always address the user politely").

Usage:

System prompts are configured in the respective AI connection (under Administration AI Connections Edit model in the "Default Context" field).

How does the use of global context (without Redmine data) work?

In the full version of the plugin, a global AI context can be used where no Redmine data is transmitted.

What does that mean?

You can interact freely with the AI – similar to a normal chat with ChatGPT – without reference to a ticket, wiki, or project.

This is useful for brainstorming, idea generation, general questions, or text corrections.

How is it activated?

In the AI settings (AI Global Activate), the global context can be activated or deactivated.

Only users with the appropriate role and permission (Access Global Context) can use this function.

How can AI answers be reused?

AI answers can be reused in Redmine with one click:

• Insert into comment – e.g. as a reply to a ticket

• Insert into ticket description – e.g. for summaries or problem descriptions

• Copy into other text fields – e.g. wiki, news, notes

Note: Direct editing of the AI answer in the chat window is not possible – it must be inserted and adjusted manually if necessary.

Is there a chat history per user?

Chat history is only available in the full version.

It is stored centrally and is accessible to authorized users – e.g. for administrators in the 'AI Chats' area.

A personal, user-specific history view is not currently available, but is planned for future versions.

In the free version, there is no chat history – answers are only visible in the current input window.

Does the plugin support voice control or dictation?

No, the plugin does not currently support voice control or dictation.

This feature would be particularly useful in mobile or practical scenarios – it is not currently available, but is on the roadmap as a possible future feature.

Does the plugin support analysis of Excel files or image attachments?

No, the plugin currently only supports the analysis of text files such as PDF, Word, or TXT.

Excel files (e.g. .xls, .xlsx) and image attachments (e.g. .png, .jpg) cannot currently be processed or analyzed.

Support for additional formats is planned for future versions.

Can the plugin export tickets or data as a file (e.g. CSV, JSON)?

No, the plugin does not currently support exporting AI answers or ticket data as a structured file (e.g. CSV, JSON, Excel).

The output is only as text in the chat.

Planned extension: An export function in common formats is on the roadmap for future versions.

Can the plugin automatically assign users to roles or responsibilities?

No. The Redmine AI Plugin cannot currently automatically change or assign user roles or responsibilities. All role assignments must still be made manually via the Redmine rights system. Automatic role management based on AI results is planned for future versions.

Privacy & Security

Which data is transmitted to external services (e.g. OpenAI)?

Only the context-related content required for the respective request is transmitted – e.g. ticket description, comments, or wiki content.

In the full version, administrators can control:

• which fields are transmitted,

• whether personal data should be automatically filtered out,

When using external AI providers such as OpenAI, data transmission takes place via a secure API connection.

Who can view the chat history?

Chat history is only available in the full version.

It can be viewed by administrators or users with the appropriate permission (e.g. Manage AI Chat).

An individual chat history per user is not currently available, but is planned for the future.

Are private notes automatically excluded from the context?

In the full version: Yes – you can control which fields are transmitted to the AI. "Private Notes" can also be explicitly excluded or deactivated.

In the free version, this fine control is not available – all standard supported fields, including internal notes, can be included in the context.

Troubleshooting

Why do I not see an AI button in the ticket?

There can be several reasons:

• The plugin is not activated in the project.
• Go to Project Settings Modules and activate Redmine AI.

• You do not have the required permissions.
• An administrator must grant you access to the AI function under Roles and Permissions.

• The use of the selected context (e.g. tickets, comments) is not activated.
• The context must be activated under Plugin Settings AI Settings.

• You are using the free version
• In which some contexts (e.g. attachments, global chats) are not available.

Why does the connection to OpenAI not work?

There can be several reasons for this:

• Invalid API key or wrong base URL
• Make sure the OpenAI API key is correct and the base URL is correct (e.g. `https://api.openai.com/v1`).

• No model specified (if required)
• For some providers, a model must be explicitly specified, e.g. `gpt-4o`.

• Network error or restrictions by proxy/firewall
• Check whether the server can connect to OpenAI.

• Connection is not activated in Redmine
• The 'Active' option must be activated in the connection configuration.

• OpenAI usage limit reached
• Check in your OpenAI account whether credit or free usage is still available.

Changelog

Where can I find information about new features and changes to the plugin?

All changes, improvements, and new features can be found in the official changelog on the Redmine Plugin page: https://www.redmine.org/plugins/redmine_ai

We recommend visiting this page regularly to stay informed about new features, bugfixes, and planned developments.