Frequently Asked Questions
Getting Started
What is Aicser?
Aicser is a Chat2Chart analytics platform. You connect it to your databases or upload files, run queries, and get charts and dashboards. Community Edition (CE) is open source; Enterprise Edition (EE) adds AI-powered natural language queries, a knowledge base, alerts, and SSO.
How do I try Aicser without installing anything?
Use the hosted cloud version at app.aicser.com. Register with your email, connect a data source, and start creating charts immediately — no installation required.
How do I run CE locally?
You need Docker 24.0+ and Docker Compose 2.20+. Clone the repo and run:
git clone https://github.com/Aicser-Platform/aicser.git
cd aicser
cp server/env.example deploy/.env
# Edit deploy/.env and set SECRET_KEY, ENCRYPTION_KEY, POSTGRES_PASSWORD
cd deploy && make ce
Open http://localhost:3000. Full instructions: CE Docker Quick Start.
What are the minimum system requirements?
| CE | EE | |
|---|---|---|
| CPU | 2 cores | 4 cores |
| RAM | 4 GB | 8 GB |
| Storage | 20 GB | 100 GB SSD |
Both editions run on Linux, macOS, and Windows with Docker.
CE vs EE
What is the difference between CE and EE?
CE (Community Edition) is the open-source core licensed under AGPL-3.0. It includes charts, dashboards, data source connections, organizations, and role-based access control.
EE (Enterprise Edition) adds everything in CE plus:
- Natural language queries (ask questions in plain English)
- AI chart generation powered by Azure OpenAI
- Knowledge base (upload PDFs/DOCX for RAG context)
- Alerts and scheduled Telegram reports
- ClickHouse data warehouse integration
- SSO via Keycloak or Supabase
- S3 and Azure Blob storage
Is CE free?
Yes. CE is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and is free to use, modify, and self-host. Source code is at github.com/Aicser-Platform/aicser.
How do I get EE?
EE requires a commercial license key purchased at aicser.com. Once you have a key, set LICENSE_KEY in your deploy/.env and set AISER_EDITION=enterprise. See the Self-Hosting Guide.
Charts & Visualizations
What chart types are available?
Aicser supports 30+ chart types via Apache ECharts, including bar, line, area, pie, donut, scatter, box plot, heatmap, histogram, funnel, candlestick, gauge, radar, Sankey diagram, treemap, and data tables.
See Charts & Visualizations for the full list.
Can I export charts?
You can save charts as images directly from the chart view. Dashboards can be shared with organization members via a link.
Data Sources
What databases does Aicser support?
| Database | CE | EE |
|---|---|---|
| PostgreSQL | Yes | Yes |
| MySQL | Yes | Yes |
| SQL Server | Yes | Yes |
| ClickHouse | — | Yes |
| Snowflake | Yes | Yes |
| BigQuery | Yes | Yes |
| Redshift | Yes | Yes |
CSV and Excel file uploads are also supported in both editions.
Are database credentials stored securely?
Yes. Credentials are encrypted at rest using Fernet symmetric encryption. The key is set via ENCRYPTION_KEY in your environment and is never logged or returned by the API.
Self-Hosting
What do I need before deploying EE?
- Docker 24.0+ and Docker Compose 2.20+
- A valid EE license key from aicser.com
- An Azure OpenAI resource with a deployed model (for AI features)
- A server with at least 4 CPU cores and 8 GB RAM
See Prerequisites for details.
Which ports does EE expose?
| Port | Service | Expose externally? |
|---|---|---|
| 3001 | Next.js client | Yes |
| 8001 | FastAPI server | Yes |
| 5433 | PostgreSQL | No |
| 8123 | ClickHouse | No |
| 6379 | Redis | No |
For HTTPS, put NGINX in front. See SSL & Reverse Proxy.
How do I configure the AI features in EE?
Set these four variables in deploy/.env:
AZURE_OPENAI_API_KEY=your-key
AZURE_OPENAI_ENDPOINT=https://your-resource.openai.azure.com/
AZURE_OPENAI_API_VERSION=2024-02-15-preview
AZURE_OPENAI_DEPLOYMENT_NAME=your-deployment
The endpoint must end with /. See AI Configuration.
How do I upgrade to a new version?
Back up your database first, then:
git pull origin main
cd deploy && make ee-recreate
Migrations run automatically on startup. See Upgrades.
Contributing
How do I contribute to CE?
- Fork github.com/Aicser-Platform/aicser
- Set up your local dev environment — see Local Development Setup
- Create a branch, make your change, run linters and tests
- Open a pull request against
main
See Contributing for the full workflow.
Where do I report bugs?
Open an issue at github.com/Aicser-Platform/aicser/issues. Include steps to reproduce, expected behaviour, actual behaviour, and your Aicser version and OS.
Where can I ask questions?
- Telegram community
- GitHub Issues for bugs and feature requests
- X.com @Aicsertics for announcements