We're thrilled to announce AI Mode — a powerful new way to create, edit, and refine your emails and automations with the help of Tanuki AI, your intelligent assistant built right into Bento.
What is AI Mode?
AI Mode is a conversational interface that lets you describe what you want, and watch it come to life in real-time. Whether you're building a complex automation workflow from scratch or fine-tuning the copy in an email, Tanuki AI understands your intent and executes changes instantly.
No more context-switching between documentation and your editor. No more hunting for the right setting. Just tell Tanuki what you need.
AI Mode for Workflows
The workflow builder now features Tanuki AI — a conversational interface for building entire automation flows.
Just describe what you want to automate:
- "Create onboarding, dunning, and win-back flows based on my existing Stripe events"
- *"Send a thank you email and tag people that buy X but not Y"
- "Build a welcome series for new sign ups"
- "Set up abandoned cart recovery emails"
- *"Increase all delays to 10 days"
Tanuki asks clarifying questions, then builds the complete workflow — triggers, delays, conditions, and all. And it's not just creating new automations, it can also patch and make fast edits often quicker than doing it yourself.
AI Mode for Email Editors
Visual Editor (Stripo)
We shipped a way to talk to your Stripo templates and make design and content edits easily. Click the AI Mode toggle in your email editor header to enter a split-screen experience: your live email preview on the left, Tanuki AI chat on the right.
What you can do:
- Click any element in the preview to select it, then ask Tanuki to modify it
- Double-click text to edit it directly in the preview
- Ask Tanuki to change colors, swap images, rewrite copy, or restructure sections
- Watch changes appear instantly in the live preview
- Save when you're happy, or discard and return to the visual editor
Plain Text Editor (Shoji)
The AI sidebar slides in alongside your writing canvas. Ask Tanuki to help you:
- Craft compelling subject lines
- Punch up your copy
- Add personalization with Liquid tags
- Restructure your message for better flow
- Brainstorm hooks and sales pitches
- Design custom components
Raw HTML Editor
For developers who prefer working in code, AI Mode gives you a three-panel workspace:
- Monaco code editor with syntax highlighting
- Live preview with click-to-select elements
- Tanuki AI chat for intelligent code generation
Select an element in the preview, and Tanuki knows exactly which HTML you're referring to.
Smart Features
Ask vs YOLO Mode: Choose whether Tanuki asks for confirmation before applying changes, or goes full YOLO and builds immediately.
Undo Support: Made a mistake? Every AI action can be instantly rolled back with one click.
Multi-Flow Awareness: Tanuki understands when your workflow has multiple paths and shows you exactly what's being created.
Next Steps Checklist: After building your workflow, Tanuki provides actionable next steps — like configuring specific nodes or setting up sequences — with checkboxes to track your progress.
How to Access AI Mode
AI Mode is available now for all Bento users:
- Email Editors: Look for the "AI Mode" toggle with the Tanuki icon in the editor header
- Workflow Builder: Click "Plan with Tanuki AI" at the bottom of the canvas, or use the example prompts to get started
What's Next
This is just the beginning. We're actively improving Tanuki's capabilities based on your feedback. Have ideas for what AI Mode should do next? We'd love to hear from you.
AI Mode is powered by Tanuki AI, Bento's intelligent assistant. Your data stays secure and is never used to train external models.
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