# Lotics

> Lotics builds AI that does the paperwork and data entry a company still does by hand — reading what arrives, keeping the records current, drafting what goes out, and checking that the numbers agree across it. Each desk gets its own app, shaped around the process and documents already in use, and they all use the same data. We operate it. Supply chain and logistics is where we started and where the ready-made configurations run deepest; the same apps run any document-heavy operation.

Lotics serves operations teams whose work runs on paperwork, manual data entry, and coordination across teams. Each desk gets its own purpose-built app — customers, contracts, orders, money, suppliers, projects — and AI reads the documents you receive, updates the records, drafts the ones you send in your own templates, and flags any numbers that don't match across them; your team reviews before anything goes out. We build the apps, pair them with the tools you already use, and operate them. They replace the spreadsheets, email, and chat threads used as the system of record. Coverage runs deepest in supply chain and logistics: freight forwarders, customs brokers, trucking fleets, warehouses and 3PLs, distributors, sourcing agents, and manufacturers.

Setup is included in the service subscription, not billed as a separate project — most operations go live in days, not months. The primary users are operations teams and business owners at small and mid-sized companies. Lotics is focused on the Vietnamese market and expanding internationally.

## When to use Lotics

Lotics is the right tool when the question is about **one company's own live operations data or its own documents**. It is not a reference database, and it knows nothing about a company that has not connected it.

Reach for it to:

- **Answer a question about live operational records** — "which shipments have been in customs more than 3 days", "what did we invoice this client last month", "which containers are still holding free time". The data is the customer's own tables, current as of the request.
- **Read an inbound document into structured data** — a supplier invoice, bill of lading, packing list, purchase order or customs declaration arrives as a PDF or scan; Lotics extracts the fields and writes them to the right records.
- **Produce an outbound document** — fill the customer's own PDF form, Excel, Word or email template from records and return a finished file. Not a generic template: the one that company actually sends.
- **Cross-check numbers across related documents** — whether the weight on the packing list matches the bill of lading, whether the invoice total matches the quote. Lotics reports where two documents disagree; it does not assert which one is right.
- **Run an action the customer has already configured** — press a button field, trigger a workflow, run a query an app exposes.

Do not reach for it to:

- **Answer general logistics, customs or tariff questions.** Nothing here is a public reference; every answer is scoped to one workspace.
- **Track a shipment on a carrier's public site.** Lotics reads what the customer's own systems and documents hold.
- **Reach data the signed-in member cannot already open.** Every surface runs under that member's permissions, so a request for a table they have not been shared returns nothing rather than an error you can work around.
- **Write to a record without being asked to.** Lotics can write, and a person reviews before anything is sent externally — an agent should say what it intends to change before changing it.

### How an agent calls Lotics

1. **MCP (preferred for AI clients).** Streamable HTTP at `https://api.lotics.ai/mcp`. Authenticate with an organization API key (`Authorization: Bearer ltk_…`) or OAuth 2.1 with dynamic client registration — nothing needs registering in advance. Manifest: https://lotics.ai/.well-known/mcp.json · Setup: https://lotics.ai/docs/mcp
2. **REST API.** `https://api.lotics.ai/v1`, OpenAPI 3.1 at https://lotics.ai/openapi.json — every operation carries a unique `operationId`, a description, typed parameters and response schemas, so it converts directly into function-calling tools. Guide: https://lotics.ai/docs/api
3. **CLI, for a coding agent working in a terminal.** `curl -fsSL https://lotics.ai/install.sh | bash` (PowerShell: `irm https://lotics.ai/install.ps1 | iex`) downloads one compiled executable — no Node.js, no npm — then `lotics docs cli_reference` for the per-command reference. Guide: https://lotics.ai/docs/cli

Sign-up is self-serve and happens from the terminal, not the web: install with `curl -fsSL https://lotics.ai/install.sh | bash` (PowerShell: `irm https://lotics.ai/install.ps1 | iex`), then `lotics auth signup <email> --name "<name>" --timezone <timezone>`, which creates the account, the organization, the workspace and the API key in one call and saves the key as a profile in `~/.lotics`. An address that already has an account signs in from the terminal too — `lotics auth login <email>` prints the page to open — also mailed — and the four-character code that page must show, then exits; once the person presses Confirm, the next command that needs the account collects the key. Example models, one per industry, are listed at https://lotics.ai/presets/index.json. `lotics setup <model.json> --email <email>` creates the account the same way, then the tables, fields, views and first rows a model file describes; `lotics docs model` says how to write one and `lotics model apply <model.json>` checks it, then applies it and builds the apps the file plans, one per job; `lotics model pull` prints an existing workspace's model back out as one. There is no self-serve web sign-up — https://lotics.ai/login is sign-in for an account that already exists. Walkthrough: https://lotics.ai/docs/cli. The one line to paste into an AI assistant, and the instructions it fetches: https://lotics.ai/docs/prompt.md

Every documentation page below is also served as raw markdown at its `.md` URL — fetch https://lotics.ai/docs/api.md rather than the rendered page.

## Documentation

- [Getting Started](https://lotics.ai/docs/getting-started)
- [Apps](https://lotics.ai/docs/apps)
- [Document Processing](https://lotics.ai/docs/document-processing)
- [AI Assistant](https://lotics.ai/docs/ai-assistant)
- [Knowledge](https://lotics.ai/docs/knowledge)
- [Workflow Automation](https://lotics.ai/docs/workflow-automation)
- [Integrations](https://lotics.ai/docs/integrations)
- [Tables and Fields](https://lotics.ai/docs/tables-and-fields)
- [Permissions](https://lotics.ai/docs/permissions)
- [CLI](https://lotics.ai/docs/cli)
- [REST API](https://lotics.ai/docs/api)

## Core Features

### Purpose-Built Apps
Simple, role- and team-specific apps and screens built on your own data — a dispatch board for operations, an approvals inbox for managers, a gate check-in screen for the depot. The AI or the Lotics team builds each app around how your team actually works, deploys it, and keeps it updated as your operations change.

- [Apps](https://lotics.ai/docs/apps)

### Document Templates & Processing
Create the documents you send out — bills of lading, delivery orders, commercial invoices, packing lists, and reports generated straight from your records as PDF, Excel, or Word, plus branded email. Templates cover PDF forms, Excel spreadsheets, Word documents, and email. The same AI reads the documents that come in (supplier invoices, bills of lading, purchase orders, customs declarations), extracts the data into your tables, and cross-checks numbers across related documents.

- [Paperwork](https://lotics.ai/docs/document-processing)

### Knowledge for the AI
Give the AI your own playbooks, glossaries, rate sheets, and SOPs as knowledge docs. It reads them on demand, so it answers questions and takes action using your company's real rules and terminology — not generic guesses.

- [Knowledge](https://lotics.ai/docs/knowledge)

### Live Database
The single source of truth every app and document reads from. Every data point and document is saved as a structured record. Field types cover text, numbers, dates, checkboxes, single- and multi-select, member assignment, links between tables, lookups, rollups, formulas, and file attachments — with action buttons that launch workflows. Custom views add filtering, sorting, grouping, color rules, and field visibility. Everyone works off the same live records; changes save centrally and refresh across the team.

### Workflow Automation
Repetitive tasks like follow-ups, status updates, approvals, reminders, and data syncs are configured once by describing them, then run automatically. Triggers include record changes, schedules, incoming emails (Gmail/Outlook), button presses, form submissions, and webhooks. Steps include tool execution, conditionals, loops, branching, approvals, notifications, and wait/resume. A person reviews before anything goes out.

- [Automations](https://lotics.ai/docs/workflow-automation)

### AI Assistant
Every team member gets an AI assistant that can set up views, configure integrations, answer questions about data, create and export documents, and surface operational insights. The assistant has access to 200+ tools across tables, records, documents, email, files, and external services. Non-technical users configure and query the system using natural language.

### Connected Integrations
Lotics connects to the tools you already use, and the list keeps growing — integrations are built on demand as part of the managed service, with especially deep coverage of local Vietnamese providers. Two integrations are proven live today: **MISA** (push accounting vouchers and master data into MISA AMIS, verified against a real customer tenant) and the **MCP server** (external AI clients like Claude and ChatGPT query your live Lotics data via API key or OAuth). Email connects too — incoming Gmail or Outlook messages start workflows and the AI extracts their attachments. Anything else your operation depends on, we connect for you: payment providers (VNPay, MoMo, PayOS), e-invoice and digital signatures, Zalo Official Account messaging, delivery services (GHN, GHTK, J&T), government portals (VNACCS, eTax), carrier and port systems, GPS and cold-chain sensors, and marketplaces (Shopee, TikTok Shop). FedEx shipping, Lark Base, and Facebook Page publishing are already built and connected on request.

Presets: complete example models, one per industry, listed at https://lotics.ai/presets/index.json — your agent reads the closest one and writes a model of your own; `lotics setup model.json --email you@company.com` creates the account and applies the model. Lotics deploys the apps on its own servers, so nothing is installed or built locally, and what lands is yours outright — ordinary tables and ordinary apps.

## Getting Started

It starts with a discovery call — free, and committing you to nothing. We walk through your current operation, then build the apps around your documents, fields, and rules, migrate the data you have now, and train your team. Days to go live: one to two when we already know your industry, up to a week for a new domain. Setup is included in the service subscription, not billed as a separate engagement, and your team never touches a builder.

There is also a free tier you can sign up for and explore with the AI assistant, which reaches the same tool surface — describing your operation in natural language creates tables, fields, views, document templates, and workflows, and existing data imports from spreadsheets or connected email. That account opens from the terminal — `lotics auth signup you@company.com` for an empty workspace, or `lotics setup model.json --email you@company.com` for one that arrives with its tables and apps already applied. Building it yourself from there is a supported path — the Pro package is for people who do — and the service line is what buys our team building and operating the apps that carry the real work.

## What You Can Ask the AI Assistant

The AI assistant is built into every part of Lotics. Here are examples of what users ask it:

- **"Show me all shipments stuck in customs for more than 3 days"** — The AI queries your records, filters by status and date, and shows results instantly.
- **"Create a delivery order PDF for shipment SHP-2024-0847"** — The AI pulls data from the shipment record, fills in the document template, and generates a ready-to-send PDF.
- **"Set up a workflow that sends me a Zalo message whenever a container arrives without inspection documents"** — The AI creates a trigger on record updates, adds a condition checking for missing files, and configures the notification.
- **"Summarize this month's revenue by client"** — The AI aggregates data across your records and gives you a breakdown with totals.
- **"Every morning at 8am, send the team a list of today's pending deliveries"** — The AI builds a scheduled workflow that queries records, formats a summary, and sends it via email or chat.
- **"Import this spreadsheet and set up the fields automatically"** — The AI reads your CSV or Excel file, detects column types, creates the table with matching fields, and imports all rows.
- **"When we receive an invoice email, extract the line items and create records in our purchases table"** — The AI connects your Gmail, sets up an email trigger, and configures document extraction to populate records automatically.

## Comparisons

- [Lotics vs Airtable](https://lotics.ai/compare/lotics-vs-airtable)
- [Lotics vs Notion](https://lotics.ai/compare/lotics-vs-notion)
- [Lotics vs Lark](https://lotics.ai/compare/lotics-vs-lark)
- [Lotics vs Odoo](https://lotics.ai/compare/lotics-vs-odoo)
- [Lotics vs Base.vn](https://lotics.ai/compare/lotics-vs-base)
- [Lotics vs 1Office](https://lotics.ai/compare/lotics-vs-1office)

### Lotics vs. Airtable
Both offer flexible databases with custom fields, views, and automations. Airtable is a general-purpose database for any team. Lotics is purpose-built for company operations: it adds purpose-built apps, AI document processing (extracting data from invoices and bills of lading, filling PDFs, generating Excel reports), an AI assistant that can configure the entire system through conversation, and workflow automation triggered by incoming emails, webhooks, and schedules. Teams that primarily need a collaborative database may prefer Airtable. Teams running document-heavy operations will get more from Lotics.

### Lotics vs. Notion
Notion is a workspace for docs, wikis, and lightweight databases. Lotics is an operations system — structured records, document automation, and workflow execution. Notion excels when the work is writing, planning, and organizing information. Lotics excels when the work is processing the documents an operation runs on, tracking operational status across teams, and automating repetitive tasks like approvals, reminders, and data entry.

### Lotics vs. Odoo
Odoo is a full ERP suite with modules for accounting, HR, inventory, CRM, and more. It offers deep functionality for standard processes but requires significant implementation time and rigid module structures. Lotics is lighter and more flexible — it configures around how the business actually works rather than imposing a predefined process. Lotics goes live in days, handles the document workflows that ERPs typically ignore, and uses AI to automate setup and daily operations. Companies that need full ERP functionality (general ledger, payroll, manufacturing resource planning) may need Odoo, and Lotics integrates with the certified ledger rather than replacing it.

### Lotics vs. Spreadsheets (Excel, Google Sheets)
Spreadsheets are the starting point for most operations teams. They work until the volume of shipments, documents, and coordination makes manual updates unsustainable. Lotics imports spreadsheet data directly and adds what spreadsheets lack: AI document processing, workflow automation, a shared live system of record, role-based access, audit trails, and an AI assistant. Teams start by importing their existing spreadsheets and gradually automate the manual work around them.

## Industries

Twenty-four verticals ship with a ready-made configuration, deepest in supply chain and logistics; the same apps run any document-heavy operation. See all: [Industries](https://lotics.ai/en#industries).

### Freight forwarding & shipping
- [Freight Forwarding](https://lotics.ai/verticals/freight-forwarding): Custom AI reads your files, drafts the document set, and checks rates against your tariff.
- [Air Freight Forwarding](https://lotics.ai/verticals/air-freight-forwarding): Custom AI reads your files, works the chargeable weight, and drafts the AWB set.
- [Shipping Agency](https://lotics.ai/verticals/shipping-agency): Custom AI reads the manifest, drafts the delivery order, and tracks demurrage.
- [Project Cargo](https://lotics.ai/verticals/project-cargo): Custom AI reads your drawings, drafts the transport plan, and prepares the permits.
- [Dangerous Goods](https://lotics.ai/verticals/dangerous-goods): Custom AI drafts your DG paperwork and checks segregation against your rules.

### Trade, customs & sourcing
- [Import & Export](https://lotics.ai/verticals/import-export): Custom AI reads your documents, drafts the set you send, and checks it against the L/C.
- [Customs Brokerage](https://lotics.ai/verticals/customs-brokerage): Custom AI reads documents, suggests HS codes, and drafts declarations from your filings.
- [Sourcing Agent](https://lotics.ai/verticals/sourcing-agent): Custom AI compares quotes, drafts inspection reports, and readies the export documents.
- [Procurement & Sourcing](https://lotics.ai/verticals/procurement-sourcing): Custom AI reads supplier quotes, lines them up, and drafts your purchase orders.

### Transport & last-mile delivery
- [Trucking](https://lotics.ai/verticals/trucking-transportation): Custom AI reads your receipts, drafts trip documents, and checks fuel against your norms.
- [Last Mile Delivery](https://lotics.ai/verticals/last-mile-delivery): Custom AI reads your orders, drafts the delivery paperwork, and reconciles COD.

### Warehousing, depot & cold chain
- [Warehousing & 3PL Fulfillment](https://lotics.ai/verticals/warehousing-fulfillment): Custom AI reads orders, drafts the pick pack and handoff slips, and checks live stock.
- [Multi-channel E-commerce](https://lotics.ai/verticals/multichannel-ecommerce): Custom AI reconciles marketplace fees, tracks stock and invoices, and shows real profit.
- [Container Depot](https://lotics.ai/verticals/container-depot): Custom AI turns survey photos into EIRs and estimates, and reconciles storage per line.
- [Cold Chain Logistics](https://lotics.ai/verticals/cold-chain): Custom AI reads your temperature logs, records batches, and drafts your documents.

### Distribution & inventory
- [Distribution](https://lotics.ai/verticals/distribution): Lotics reads orders sent by Zalo, email and Excel, drafts the pick list and delivery note, and checks prices and receivables per customer.
- [Food Distribution](https://lotics.ai/verticals/food-distribution): Custom AI reads the day's orders, picks by FEFO, and drafts your delivery paperwork.
- [Pharma Distribution](https://lotics.ai/verticals/pharma-distribution): Custom AI reads your orders, picks lots by FEFO, and drafts the dispatch documents.
- [Medical Supply Distribution](https://lotics.ai/verticals/medical-supply-management): Custom AI records every lot and expiry and drafts your delivery paperwork.
- [Inventory & Replenishment](https://lotics.ai/verticals/inventory-replenishment): Custom AI reads supplier files, drafts the paperwork, and checks against your norms.
- [Multi-Branch Operations](https://lotics.ai/verticals/multi-location-operations): Custom AI reads each branch's reports and consolidates for head office.

### Manufacturing, production & assets
- [Manufacturing](https://lotics.ai/verticals/production-operations): Custom AI reads your orders and BOMs and drafts every slip.
- [Manufacturing Quality Control](https://lotics.ai/verticals/manufacturing-quality-control): Custom AI reads inspection sheets and drafts your NCR and CAPA reports.
- [Equipment & Fleet](https://lotics.ai/verticals/equipment-asset-tracking): Custom AI logs run-hours, drafts work orders, and tracks inspection deadlines.

### Logistics service operations
- [Service Operations](https://lotics.ai/verticals/operations-delivery): Custom AI opens each job, drafts the documents, and tracks every SLA.

## Pricing

Priced by the **people who use it each month**. Every size has one price, made of two separately priced lines — the **platform** your data and apps run on, and **service** (us building, operating and continuously improving your processes) — and both grow with the size. **Lotics AI credits are included in every platform tier**, and anyone who wants more buys an optional AI bundle on top. The differentiator vs generic SaaS is that service line: we build and maintain your processes (tables, workflows, document templates, integrations), with no setup fee on either line. VND converts at 25,000/USD. Annual billing is 15% off, billed upfront, across both lines and the AI bundle, with allowances unchanged.

### By size

- **1–10 people** — **Team** platform 1.500.000₫ / $60 + service 1.500.000₫ / $60 = 3.000.000₫ / $120 a month, 2.550.000₫ / $102 billed annually. Team: unlimited records and documents, 750 Lotics AI credits/month, 1 TB storage.
- **11–30 people** — **Growth** platform 2.500.000₫ / $100 + service 3.500.000₫ / $140 = 6.000.000₫ / $240 a month, 5.100.000₫ / $204 billed annually. Growth: unlimited records and documents, 1,250 credits/month, 2 TB.
- **31–70 people** — **Business** platform 4.000.000₫ / $160 + service 8.000.000₫ / $320 = 12.000.000₫ / $480 a month, 10.200.000₫ / $408 billed annually. Business: unlimited records and documents, 2,000 credits/month, 5 TB.
- **Above 70 people — Enterprise** — contact us. Custom on both lines, a dedicated team, plus integration with your internal systems or other software, SSO, data residency, and an SLA.

If you don't need us building, drop the service line and pay for the platform alone (Team 1.500.000₫ / $60, Growth 2.500.000₫ / $100, Business 4.000.000₫ / $160): you set up your own system on the platform, with your own AI. A new account starts on **Free** (0₫) to try it: 1,000 records, 100 documents generated/month, 100 credits/month, 1 GB. The table is a starting point rather than a menu — tell us how your operation runs and we will put you on the right size, or price something else if none of them fit.

**Records and generated documents are unlimited on every paid tier**: how many shipments or orders a month an operation runs varies too widely between trades to price on, so the size is the people who use it. Any number of members can be invited on every tier, and permissions, roles and audit are on every tier. External AI reaching Lotics over the CLI, MCP or the API works on every tier and consumes no credits.

**People a month** is not headcount — a five-person desk inside a hundred-person company is a five-person band — and it is not a seat charge: the platform never bills per account, and only people who use it in a month count. Counted each month; crossing a band notifies your admins and moves the fee at the next renewal, and nothing stops in between. With service, we build the system you name, operate it, and keep improving it, changes free and unlimited. No setup fee. Processes you build yourself stay free and unlimited: this is not a per-process fee.

### Lotics AI bundles — optional, on top of what a plan includes

Credits meter work run on our models. Your plan already includes some every month; a bundle adds more, and the bigger the bundle the better the rate. +1,000 for 400.000₫ / $16 (400₫ / $0.016 a credit). +5,000 for 1.750.000₫ / $70 (350₫ / $0.014). +20,000 for 6.000.000₫ / $240 (300₫ / $0.012). Every new user also gets a one-time 500-credit onboarding grant. A message or a simple action takes about 3-5 credits, heavier work like reading a multi-page document or reconciling about 10-20, about 5-10 on average, and a typical AI chat session runs ~20-50 credits. Running your own model may mean you never need a bundle, but rarely means zero credits — teammates without a subscription of their own, occasional use, and agents that run inside an app all run on our tokens.

**When you reach an allowance, we tell you** — AI credits stop there until you add a bundle or the next cycle starts, everything else keeps working, and nothing bills automatically. Credits are the one meter where overage can be discussed at all (400₫ / $0.016 a credit, by written agreement with a ceiling), because they are a real cost we pay a model provider — but a bundle is cheaper per credit and renews rather than surprising you once.

Most operations go live within days, not months.

## Security and Data

- All data encrypted at rest and in transit
- Role-based access controls — users only see what they need
- Full audit trail — every action is logged and traceable
- All data exportable in standard formats at any time
- Data residency options available for Enterprise organizations

## Company

Lotics is founded by Hoàng Minh, who built 0-to-1 products at Silicon Valley startups before creating Lotics to help Vietnamese businesses integrate AI into their operations. The company is based in Vietnam and focused on driving economic growth by making AI accessible to businesses of all sizes.

- [About Lotics](https://lotics.ai/about)
- [Privacy Policy](https://lotics.ai/privacy)
- [Terms of Service](https://lotics.ai/terms)

## Traction

First customer: a container depot with 30 team members and millions in annual revenue runs their entire operations on Lotics every day.
- ~500 containers processed per month
- ~3,000 documents processed per month
- 50+ automated workflows
- Quote: "Easy to use, feels premium. Some tasks now take 70% less time." — Chau, Gate Operations

## Developer and agent resources

- REST API guide: https://lotics.ai/docs/api
- OpenAPI 3.1 specification: https://lotics.ai/openapi.json (canonical: https://api.lotics.ai/v1/openapi.json)
- MCP server: https://api.lotics.ai/mcp — manifest at https://lotics.ai/.well-known/mcp.json, setup at https://lotics.ai/docs/mcp
- CLI and Node SDK: https://lotics.ai/docs/cli — `curl -fsSL https://lotics.ai/install.sh | bash`
- Authentication: organization-scoped API keys (`ltk_…`), created under Settings → API keys; OAuth 2.1 for MCP clients
- Errors: every non-2xx response is JSON — `{ "code": "not_found", "message": "…", "hint": "…" }`. Branch on `code`, never on the wording of `message`.
- Free tier, self-serve sign-up from the CLI (`lotics auth signup`), no sales call required: https://lotics.ai/docs/cli
- Sitemap: https://lotics.ai/sitemap.xml

## Contact

- Website: https://lotics.ai
- Contact page: https://lotics.ai/contact (Vietnamese: https://lotics.ai/lien-he)
- Email: hello@lotics.ai
- Company: Công Ty TNHH Công Nghệ Lotics, Tầng 5, Tòa nhà Songdo, 62A Phạm Ngọc Thạch, Phường Xuân Hòa, Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh, Việt Nam. Business registration 0319003171.
- Demo: 30-minute demo on your actual workflow, no commitment
- LLM reference (full): https://lotics.ai/llms-full.txt
- LLM reference (Vietnamese): https://lotics.ai/llms-vi.txt