--- title: "Get started with Kestrel AI" url: "https://kestrelwp.com/docs/get-started-with-kestrel-ai/" description: "Draft product descriptions and order notes with OpenAI from inside the WooCommerce admin." published: "2026-10-06T20:23:23+00:00" modified: "2026-10-07T05:41:51+00:00" --- Kestrel AI drafts product descriptions, short descriptions and order notes for you inside the WooCommerce admin. You open a chat panel next to the field you’re writing, send a prompt to OpenAI, and add the response you like to the field. It uses your own OpenAI API key, so OpenAI bills the usage to your OpenAI account. ![Kestrel AI: overview (product edit screen with the assistant panel open on Product description)](https://kestrelwp.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/kestrel-ai-ka-01-docs-01.png)Kestrel AI only writes text. It never changes a product or an order on its own: a response goes into the field only when you pick it, and you still save the product or add the note yourself. ## When you’d use this - Turn a few rough notes about a product into a full description. - Summarize a long description into a short description. - Draft an order note from the order’s products, status and addresses. ## Requirements - WordPress 6.3 or later, WooCommerce 8.2 or later, and PHP 7.4 or later. - An OpenAI account with an API key that can use the `gpt-3.5-turbo` or `gpt-4` model. - Your server needs to reach `api.openai.com`. - The assistant works in WooCommerce’s classic product editor. WooCommerce’s block-based product editor isn’t supported. - Compatible with High-Performance Order Storage. - Users who can manage WooCommerce, such as administrators and shop managers, can use it. ## Install and activate - **Bought on kestrelwp.com:** install the plugin by following [how to install and update WooCommerce extensions](/docs/install-update-woocommerce-extensions/). - **Bought on WooCommerce.com:** install the plugin from your WooCommerce.com account. Updates come through your WooCommerce.com connection, with no license key to enter. ## Set up Kestrel AI ### 1. Create an OpenAI API key Sign in to your OpenAI account and create a secret API key. OpenAI shows the key only once, so copy it straight away. Requests are billed to the OpenAI account the key belongs to. ### 2. Add your API key Go to **WooCommerce » Settings » Integration » Open AI**, or click **Settings** under **Kestrel AI** in your Plugins list. Paste the key into **API key** and click **Save changes**. ![Kestrel AI: Add your API key (the Open AI section)](https://kestrelwp.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/kestrel-ai-ka-02-docs-01.png)Kestrel AI checks the key with OpenAI as you save. If OpenAI accepts it, the **Default model** setting appears. ### 3. Choose the default model Pick the model in **Default model** and click **Save changes**. ### 4. Draft your first description Open a product that already has a description, and click the Kestrel AI icon in the bottom-right corner of the **Product description** box. Click the send button to use the default prompt, then pick a response to add it to the description. Click **Update** to save the product. ![Kestrel AI: Draft your first description (product edit screen)](https://kestrelwp.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/kestrel-ai-ka-03.png)## Open AI settings Go to **WooCommerce » Settings » Integration » Open AI**. ### API key Your OpenAI secret key. The field is masked. Saving a new key checks it with OpenAI and reloads the list of models your account can use. ### Default model The model every request uses: `gpt-3.5-turbo` or `gpt-4`. Only those two models are offered, and only if your OpenAI account can use them; other models on your account aren’t listed. This setting appears once a working API key is saved. ## Draft text with Kestrel AI Each field below has its own Kestrel AI icon. Clicking it opens a chat panel with a default prompt already filled in. Edit the prompt or send it as it is. ### Product description On the product edit screen, click the icon in the **Product description** box. The default prompt asks for an attractive, detailed product description, formatted with HTML, based on `{product_description}`. ### Short description Click the icon in the **Product short description** box. The default prompt asks for a two to three line summary of `{product_description}`. ### Order note On the order edit screen, click the icon on the **Add note** field in the **Order notes** box. The default prompt asks for a two to three line note using the order’s billing and shipping details, shipping method, products and status. When you pick a response, it’s added to the note field. Choose **Private note** or **Note to customer** and click **Add** as usual. ## Prompt placeholders Type `{` in the chat to list the placeholders for that field. Kestrel AI replaces each one with the real value when it sends the prompt. | Field | Placeholders | |---|---| | Product description and short description | `{product_description}` | | Order note | `{products}`, `{order_status}`, `{billing_address}`, `{shipping_address}`, `{shipping_method}` | `{product_description}` is the product’s saved description as plain text, without HTML or shortcodes. Edits you haven’t saved yet aren’t included, so click **Save Draft** or **Update** before you send the prompt. `{billing_address}` and `{shipping_address}` hold the customer’s name and address. `{shipping_address}` is empty when the order has no shipping address, and `{shipping_method}` shows "N/A" when there’s no shipping method. ## Work with responses Each response appears in the panel, and you can keep chatting to refine it. The whole conversation is sent with each new message, so OpenAI sees what you asked before. ![The Kestrel AI assistant panel with a response](https://kestrelwp.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/kestrel-ai-ka-04-docs-01.png)### Select response Click a response, or its **Select response** icon, to use it. You can pick any response in the conversation, not just the latest. Kestrel AI asks you to confirm with **Apply response**: click **Accept** to add the response to the end of the field. It doesn’t replace what’s already there, so delete any text you no longer need. ### Regenerate response Asks OpenAI for a new version of the latest response, using the same prompt. ### Delete conversation Conversations are saved with the product or order, so reopening the panel picks up where you left off. Click the trash icon and confirm with **Delete** to clear the conversation and start again from the default prompt. ## What’s sent to OpenAI and stored - **Sent to OpenAI:** your prompt with its placeholders filled in, plus the conversation so far. For order notes that can include the customer’s name, billing and shipping addresses, the products and the order status. Requests go from your server to OpenAI using your API key, and OpenAI’s own terms apply to that data. - **Stored on your site:** your API key and model choice, and each conversation, saved with its product or order. - **When you delete the plugin:** your API key is removed. If your site’s `wp-config.php` sets `WC_REMOVE_ALL_DATA` to `true`, its other settings are removed too. Saved conversations stay with your products and orders; delete them in the panel first if you don’t want to keep them. ## Common issues ### "Invalid API key." OpenAI didn’t accept the key when you saved it. Copy the key again from your OpenAI account, with no spaces before or after it, and check that the key hasn’t been revoked. If the key is right, check that your server can reach `api.openai.com`. ### The Default model setting doesn’t appear Kestrel AI shows **Default model** only when your OpenAI account can use `gpt-3.5-turbo` or `gpt-4`. Check in your OpenAI account that the key can use one of those models, then click **Save changes** on the Open AI settings again to reload the list. ### "Sorry, the AI service couldn’t complete this request. Please try again or shorten the source content." OpenAI couldn’t complete the request. Work through these in order: 1. Try again in a minute, in case OpenAI was busy or your account hit its rate limit. 2. Shorten the prompt or the source text, such as a very long product description. 3. Click the trash icon to delete the conversation and start a fresh one, since every message resends the whole conversation. 4. Check that your OpenAI account has credit or billing set up. ### "You don’t have enough permissions to perform this action." Your user role can’t manage WooCommerce, or the page was open so long that its security check expired. Reload the page and try again, or ask an administrator to use Kestrel AI. ### The Kestrel AI icon doesn’t show on the product screen You’re using WooCommerce’s block-based product editor. Kestrel AI only adds its icon to the classic product editor. ### The response ignores my latest changes to the description `{product_description}` uses the saved description. Save the product, then send the prompt again. ## FAQ ### Do I need my own OpenAI account? Yes. Kestrel AI connects with your OpenAI API key, and OpenAI bills the usage to your account. The plugin price doesn’t include any OpenAI usage. ### Which AI providers and models can I use? OpenAI only, with `gpt-3.5-turbo` or `gpt-4`. ### Can other staff see my conversations? Yes. A conversation is saved with its product or order, so anyone who can use Kestrel AI and opens the same panel sees it. ## Keep learning - [How to install and update WooCommerce extensions](/docs/install-update-woocommerce-extensions/) (installing, updating and fixing upload errors) - [Changing text in a plugin](/docs/changing-text-in-a-plugin/) (changing the default prompts and other wording)