AI Generation
LabRota can automatically generate a weekly rota using AI. The engine assigns staff based on coverage requirements, skills, leave, and configured rules.
Generating a rota
- Navigate to the week you want to generate
- Click Generate in the toolbar
- Choose a generation strategy
- Wait for the engine to finish — it usually takes 5–20 seconds
If a rota already exists for the week, generating again will replace it.
What the engine optimises
The AI engine works differently depending on your lab's display mode.
- By Shift
- By Task
The engine fills each shift with the right number of staff for each day, then respects:
- Minimum and optimal headcount per shift
- Leave and unavailability blocks
- Consecutive shift limits and rest requirements
- Role balance (Lab vs Andrology) within each shift
- Staff skill certifications where technique coverage is tracked
The punctions (egg retrievals) forecast drives headcount targets — higher punction days get more staff assigned.
The engine fills each technique row with certified staff, then respects:
- Minimum staff per technique per day (from Lab Config ratios)
- Leave and unavailability blocks
- Staff skill certifications — only certified staff are placed in a technique row
- Technique priority (e.g. ICSI before FIV if both compete for the same embryologist)
- Unassigned staff are placed in the General row
The punctions (egg retrievals) and biopsies forecast drives how many staff are needed in each technique row per day.
Generation strategies
| Strategy | Speed | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Optimal | Slower | Full AI optimisation — best coverage and skill balance |
| Fast | Faster | Rule-based engine — good results in seconds |
| Hybrid | Medium | AI reasoning with rule-based fallback |
For most weeks, Optimal gives the best rota. Use Fast when you need a quick starting point to edit manually.
Regenerating a single day
Right-click (or long-press on mobile) any day column and choose Regenerate day to rerun the engine for that day only, without affecting the rest of the week.
Manual edits after generation
After generating, you can:
- Drag and drop staff chips to move assignments between rows and days
- Click a chip to open the assignment editor (change row, add notes, set technique)
- Click an empty cell to add a new assignment manually
- Delete any assignment by opening it and clicking Remove
All manual edits are saved automatically.
Undo / Redo
Use Ctrl+Z / Ctrl+Y (or the undo/redo buttons in the toolbar) to step back through your changes. The history clears when you navigate to a different week.