Formulas are powerful — but writing them is intimidating.
If you have ever stared at a spreadsheet wondering how to combine IF, CONCATENATE, and ROUNDDOWN into something that actually works, you are not alone.
The good news: with Lark Base AI-Generated Formula, you no longer need to know any of that.
Just describe what you want in plain English, and Lark Base writes the formula for you.
This guide walks you through how it works, with a real use case from an IT team.
What Is the Lark Base AI-Generated Formula?
It is a built-in AI feature inside Lark Base that turns plain-language prompts into working formulas.
Whether you need to add up numbers, flag overdue tasks, calculate duration between two dates, or join text fields together, you simply describe the goal — and the AI handles the rest.
Three big benefits for SMEs and startups:
- No technical skill required — anyone on your team can build complex formulas
- Saves hours — skip the trial-and-error and the Googling
- Built-in explanation — the AI also explains how the formula works, so you actually learn along the way
Real Use Case: IT Request Tracker
Let’s look at a practical example.
An IT team uses a Lark Base table called the Issue and Request Tracker to manage all incoming support tickets. Each row records:
- Submitted Date
- Status (Completed, In Progress, Not Started)
- Completion Date & Time
- Customer details
When a request is marked as Completed, the team wants to automatically calculate how long the request took — in hours and minutes — between the Submitted Date and the Completion Date Time.
Manually writing that formula? Painful. Letting AI do it? Effortless.
Here is exactly how to set it up.
Step 1: Add a Formula Field
First, create the field that will hold your AI-generated formula.
- Open your Lark Base table
- Click the + icon to add a new field
- Enter a Field title (for example, Duration)
- Set the Field type to Formula
- Click Edit Formula
This opens the Formula editor, where the AI magic happens.
Tip: Name your field clearly before generating the formula. A descriptive name like “Duration” or “Days Overdue” helps the AI understand the context of what you are building.
Step 2: Use AI to Generate Your Formula
Inside the Formula editor, you will see two tabs: Edit Formula (manual) and AI-Generated Formula.
Click on AI-Generated Formula to switch to AI mode. Now follow these 5 sub-steps:
a. Click AI-Generated Formula
Make sure you are on the AI tab.
b. Enter your prompt
Type a clear, plain-language description of what you want the formula to do. For our IT tracker example, the prompt could be:
“If Status is ‘Completed’, I want to get the duration of the Completion Date Time and Submitted Date in Hour and Minute as ‘x Hour’ and ‘x Minutes’.”
c. Click Generate
The AI will produce a formula in the Generate Formula column on the right. For our example, it generates something like:
IF(Status=”Completed”,CONCATENATE(ROUNDDOWN(([Completion Date Time]-[Submitted Date])*24,0),”Hours”,ROUNDDOWN(MOD(([Completion Date Time]-[Submitted Date])*24*60,60),0),”Minutes”),””)
d. Click Accept to preview the results
Lark will instantly show you the Preview results — you can see exactly what the formula will output before committing. For example: “0Hours58Minutes” or “2Hours51Minutes”.
e. Click Confirm to save the formula
Once you are happy with the preview, click Confirm. Your formula is now live in the table.
Tip: The clearer your prompt, the better the result. Mention the field names exactly as they appear in your table, specify the format you want the output in, and describe any conditions (like “only when Status is Completed”). Vague prompts give vague formulas.
Step 3: Read the Formula Explanation (Optional but Recommended)
This is where Lark Base’s AI really stands out.
Below the generated formula, you will see a Formula explanation section that breaks down what each function does and how the formula works as a whole.
For example, the explanation might walk you through:
- How the IF function checks whether the status equals “Completed”
- How CONCATENATE joins the hour and minute values together
- How ROUNDDOWN and MOD are used to extract clean hour and minute numbers
- The exact order of operations
Tip: Read the explanation even if the formula works perfectly. Over time, you will start understanding formula logic naturally — and become less reliant on the AI for simple tasks.
Sample Output
Once the formula is saved, every row with a “Completed” status automatically displays the duration. For example:
Rows that are still “In Progress” or “Not Started” stay blank — exactly as the formula intended.
More Ways to Use AI-Generated Formulas
The IT tracker is just one example. Here are other quick wins for SMEs and startups:
- Sales tracker: Calculate days since last contact with a lead
- Project management: Flag tasks that are overdue based on due date
- HR & attendance: Calculate total working hours from clock-in and clock-out times
- Inventory: Auto-calculate reorder points based on stock levels and sales velocity
- Finance: Apply tiered commission rates based on sales figures
If you can describe it, the AI can usually build it.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
1. How do I create a formula in Lark Base using AI?
Add a Formula field, click Edit Formula, switch to the AI-Generated Formula tab, type a plain-language prompt describing what you need, click Generate, then Accept and Confirm to save the formula.
2. Do I need to know spreadsheet formulas to use Lark Base?
No. With AI-Generated Formula, you only need to describe your goal in plain English. The AI handles all the syntax for you.
3. Can the AI explain how the formula works?
Yes. Lark Base provides a built-in formula explanation that breaks down each function and how the formula produces its result — great for learning as you go.
4. What kinds of formulas can the AI generate?
Almost any standard formula — calculations, conditional logic, text manipulation, date and time operations, and more. Common examples include duration calculations, overdue flags, status-based outputs, and combined text fields.
5. Can I edit an AI-generated formula manually?
Yes. Once a formula is generated, you can switch back to the Edit Formula tab and fine-tune it manually if needed.
6. What if the AI gets the formula wrong?
Refine your prompt with clearer field names, output formats, and conditions, then regenerate. If it is still off, you can edit the formula manually using the standard formula editor.
Build Smarter Tables in Less Time
AI-Generated Formula is one of those features that makes you wonder how you ever worked without it.
For SMEs and startups, it removes the biggest barrier to using databases properly: the formula learning curve.
Anyone on your team can now build sophisticated tables that calculate, flag, summarise, and automate — without needing a spreadsheet expert in the room.
Combine it with Lark Base’s other features like workflow automation, forms, and dashboards, and you have a no-code data platform that scales with your business.
Ready to Power Your Business with Lark?
Lark Base is just one part of an all-in-one platform that brings messaging, meetings, documents, approvals, and AI-powered automations together for your entire team.
As the Platinum Partner for Lark in Malaysia, Exabytes offers tailored Lark plans, hands-on onboarding, and dedicated local support to help you get the most out of every feature — including AI-Generated Formulas.
