AI XLSForm Generator: Build Survey Forms with AI

You can build an editable XLSForm by describing your survey in plain English to LooprAI, SurveyLoopr's AI form builder. LooprAI drafts the survey, choices, and settings sheets with question types, skip logic, and constraints for you to review — no XLSForm syntax memorization required.

XLSForm is the Excel-based format for designing ODK and KoboToolbox surveys. Writing it by hand means memorizing question types, relevant expressions, and constraint syntax. LooprAI removes that barrier: you describe the survey, it writes the XLSForm.

What is LooprAI?

LooprAI is an AI assistant for survey methodology and XLSForm structure. It edits a real workbook and checks it against ODK rules instead of returning a block of text you have to copy and paste (see what breaks when ChatGPT builds XLSForms). Human review and field testing remain part of the workflow.

Use the XLSForm validation checklist after the AI draft so the workbook is tested in Central and on the device used for collection.

Commands

• /fixFix validation errors in your form
• /translateManage multi-language forms (add/remove/validate translations)
• /suggestGet AI suggestions for improving your form
• /revertRevert the latest LooprAI workbook change or a specific revision

Ask LooprAI for help with your form… (Type / for commands)

Press Enter to send, Shift+Enter for new line, Type / for commands

Attach document

Attach a questionnaire for LooprAI to convert or reference. Only PDF, Word (.doc/.docx), and Excel (.xls/.xlsx) files are accepted — other file types are rejected automatically.

/Slash commands

Type / to open the command menu. Selecting a command inserts it into the input so you can add details before sending.

LooprAI produces a standard XLSX workbook that you can test and manually upload to compatible platforms such as ODK Central or KoboToolbox. Platform behavior can differ, so validate on the target platform.

How to build an XLSForm with AI, step by step

Step 1: Describe your survey in plain English

In LooprAI Workspace, open a workbook and tell LooprAI what you need. For example:

Build a household food security survey. Capture household size,
monthly income, and a 9-item food insecurity scale. Add an integer
question for respondent age and a select_one for gender.

LooprAI drafts the survey, choices, and settings sheets. Review its question types, logic, and wording before use.

Step 2: Refine with follow-up instructions

You build the form by conversation. Ask for changes in plain language and LooprAI edits the workbook in place:

• "Add skip logic so the food insecurity questions only show if the household reported running out of food."
• "Make age required and constrain it between 18 and 99."
• "Add audit logging with GPS and change tracking."
• "Add machine translations for supported survey text in French and Swahili."

Step 3: Validate before you publish

LooprAI checks your XLSForm against ODK's rules and highlights errors — a missing choice list, an invalid calculate, or a broken relevant reference. It can attempt guided repairs before you review and validate again.

1 error

Copy

Error 1:

ODK Validate Errors: >> XForm is invalid. : Encountered a problem with display condition for node [${schoolage_inschool}] at line: selected( ../../hhr_current_school , '1', Mismatched brackets or parentheses The following files failed validation: ${tmpcqfcgk13} Result: Invalid

Ask LooprAI to fix

Validation catches many rule errors, but it does not guarantee field readiness or correct survey logic. Preview the form and test representative submissions before fieldwork.

Step 4: Publish to SurveyLoopr-hosted ODK Central

After review and testing, publish it to your SurveyLoopr-hosted ODK Central server. Direct publishing is limited to SurveyLoopr-hosted ODK Central; use the downloaded XLSX elsewhere. If you need a paper backup or review copy, you can also convert the XLSForm to PDF.

What can AI add to your XLSForm?

LooprAI handles the parts of XLSForm that are slowest and most error-prone by hand:

Task	What LooprAI does
Skip logic	Writes relevant expressions from a plain-English rule
Validation	Adds constraint and constraint_message for valid ranges
Translations	Machine-translates selected survey text columns in 27 supported languages; it does not translate every choice label
Audit logging	Inserts the audit row for data-quality monitoring
Document import	Builds an editable XLSForm from a PDF, DOCX, or XLSX questionnaire

If you already have a paper or Word questionnaire, see How to Convert a Questionnaire with LooprAI.

"Our enumerator team needed a 120-question survey in three languages by Friday. LooprAI built the workbook and machine-translated supported survey text in an afternoon — work that used to take us a week of Excel."

— Mehrab Ali, SurveyLoopr

Build my first form free

See LooprAI Workspace →