mintlify__docs/ai/assistant.mdx

---
title: "Assistant"
description: "Add AI-powered chat to your docs that answers questions, cites sources, and generates code examples."
keywords: ["chat", "RAG", "user support"]
---

<Info>
  The assistant is automatically enabled on [Pro and Custom plans](https://mintlify.com/pricing?ref=assistant).
</Info>

## About the assistant

The assistant answers questions about your documentation through natural language queries. Users access the assistant on your documentation site, so they can find answers quickly and succeed with your product even if they don't know where to look.

The assistant uses agentic RAG (retrieval-augmented generation) with tool calling powered by Claude Opus 4.5. When users ask questions, the assistant:

* **Searches and retrieves** relevant content from your documentation to provide accurate answers.
* **Cites sources** and provides navigable links to take users directly to referenced pages.
* **Generates copyable code examples** to help users implement solutions from your documentation.

The assistant uses tiered message allowances. A message is any user interaction with the assistant that receives a correct response. If you have unused messages, up to half of your message allowance can carry over to the next billing cycle. For example, if you have a 1,000 message allowance and you use 300 messages, 500 messages carry over to the next billing cycle giving you a total of 1,500 messages for the next billing cycle.

By default, the assistant allows overages. You can disable overages to avoid incurring additional costs for usage beyond your tier. If you reach your message allowance with overages disabled, the assistant is unavailable until your message allowance resets. When overages are enabled, each message beyond your allowance incurs an overage charge, but occasional overages may be cheaper than upgrading to a higher tier depending on your usage.

You can view assistant usage through your dashboard to understand user behavior and documentation effectiveness. Export and analyze query data to help identify:

* Frequently asked questions that might need better coverage.
* Content gaps where users struggle to find answers.
* Popular topics that could benefit from additional content.

## How indexing works

The assistant automatically indexes your published documentation to answer questions accurately. When you publish changes, the assistant immediately indexes new, updated, or deleted content. The assistant does not index draft branches or preview deployments.

By default, the assistant does not index hidden pages. To include hidden pages in the assistant's index, set `seo.indexing: "all"` in your `docs.json`. See [Hidden pages](/organize/hidden-pages#search-seo-and-ai-indexing) for more information.

## How the assistant handles unknown questions

The assistant only answers questions based on information in your documentation. If it cannot find relevant information after searching, it responds that it doesn't have enough information to answer.

You can [set a deflection email](/ai/assistant#set-deflection-email) so that the assistant provides your support email to users whose questions it cannot answer. This gives users a path forward, even if the documentation doesn't address their specific question.

## Configure the assistant

The assistant is active on Pro and Custom plans by default.

Manage the assistant from the [Assistant Configurations](https://dashboard.mintlify.com/products/assistant/settings) page of your dashboard. Enable or disable the assistant, configure response handling, add default questions, and manage your message allowance.

### Enable or disable the assistant

Toggle the assistant status to enable or disable the assistant for your documentation site.

<Frame>
  <img src="/images/assistant/status-light.png" alt="The assistant status toggle in the dashboard." className="block dark:hidden" />
  <img src="/images/assistant/status-dark.png" alt="The assistant status toggle in the dashboard." className="hidden dark:block" />
</Frame>

### Set deflection email

In the response handling section, enable the assistant to redirect unanswered questions to your support team. Specify an email address that the assistant provides to users who ask questions that it cannot answer.

<Frame>
  <img src="/images/assistant/deflection-light.png" alt="The assistant deflection panel in the dashboard. Assistant deflection is toggled on and support@mintlify.com is set as the deflection email." className="block dark:hidden" />
  <img src="/images/assistant/deflection-dark.png" alt="The assistant deflection panel in the dashboard. Assistant deflection is toggled on and support@mintlify.com is set as the deflection email." className="hidden dark:block" />
</Frame>

### Search sites

In the response handling section, configure sites that the assistant can search for additional context when answering questions.

- Sites must be publicly available.
- Sites that require JavaScript to load are not supported.

<Frame>
  <img src="/images/assistant/search-sites-light.png" alt="The assistant search sites panel in the dashboard. The assistant is configured to search the mintlify.com and mintlify.com/blog domains." className="block dark:hidden" />
  <img src="/images/assistant/search-sites-dark.png" alt="The assistant search sites panel in the dashboard. The assistant is configured to search the mintlify.com and mintlify.com/blog domains." className="hidden dark:block" />
</Frame>

Use the following filtering syntax for more precise control over what the assistant can search:

- **Domain-level filtering**
  - `example.com`: Search only the `example.com` domain
  - `docs.example.com`: Search only the `docs.example.com` subdomain
  - `*.example.com`: Search all subdomains of `example.com`
- **Path-level filtering**
  - `docs.example.com/api`: Search all pages under the `/api` subpath
- **Multiple patterns**
  - Add multiple entries to target different sections of sites

### Add sample questions

Help your users start questions with the assistant by adding sample questions. In the search suggestions section, add up to three sample questions.

<Frame>
  <img src="/images/assistant/search-suggestions-light.png" alt="The search suggestions panel in the dashboard. What is an OpenAPI spec? is configured as a sample question." className="block dark:hidden" />
  <img src="/images/assistant/search-suggestions-dark.png" alt="The search suggestions panel in the dashboard. What is an OpenAPI spec? is configured as a sample question." className="hidden dark:block" />
</Frame>

### Change your assistant tier

Assistant tiers determine your monthly message allowance and pricing.

View and change your current tier on the [Assistant Configurations](https://dashboard.mintlify.com/products/assistant/settings/billing) page of your dashboard.

1. Select the **Billing** tab.
  <Frame>
    <img src="/images/assistant/billing-light.png" alt="The billing tab on the Assistant Configurations page. The Billing tab is emphasized with an orange rectangle." className="block dark:hidden" style={{ width: '268px', height: 'auto' }} />
    <img src="/images/assistant/billing-dark.png" alt="The billing tab on the Assistant Configurations page. The Billing tab is emphasized with an orange rectangle." className="hidden dark:block" style={{ width: '268px', height: 'auto' }} />
  </Frame>
2. In the **Spending Controls** section, select your preferred tier from the dropdown menu.

**Upgrade your tier:**
- Your new message allowance is available immediately.
- You pay a prorated difference for the current billing cycle.

**Downgrade your tier:**
- Your message allowance updates immediately.
- Pricing changes take effect at the start of your next billing cycle.
- Unused messages from your current tier **do not** carry over.

### Allow overages

If you want to allow overages, enable them in the **Billing Controls** section of the [Assistant Configurations](https://dashboard.mintlify.com/products/assistant/settings/billing) page of your dashboard.

You can also set usage alerts to receive an email when you reach a certain percentage of your message allowance.

## Use the assistant

Users have multiple ways to start a conversation with the assistant. Each method opens a chat panel on the right side of your docs. Users can ask any question and the assistant searches your documentation for an answer. If the assistant cannot retrieve relevant information, the assistant responds that it cannot answer the question.

Add the assistant as a bot to your [Slack workspace](/ai/slack-bot) or [Discord server](/ai/discord) so that your community can ask questions without leaving their preferred platform.

### UI placement

The assistant appears in two locations: as a button next to the search bar and as a bar at the bottom of the page.

<Columns cols={2}>
  <Frame caption="Assistant button next to the search bar.">
    <img
  src="/images/assistant/assistant-button-light.png"
  className="block dark:hidden"
  style={{
    width: '268px',
    height: 'auto',
  }}
  alt="Search bar and assistant button in light mode."
/>
<img
  src="/images/assistant/assistant-button-dark.png"
  className="hidden dark:block"
  style={{
    width: '268px',
    height: 'auto',
  }}
  alt="Search bar and assistant button in dark mode."
/>
</Frame>
<Frame caption="Assistant button at the bottom of the page.">
<img
  src="/images/assistant/assistant-bar-light.png"
  className="block dark:hidden"
  style={{
    width: '268px',
    height: 'auto',
  }}
  alt="Assistant bar in light mode."
/>
<img
  src="/images/assistant/assistant-bar-dark.png"
  className="hidden dark:block"
  style={{
    width: '268px',
    height: 'auto',
  }}
  alt="Assistant bar in dark mode."
/>
</Frame>
</Columns>

### Keyboard shortcut

Open the assistant chat panel with the keyboard shortcut <kbd>Command</kbd> + <kbd>I</kbd> on macOS and <kbd>Ctrl</kbd> + <kbd>I</kbd> on Windows.

### Highlight text

Highlight text on a page and click the **Add to assistant** pop up button to open the assistant chat panel and add the highlighted text as context. You can add multiple text snippets or code blocks to the assistant's context.

<Frame>
<img src="/images/assistant/highlight-light.png" alt="The Add to assistant button above highlighted text in light mode." className="block dark:hidden" />
<img src="/images/assistant/highlight-dark.png" alt="The Add to assistant button above highlighted text in dark mode." className="hidden dark:block" />
</Frame>

### Code blocks

Click the **Ask AI** button in a code block to open the assistant chat panel and add the code block as context. You can add multiple code blocks or text snippets to the assistant's context.

<Frame>
<img src="/images/assistant/code-block-light.png" alt="The Ask AI button in a code block in light mode." className="block dark:hidden" />
<img src="/images/assistant/code-block-dark.png" alt="The Ask AI button in a code block in dark mode." className="hidden dark:block" />
</Frame>

### URLs
  
Open the assistant with a URL query parameter to create deep links that guide users to specific information or share assistant conversations with pre-filled questions.

- **Open the assistant**: Append `?assistant=open` to open the assistant chat panel when the page loads.
  - Example: [https://mintlify.com/docs?assistant=open](https://mintlify.com/docs?assistant=open)
- **Open with a pre-filled query**: Append `?assistant=YOUR_QUERY` to open the assistant and automatically submit a question.
  - Example: [https://mintlify.com/docs?assistant=explain webhooks](https://mintlify.com/docs?assistant=explain%20webhooks)

## Make content AI ingestible

Structure your documentation to help the assistant provide accurate, relevant answers. Clear organization and comprehensive context benefit both human readers and AI understanding.

<Card title="Structure and organization">
  - Use semantic markup.
  - Write descriptive headings for sections.
  - Create a logical information hierarchy.
  - Use consistent formatting across your docs.
  - Include comprehensive metadata in page frontmatter.
  - Break up long blocks of text into shorter paragraphs.
</Card>

<Card title="Context">
  - Define specific terms and acronyms when first introduced.
  - Provide sufficient conceptual content about features and procedures.
  - Include examples and use cases.
  - Cross-reference related topics.
  - Add [hidden pages](/organize/hidden-pages) with additional context that users don't need, but the assistant can reference.
</Card>

## Export and analyze queries

Review and export queries from your dashboard to understand how people interact with your documentation and identify improvement opportunities. Some ways that analyzing queries can help you improve your documentation:

- Identify content gaps where frequent queries receive insufficient answers.
- Discover user behavior patterns and common information needs from themes and patterns in queries.
- Prioritize high-traffic pages for accuracy and quality improvements.

You can explore queries from your [dashboard](https://dashboard.mintlify.com/products/assistant), but to get more powerful insights we recommend exporting a `CSV` file of your queries, responses, and sources to analyze with your preferred AI tool.

1. Navigate to the [assistant page](https://dashboard.mintlify.com/products/assistant) in your dashboard.
1. Click **Chat history**.
1. Click **Export to CSV**.
1. Analyze the exported data using your preferred tool.

<Card title="Sample analysis prompts">
  - Summarize the most common themes of the queries.
  - List any queries that had no sources cited.
  - Find patterns in unsuccessful interactions.
</Card>

## Assistant insights
Use assistant insights to understand how users interact with your documentation through two views: categories and chat history.

### Categories

The categories tab uses LLMs to automatically categorize conversations. Categories show a summary of the topic or theme, when a question was last asked about the category, and the number of questions about the category over time.

Use categories to identify common topics, patterns in user needs and behavior, and areas where documentation might need expansion or clarification.

Click a category row to expand it and view related conversations grouped under that category. The expanded view displays:

- A list of conversations related to the category.
- The first user message from each conversation.
- The number of messages in each conversation thread.

Click an individual conversation to view the complete chat thread, including the user's question, the assistant's response, and any sources cited.

### Chat history

The chat history tab displays chronological records of all assistant conversations. Click any message to view the complete chat thread, including the user's question, the assistant's response, and any sources cited.

## Troubleshooting

<Accordion title="Assistant chat bar not visible">
  If the assistant UI is not visible in specific browsers, you may need to submit a false positive report to [EasyList](https://easylist.to). Browsers that use the EasyList Cookies List like Brave and Comet sometimes block the assistant or other UI elements. The EasyList Cookies List includes a domain-specific rule that hides fixed elements on certain domains to block cookie banners. This rule inadvertently affects legitimate UI components.

  Submit a false positive report to [EasyList](https://github.com/easylist/easylist) to request removal of the rule. This resolves the issue for all users once the filter list updates.

</Accordion>