#Assistants

#What it is

An assistant is a named setup for the AI. It answers the question "how should the AI answer on this channel?" with five choices:

Setting	What it controls
Knowledge base	Which content it answers from.
Tone	Friendly and warm, professional, and so on.
Extra instructions	Your own notes on how to write, for example "Mention free delivery on orders over $50."
When it cannot answer	The sentence customers read when the AI has no answer.
Passages per answer	How much of the knowledge base it reads for each question.

Each channel picks one assistant. Find them at AI, Assistants in the navigation (an Admin area).

#The problem it solves

Before assistants, every channel answered the same way. But your WhatsApp support line, your Instagram shop and your website chat may need different voices, or even different content: formal for customers with orders, relaxed for Instagram, a separate knowledge base for a second brand.

Assistants let one workspace have several "personalities" without duplicating everything, and let you change one in a single place.

#How it works

1. You create an assistant and choose its knowledge base, tone and notes.
2. On a channel's card, you choose that assistant.
3. When a customer writes on that channel, the AI reads the assistant's knowledge base, writes the answer in its tone, and uses its fallback sentence if it cannot answer.

Your instructions never override the safety rules. The tone and extra instructions only change how it writes. The AI still answers only from the knowledge base and still says so when it does not know. Even if you write "always say yes", it will not invent an answer.

#1. Creating an assistant

1. Go to Assistants and click New assistant.
2. Fill in:
   • Name, for example "Sales" or "Support (formal)".
   • Knowledge base: the content to answer from. Without one, the assistant "cannot answer yet" and the list says so.
   • Tone: for example Friendly and warm or Professional.
   • Extra instructions (optional): short, plain notes. These change how it writes, not what it knows.
   • When it cannot answer (optional): the sentence sent instead of the standard "I don't have enough information". A team member is still alerted, exactly as before.
   • Reply language when unclear: the AI answers in the language the customer writes in. This language is only used when that is unclear, such as a sticker or a one-word message. By default it is your workspace's language.
   • Passages per answer: how many pieces of your knowledge base it reads for each question. More is slower and costs more. The default of 5 suits most.
   • On: when off, channels that use this assistant do not answer with AI at all.
3. Save.

The list shows each assistant with its knowledge base, passages per answer, on or off, and how many channels use it. Test opens the Playground with the assistant already chosen, so you can try it before customers do.

#2. Choosing an assistant for a channel

On the Channels page, each card has an Assistant picker. Change it and it saves at once. With No assistant, the channel still receives messages but the AI stays silent.

You can also use an assistant inside an automation with the Answer with an assistant step.

#3. Good tone and instructions

• Keep instructions short. Three clear lines beat a page.
• Say what to do, not what to avoid. "Reply in two or three sentences" works better than "don't be long".
• Put facts (prices, hours) in the knowledge base, not in the instructions. Instructions are for style; the knowledge base is for facts.
• Use the fallback reply to give a real next step: "I'm not sure about that. Our team will reply within an hour, or call us on 0123."

#4. Your online store

With booking set up (Appointment Booking), switch on Can book appointments and the assistant starts the booking questions when a customer asks to book. It only offers the services you created.

If you connect a store (Stores), each assistant can be allowed to recommend products, create a ready checkout link and offer the store's coupon. These are off until you switch them on. The assistant only shows products your store lists, with their real price and stock, and never invents a discount.

#Good to know

• Existing channels keep working: when assistants arrived, every channel that was linked to a knowledge base got a default assistant for it, so nothing answers differently.
• Switching an assistant off silences the AI on every channel that uses it. Messages still arrive in the Inbox.
• Your plan may limit how many assistants you can have. See Plans and Billing.
• Usage and cost are shown per assistant in the Usage Report.

#Common questions

The AI ignores my instruction. Instructions cannot change what the AI is allowed to say. If it needs a fact, add the fact to the knowledge base.

Can two channels share one assistant? Yes.

Can an assistant use two knowledge bases? No. Put the content you need in one knowledge base.

My channel says "No knowledge base chosen, so it cannot answer yet". Open the assistant and pick a knowledge base.