Ferndesk
Assistant

What is the AI assistant

The AI assistant answers customer questions using your published knowledge base. Users type questions in natural language and receive instant responses with citations to the source articles.

The AI assistant is available in two places:

  • Help Center: Users click the Ask AI button in the header to open an AI panel

  • Help Widget: Users access AI assistance through the chat tab in your embedded widget

The AI assistant requires at least one published article to answer questions.

How it works

When a user asks a question, the AI assistant:

  1. Searches your published knowledge base for relevant content

  2. Synthesizes an answer from the matching articles

  3. Includes clickable citations to the source articles

Each response includes thumbs up and thumbs down buttons for feedback.

Help Center AI sidebar

In the help center, the AI assistant appears as an Ask AI button in the header. Clicking it opens a side panel where users can:

  • Ask questions in natural language

  • View streaming responses with citations

  • Provide thumbs up or thumbs down feedback

  • Start a new conversation

When a user clicks thumbs down, the panel asks if the answer was helpful and offers a way to continue searching the knowledge base.

Widget AI chat

In the embedded widget, the AI assistant appears in the chat tab. Users can ask questions and receive the same AI-powered responses with citations and feedback options.

Routing to human support

The widget shows a Contact support button in two situations:

  • Insufficient information — When the AI cannot find relevant content, it skips feedback and shows the contact button immediately

  • Negative feedback — When a user clicks thumbs down, the widget asks if they would like to contact support and displays the button

The button routes to your configured contact method, such as an email form or external link. If contact is set to None in widget settings, the button does not appear.

Configure contact methods in widget settings. The email option includes file uploads for screenshots.

More resources

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