Before you begin
Make sure you have:
Admin or editor role in your Ferndesk account
The help widget embedded on your site
At least one published article in your knowledge base
An empty knowledge base will cause the AI to respond with "I couldn't find information" for most queries. Publish core content before enabling.
Enable AI answers
Navigate to Help Center → Widget in your dashboard
Click Customize to open the customization panel
Find the AI Assistant section in the sidebar
Toggle Enable AI answers to ON
Click Save at the top of the panel
Use the preview panel on the right to see how the AI chat tab appears before saving changes.
What happens next
Once enabled, users visiting your site can:
Open the widget and navigate to the chat tab
Ask questions in natural language
Receive instant answers with clickable citations
Provide thumbs up/down feedback on responses
Contact support directly if answers aren't great
Related resources
What is the AI assistant – Learn about capabilities and use cases
Self-Service widget overview – Understand how the widget integrates with your site