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Get started with AskVault

Written by , Principal Architect, Networks and Tech, AskVault · Reviewed by Allison Chan
Last updated: · 5 min read

Prefer to watch first?

If a 5-minute walkthrough works better for you, book a live demo. We'll screen-share your actual use case. Or read on and follow the manual steps below; they take the same 5 minutes.

What you'll do in this guide

Four steps, about 5 minutes:

  1. Sign up. 60-second flow with email and password or Google OAuth.
  2. Index your content. Crawl a URL, upload a PDF, or paste a sitemap.
  3. Deploy a widget. One script tag on your site.
  4. Ask the bot a question. Confirm answers cite your sources.

By the end, you have a working AI assistant grounded in your content.

Step 1: sign up

Open askvault.co/signup and either:

  • Use email and password. Enter your work email and a 12-character password. Verification email arrives within 30 seconds.
  • Use Google OAuth. Click "Continue with Google", pick your account. Auto-verified, no separate email step.

You land in the onboarding wizard. Your account starts on a 14-day free trial on the Free plan: 50 messages per month, 1 workspace, up to 5 MB of indexed content, web widget and shared chat page. No credit card needed. See free trial countdown for what happens if you do not upgrade.

See login and signup for details.

Prefer to have it done for you? The Setup Copilot can finish the deployable basics (website widget, shared chat link, branding) on your behalf. Tap "Finish setting up my agent" and approve each change. The manual steps below are the do-it-yourself path.

Step 2: index your content

Three of the most common starting points:

Option A: crawl your site.

  1. Open Knowledge Hub > Add Source > URL Crawl.
  2. Paste your homepage URL (e.g., https://yoursite.co).
  3. Pick crawl depth (default 2 levels deep covers most marketing sites).
  4. Click Start Crawl.

Indexing time: about 30 seconds per MB. A 5 MB site indexes in about 2 to 3 minutes.

Option B: upload a PDF or DOCX.

  1. Open Knowledge Hub > Add Source > File Upload.
  2. Drag-drop one or more files. Max 50 MB per file, up to 1,000 files per workspace.
  3. Wait for parsing. A 100-page PDF indexes in about 60 seconds.

Option C: paste a sitemap.

  1. Open Knowledge Hub > Add Source > Sitemap.
  2. Paste your sitemap URL (often https://yoursite.co/sitemap.xml).
  3. AskVault enumerates URLs and crawls each in parallel.

Faster than recursive crawl for large sites with clean sitemaps.

See URL crawling and file uploads for advanced options.

Step 3: deploy a widget

The fastest channel to ship:

  1. Open Deploy Hub > Widget.
  2. Copy the script tag. Looks like:
<script src="https://api.askvault.co/widget.js" data-token="YOUR_TOKEN" async></script>
  1. Paste it before </body> on your site. WordPress: use a custom-HTML widget. React: drop it in index.html. Shopify: paste under Theme Customize > Layout > theme.liquid.
  2. Save and reload your site.

The widget renders bottom-right within 2 seconds of page load. Customize colors, position, and welcome text under Deploy Hub > Widget > Customize.

See channel-specific guides: WordPress, React, Shopify.

Step 4: ask a question

Two ways to test:

From your site. Click the widget bubble, type a question your content should answer. Confirm:

  • Response arrives in under 2 seconds.
  • Answer cites a source (link icon next to the response).
  • Answer is grounded (not generic ChatGPT-style fluff).

From the Chat Playground in the dashboard. Open Chat Playground, type the same question. Useful for testing without deploying. Doesn't count against your monthly message quota.

If the answer feels off, expand the citation to see which chunks the bot used. Often the fix is adding a snippet under Knowledge Hub > Add Source > Snippet with the canonical answer.

What's next

Once the widget is live, the next 3 high-leverage moves:

  1. Add WhatsApp. Connect Twilio under Deploy Hub > WhatsApp. About 30 minutes. Requires a Growth plan or above. See the WhatsApp setup guide.
  2. Enable identity verification. Lets logged-in customers see plan-specific content. About 10 minutes. See identity verification.
  3. Configure skills. Enable lead capture, escalate-to-human, ticketing. See skills overview.

Most teams complete the first two within a week of signup.

Plan and pricing recap

Your 14-day free trial runs on the Free plan. After 14 days, upgrade to keep your agent and data, or choose the plan that fits:

  • Free. $0 per month. 50 messages, 5 MB, widget + shared page.
  • Starter. $39 per month. 2,000 messages, 15 MB, + REST API, Zapier, Make.
  • Growth. $99 per month. 6,000 messages, 40 MB, +WhatsApp/Telegram/Slack/Discord/SMS/email, brand-free widget, 4 team members.
  • Business. $249 per month. 15,000 messages, 100 MB, +Voice +Intercom, premium models, 10 team members.
  • Enterprise. Custom. Custom message volume, dedicated infra, signed DPA.

Single dimension: indexed content (MB). Message and team caps scale with plan. No surprise charges.

See full pricing for the side-by-side matrix.

Common pitfalls in the first hour

Site behind login. The crawl gets the login page only. Use file upload for protected content, or configure crawl cookies under URL Crawl > Advanced > Authentication.

Bot answers vaguely. Content is too sparse. Add 5 to 10 detailed snippets covering the most-asked questions. Re-test.

Widget doesn't appear. Script-tag installed in the wrong place or blocked by CSP. Inspect with browser DevTools; the widget appends a <div id="askvault-widget"> to body.

Trial expired with content still un-indexed. The workspace expires at day 14 unless you upgrade. Upgrading to a paid plan restores access instantly. See free trial countdown.

FAQ

Do I need a credit card to start?

No. Signup starts a 14-day free trial on the Free plan without a card: 50 messages, 5 MB, 1 workspace. Upgrade any time to move to a paid plan; otherwise the workspace expires at day 14.

How long does indexing take?

About 30 seconds per MB. A typical 10 MB site indexes in 5 minutes. A 100-page PDF indexes in 60 seconds.

Can I use AskVault on a site behind login?

Yes. Two paths: identity verification (HMAC) for authenticated visitors, or audience tags for plan-specific content. See identity verification.

What if my content changes?

Re-crawl any source under Knowledge Hub > [source] > Re-crawl. Scheduled re-crawl (daily, weekly) available on Growth and above.

Where can I see what the bot cited on a specific answer?

Open the conversation in Live Chat and click the citation link below the answer. The exact source chunks are shown.

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