GETTING STARTED

Welcome to KnowDesk

KnowDesk is an AI-powered knowledge-base widget platform. Connect your existing knowledge base - Google Docs, PDFs, Notion pages, Confluence wiki pages, or plain text - and deploy a fully branded AI chat widget on any website in minutes. No engineers needed.

This guide walks you through everything from creating your account to going live with your widget on your website. Follow the sections in order for your first setup, or jump to any section using the navigation on the left.

⏱️
2 minutes
Average time to go live
📚
7+ sources
Knowledge integrations
🤖
AI-powered
Streamlined setup

Getting Started

Follow these four steps to go from signup to a live widget on your website.

1
Create your account
Go to knowdesk.io/signup and enter your email, password, company name, and website. Choose a plan — you can start with the free trial on any plan. You'll be redirected to Stripe to complete payment, then straight to your dashboard.
2
Connect your first knowledge source
In your dashboard, go to Knowledge Base and click + Add Source. Choose your source type (Google Drive, PDF, URL, or manual text), give it a name, and paste the file ID or URL. Click Add Source, then Sync to index it.
3
Configure your widget brand
Go to Widget Config. Set your brand name, colour, welcome message, and tone. The live preview on the right updates instantly as you type. Click Save Changes.
4
Embed on your website
Copy your embed code from the Widget Config page and paste it just before the </body> tag on any page. That's it — your widget is live.
💡
Your widget auto-updates whenever you change settings or sync a new source. You never need to update the embed code.

Knowledge Base

The knowledge base is the foundation of your AI widget. The AI only answers from what you connect here — it never makes things up from outside your sources. The more structured and specific your content, the better the answers.

CONNECTED SOURCES (3)+ Add Source
📁
Operations SOP
Google Drive · 24k chars
SYNCED⟳ Sync
📄
Brand Guidelines
PDF · 11k chars
SYNCED⟳ Sync
✏️
Escalation Playbook
Manual text · 6k chars
SYNCED⟳ Sync

Supported source types

📁Google Drive
Paste the file ID from a Google Doc URL. The file must be shared with the KnowDesk service account (email shown in Settings > Google Drive Integration).
From: docs.google.com/document/d/FILE_ID_HERE/edit
📄PDF / URL
Paste any publicly accessible PDF URL or website URL. KnowDesk fetches and indexes the content automatically.
Example: https://yoursite.com/handbook.pdf
✏️Manual Text
Paste SOPs, policies, Q&A pairs, or any text directly. Best for internal playbooks that aren't in a document system.
Supports up to ~50,000 characters per source

Adding a Google Drive source

ADD NEW SOURCE
📁
Google Drive
📄
PDF URL
🌐
Website URL
✏️
Manual Text
SOURCE NAME
Operations SOP Q1 2026
FILE ID (from Google Drive URL)
1BxiMVs0XRA5nFMdKvBdBZjgmUUqp...
Add Source →

To connect a Google Doc:

  1. Go to Knowledge Base in your dashboard
  2. Click + Add Source
  3. Select Google Drive
  4. Give the source a descriptive name (e.g. "Operations SOP")
  5. Open your Google Doc and copy the file ID from the URL: docs.google.com/document/d/FILE_ID/edit
  6. Paste the file ID into the field and click Add Source
  7. Click Sync — the source status changes to SYNCED within a few seconds
⚠
Your Google Doc must be shared with the KnowDesk service account email. Find this in Settings → Google Drive Integration. Set the sharing permission to Viewer.

Syncing sources

Sources don't auto-sync continuously. Click the ⟳ Sync button after editing a document to update what the AI knows. Syncing typically takes 2–10 seconds depending on document size.

Plan limits

PLANKNOWLEDGE SOURCES
Starter1 source
Growth5 sources
EnterpriseUnlimited

Widget Configuration

The Widget Config page controls everything your users see — brand name, colour, welcome message, tone, and suggested prompts. Changes save immediately and take effect on your live widget without any redeployment.

WIDGET CONFIGURATION
BRAND NAME
AcmeCorp
BRAND COLOUR
#4DFFC4 ●
TONE
Casual
DARK MODE
On
EMBED CODE
<script src="https://cdn.knowdesk.io/widget.js" data-key="kd_live_..."></script>

Brand settings

Brand Name
Displayed in the widget header next to your logo. Typically your company name.
Brand Colour
Hex colour code used for the accent line, buttons, and message bubbles. Defaults to #4DFFC4.
Logo URL
Optional. A public URL to your logo image. Displayed as a circle avatar in the widget header. Leave blank to use your brand initials.
Welcome Message
The first message your users see when they open the widget. Keep it short and action-oriented.

AI behaviour

Tone — Controls how the AI writes responses:

  • Casual — Clear, direct, and conversational. Sounds like a knowledgeable teammate.
  • Formal — Complete sentences, professional language, structured responses.
  • Technical — Assumes domain knowledge, uses precise terminology.

Suggested Prompts — Up to 4 quick-start buttons shown in the widget before the user types. Enter one per line. Example: "How do I escalate a client issue?" or "What is our refund policy?"

Dark / Light mode

Toggle whether the widget renders in dark or light mode. This affects only the widget appearance — not your dashboard. Choose whichever matches your website's background.

Embedding the Widget

Your embed code is a single script tag found in Widget Config → Embed Code. Copy it and paste it anywhere on your website — no build step required.

Your embed code (example)
<script 
  src="https://cdn.knowdesk.io/widget.js" 
  data-key="kd_live_your_api_key_here">
</script>

Where to paste it

Paste the script tag just before the closing </body> tag on every page you want the widget to appear.

Example HTML page
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
  <head>
    <title>Your Website</title>
  </head>
  <body>
    <!-- Your website content -->

    <!-- KnowDesk Widget — paste here -->
    <script 
      src="https://cdn.knowdesk.io/widget.js" 
      data-key="kd_live_your_api_key_here">
    </script>
  </body>
</html>

Works on any platform

✓ Webflow
✓ Framer
✓ WordPress
✓ Shopify
✓ Next.js
✓ Any HTML site
ℹ
The widget loads asynchronously — it won't affect your page load speed. It only becomes active after the knowledge base is loaded from your Cloudflare Worker.

Analytics

The Analytics page shows everything happening across your widget — message volume, resolution rates, escalations, and a full browsable conversation history.

Key metrics

Messages This Week
Total messages sent and received across all conversations in the last 7 days.
Resolution Rate
Percentage of conversations that ended without escalation.
Escalated
Conversations where the AI directed the user to a manager or human.
Conversations
Total unique chat sessions opened this week.

Conversation history

Every conversation is logged and viewable in full. Click any conversation row to expand it and read the full chat. Use the search bar to find conversations by keyword, or filter by status (open / resolved / escalated).

💡
Use the conversation history to identify gaps in your knowledge base — if the AI frequently says "I don't have information on this", add that topic as a new source.

Team Management

Add your colleagues so they can access the dashboard. Each team member gets a role that controls what they can see and do.

Roles

AdminFull access — can edit widget, knowledge sources, team members, and billing.
MemberCan view dashboard and analytics. Cannot change settings or billing.
ViewerRead-only access to conversations and analytics only.

Inviting a team member

  1. Go to Team in your dashboard
  2. Click + Invite Member
  3. Enter their email address and choose their role
  4. Click Send Invite
  5. They receive a magic link by email — clicking it creates their account and gives them access

Billing & Plans

Starter — $49/mo
1 widget · 1 knowledge source · 500 messages/month · Basic branding · Email support
Growth — $149/mo
3 widgets · 5 knowledge sources · 5,000 messages/month · Full branding · Analytics · Priority support
Enterprise — $499/mo
Unlimited widgets · Unlimited sources · Unlimited messages · Team management · Custom domain · Dedicated support

Billing is handled by Stripe. To upgrade, downgrade, or cancel — go to Billing → Manage Billing. This opens the Stripe customer portal where you can update your plan, payment method, or download invoices.

ℹ
Message counts reset on the 1st of each month. If you exceed your limit before the reset, the widget stops responding until the next cycle or until you upgrade.

Settings

Company info

Update your company name, website, and support email. These are used internally and on invoices.

Google Drive integration

To allow KnowDesk to read your Google Docs, share them with the service account email shown in Settings → Google Drive Integration. Set the permission to Viewer. You only need to do this once per document.

Widget API key

Your API key is the unique identifier in your embed code. It's safe to have in your website's HTML — it only authorises the widget to load content, not to modify data.

⚠
If you click Regenerate, your existing embed code will stop working. You'll need to update the data-key attribute on every page where the widget is embedded.

Password

Change your password from the Settings page. Enter your new password twice to confirm. You'll remain logged in on your current device.

Frequently Asked Questions

Ready to go live?
Your knowledge base → a branded AI widget → on your website in under 2 minutes.