> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.navless.ai/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.navless.ai/guide/create-and-manage-your-guides.md).
# Create and Manage your Guides
### What this is for
A **Guide** is an AI experience you put on any page. It answers visitor questions using your content (through Knowledge Bases) in your brand voice (through a Brand Kit), and you control which kinds of answers it's allowed to produce. This article walks you through creating one from scratch, configuring it, and sharing it.
You can have as many **Guides** as you want — one for your marketing site, one for product docs, one tuned for sales conversations — each with its own URL, embed, and analytics.
### Before you start
Guide must be enabled on your account. If you don't see Guide in your account, please reach out to the [Navless team](https://www.navless.ai/demo).
You'll also need at least one of each of the following set up in your account:
* A **Brand Kit** — controls the voice, tone, and visual styling of your **Guide**.
* A **Knowledge Base** — the content your **Guide** draws on to answer questions.
If you don't have these yet, set them up first. You'll be prompted to pick them when you create the **Guide**.
### Step 1: Open the Guides list
1. Go to **Guides** in the left-hand menu.
### Step 2: Create a new Guide
* Click **Create Guide**.
* In the modal, enter a **Name** for your **Guide**.
* Select a **Brand Kit** from the dropdown.
* Select one or more **Knowledge Bases**.
* Click **Create Guide**.
You'll land on the edit page for your new **Guide**, with four tabs across the top.
### Step 3: Configure the four tabs
Each tab covers a different part of how your **Guide** looks and behaves. Walk through them in order the first time.
#### General — identity and first impression
This is what visitors see when they land on your **Guide**.
1. Set the **Name** and URL **slug** (the slug shows up in the hosted link).
2. Add or remove **Knowledge Bases**. A single **Guide** can pull from several.
3. Enter a **Welcome message** that greets visitors.
4. Set titles for the **suggestion** area, the "**pick up where you left off**" prompt, and the **help section**.
5. Configure the **side tab button text** and choose whether to show the **Guide**'s name on it.
6. Add **Chat placeholders** — up to five rotating prompts that appear in the chat box to suggest what to ask.
7. If you want visitors to be able to download answers as PDFs, configure the PDF description, and disclaimer(s).
8. Select the form to use with your **Magic Link**.
#### Behavior — how it talks and what it does when it can't help
1. Enter **Skill Routing** instructions to udge the **Guide** to prefer certain skills over others. For example, "prefer How-To over Answer for setup questions."
2. Enter **Response Generation** instructions to shape the tone, emphasis, phrasing, and length of responses. For example, "use a casual tone".
3. Set a **Fallback CTA** — a button label and URL that appears when the **Guide** can't answer. This is your safety net for routing visitors to sales, signup, or wherever you want them to go next.
4. Decide how visitors can personalize the **Guide** by selecting from a list of roles and intents, and whether to use AI-generated roles or custom ones you define.
⚠️ **Important:** Custom instructions can change *how* the **Guide** writes, but not *what* it draws from. They can't change which content is retrieved, which roles or intents are available, or the structure of any deliverable. If you need to change those, configure the **Brand Kit**, **Knowledge Bases**, or skills directly.
#### Skills — what kinds of answers it can produce
Skills are the different response types your **Guide** knows how to produce. Each one is shaped differently — a How-To looks different from a Business Case. Turn on the ones that fit your visitors:
* **Answer** — direct answers to questions (always on)
* **Playlist** — assembles a curated set of content
* **Diagnose** — helps a visitor troubleshoot a problem
* **How-To** — step-by-step instructions
* **Business Case** — builds a written case for a decision
* **Solution Design** — outlines a tailored solution
For each skill you turn on, you can optionally set an **email gate** — for example, "ask the visitor for their email after 3 responses from this skill." Disabled skills are removed from the **Guide**.
📝 **Note:** Answer is always on. You can't turn it off.
#### Branding — what it knows and how it looks
1. Confirm the **Brand Kit** powering the voice and visual style. One per **Guide**.
2. Upload a **hero image**.
3. Use the **live preview** on this tab to see your **Guide** with the chosen settings applied before you save.
### Step 4: Save
Click **Save** at the top of the edit page. Your changes are live immediately on the hosted URL and any embed you've installed — there's no separate publish step.
### Step 5: Share your Guide
You have three ways to get your **Guide** in front of visitors:
* **Analytics** — every **Guide** gets its own dashboard with sessions, visitors, and traffic sources.
* **Copy Link** — a hosted URL on your domain. Drop it in an email, post it on social, share it in sales outreach. Visitors land on the full-page **Guide**.
* [**Generate Embed**](/guide/embed-a-guide-on-any-page.md) — a copy-paste snippet that puts the **Guide** on your page as a button or a chat input. Walks you through a short setup wizard.
### What success looks like
Your **Guide** appears in the **Guides** list with a working hosted URL. When you open the link, the **Guide** greets visitors with your welcome message and rotating placeholders, answers in your brand voice, and uses your **Knowledge Bases** to draw responses. The skills you turned on appear as starter prompts; the ones you turned off don't.
If your brand changes later, you update the **Brand Kit** once and every **Guide** using it picks up the change.
### Tips and gotchas
💡 **Tip:** Use the live preview on the **Branding** tab as your check before saving. There's no separate draft state, so the preview is the safest place to confirm your changes look right.
⚠️ **Important:** Email gates are configured per skill, not per **Guide**.
### Common questions
#### Do I need to publish a Guide for changes to go live?
No. When you click **Save**, your changes are live on the hosted URL and any installed embed. There's no separate publish step.
#### Can I have more than one Guide?
Yes, as many as you want. Each **Guide** has its own entry in the list, its own URL, its own embed, and its own analytics dashboard.
#### What happens to my Guides if I update a Brand Kit?
Every **Guide** that uses that **Brand Kit** picks up the change automatically. You don't need to re-edit individual **Guides**.
#### Can custom instructions change which content the Guide answers from?
No. Custom instructions control tone, emphasis, length, and skill preference. To change what content the **Guide** can draw from, edit its **Knowledge Bases** on the **General** tab.
#### When should I ask visitors for their email?
Gate the skills that signal real intent — **Business Case** and **Solution Design** are common choices — and leave **Answer** ungated so visitors can ask quick questions without friction. Set the threshold (for example, "ask after 3 responses") high enough that visitors get value before they're asked.
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