How the agent answers

Every reply follows the same route: search your content, decide whether a tool is needed, answer or act, and escalate when neither is possible. Knowing the route helps you shape content and expectations.

Retrieval first

When a visitor sends a message, the agent searches your workspace's private knowledge base for the passages most relevant to the question (retrieval-augmented generation) and writes its reply from those passages. It does not browse the open internet and it does not answer from general knowledge about your business. Content retrieved from web pages is treated as untrusted data inside the prompt, which resists instructions planted in a page.

Streaming replies

Replies stream into the widget word by word, so the visitor sees the answer forming within a second or two instead of waiting for the whole text.

Tools when needed

If the question needs live data or an action, the agent uses a tool you enabled: an integration action (order status, subscription, ticket), a booking tool for a meeting type you allowed, or the escalation tool. It collects any missing inputs from the visitor first, for example an order number, and reports the result in plain language. See How integrations work and Appointment booking.

When the answer is not there

If retrieval finds nothing relevant, the agent says so and offers to bring in your team rather than inventing an answer. The same happens when a visitor asks for a person. The conversation is marked escalated in your inbox. See Human handoff and escalation.

Models and limits

• Replies and topic labels use OpenAI models; document extraction uses a vision-capable model for scanned pages and images.
• A single message is capped at 4,000 characters.
• Each AI reply counts toward your plan's monthly allowance. See Plans, billing and usage.

What improves answers

The quality of retrieval depends on the content. Clear statements, one version of the truth, and pages that match the questions people ask make the biggest difference. Best practices for accurate answers has the checklist.