# Configure the assistant (/assistant/configure)

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Related: [Customize assistant behavior](/assistant/customize.md), [Mintlify widget](/assistant/widget.md), [Add assistant skills](/assistant/skills.md), [Use the assistant](/assistant/use.md), [Security contact](/dashboard/security-contact.md)

Configure the assistant on the [Assistant](https://app.mintlify.com/products/assistant) page of your dashboard. Manage billing and usage on the [Usage](https://app.mintlify.com/settings/organization/usage) page.

## Enable or disable the assistant [#enable-or-disable-the-assistant]

Toggle the assistant status to enable or disable the assistant for your documentation site.

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  <img src="/_assets/632f92922de18447ebcc227f0630628d296bdb94757171857e7fa29ad3f75431" alt="The assistant status toggle in the dashboard." className="block dark:hidden" />

  <img src="/_assets/86e1904abc43cc57f77dcede836052183b398ced4c7450aba28076e9c9951dce" alt="The assistant status toggle in the dashboard." className="hidden dark:block" />
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## Set deflection emails [#set-deflection-emails]

In the Response Handling section, enable the assistant to prompt users to contact your support and sales teams when it can't answer a question on its own.

Enter one or both of the following addresses:

* **Support**: For questions the assistant can't resolve from your documentation.
* **Sales**: For questions about pricing, plans, or purchasing.

When you enable deflection and the assistant detects a matching question, an in-chat contact form appears. The form asks for the user's first name, last name, company, company email, and a message. Mintlify emails the submission to the appropriate team, which can respond directly to the user's email.

The same contact form is available in the [assistant widget](/assistant/widget) embedded on other sites. No extra widget configuration is required.

<Tip>
  If you prefer to route support questions to your existing support channels instead, disable the **Contact form** in the Response handling section.

  When you disable the contact form, the assistant directs users to your support email address in plain text instead of showing the in-chat form. Sales questions still use the in-chat form when a sales email is configured.
</Tip>

## Search domains [#search-domains]

In the Response Handling section, configure domains that the assistant can use for web search to find additional context when answering questions.

* Domains must be publicly available.
* Domains that require JavaScript to load are not supported.

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  <img src="/_assets/19f2da38f6a17e1873a20f9569215a61437eb6657c2b89684a12286cc9a4292d" alt="The assistant search domains panel enabled in the dashboard. The assistant is configured to search the mintlify.com/pricing domain." className="block dark:hidden" />

  <img src="/_assets/3e59341e82512a6800c086a24a22f6b21b6d1d88f41441418e0875f1103209ee" alt="The assistant search domains panel enabled in the dashboard. The assistant is configured to search the mintlify.com/pricing domain." className="hidden dark:block" />
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For more precise control over what the assistant can search, use filtering syntax.

* **Domain-level filtering**
  * `example.com`: Search only the `example.com` domain
  * `docs.example.com`: Search only the `docs.example.com` subdomain
  * `*.example.com`: Search all subdomains of `example.com`

{/* vale Vale.Terms = NO */}

* **Path-level filtering**
  * `docs.example.com/api`: Search all pages under the `/api` subpath

{/* vale Vale.Terms = YES */}

* **Multiple patterns**
  * Add multiple entries to target different sections of sites

## Add sample questions [#add-sample-questions]

Help your users begin conversations with the assistant by adding starter questions.

The assistant can generate page-specific questions based on the page a user is viewing, or you can add persistent questions that are available across pages.

You can add up to three starter questions. Click **Ask Assistant** for recommended questions based on your documentation.

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  <img src="/_assets/8a9b44f3abfbdf7617c88300a233423f11eecda6482be02e8a1b0c6899493bc5" alt="The search suggestions panel in the dashboard with contextual starter questions enabled." className="block dark:hidden" />

  <img src="/_assets/5578dfaaeaeb591f7e3f2494ea3af262a310d42aca3a2aa0099d865c4b03b2cf" alt="The search suggestions panel in the dashboard with contextual starter questions enabled." className="hidden dark:block" />
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## Bot protection [#bot-protection]

In the Bot Protection section, enable invisible captcha to protect your assistant from automated abuse. The bot protection is privacy-friendly and invisible to nearly all visitors.

To enable bot protection:

1. Go to the [Assistant settings](https://app.mintlify.com/products/assistant/settings) page in your dashboard.
2. In the **Bot Protection** section, toggle **Invisible Captcha** on.

Changes take up to 10 minutes to propagate.

<Note>
  If you use custom [Content Security Policy headers](/deploy/csp-configuration), you must include `hcaptcha.com` and `*.hcaptcha.com` in your allowlist.
</Note>

## Manage billing [#manage-billing]

The assistant runs on credits. Each assistant message consumes credits, where a message is any user interaction with the assistant that receives a response. See [Credit pricing](/credits) for more information.

### Change your credit tier [#change-your-credit-tier]

1. Go to the [Usage](https://app.mintlify.com/settings/organization/usage) page of your dashboard.
2. In the **Credit packages** section, select a tier from the dropdown menu.
3. Confirm the change to proceed to checkout.

### Allow overages [#allow-overages]

Credits are shared across your organization, but overages are configured per deployment. Mintlify disables overages by default. When overages are off for a deployment, the assistant on that deployment becomes unavailable once your organization's shared credit balance is spent, and stays unavailable until the balance resets.

To allow overages, enable them in the **Spending controls** section of the [Usage](https://app.mintlify.com/settings/organization/usage) page of your dashboard. If you enable overages, each credit spent beyond the shared balance incurs an overage charge.

### Set usage alerts [#set-usage-alerts]

In the **Spending controls** section of your dashboard, set usage alerts to receive an email when your organization reaches a certain percentage of its shared credit balance.

### Higher credit volumes [#higher-credit-volumes]

For plans larger than 10,000 credits per month, [contact sales](mailto:sales@mintlify.com) to discuss custom credit packages.