# Ask the docs

> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://falconer.com/docs/llms.txt).

The AI assistant on your published site that answers from your pages with citations.


The AI assistant on your published site that answers from your pages with citations.

**Ask the docs** is the question box at the bottom of every page on a published site. Visitors type a question in plain language and get an answer drawn only from the pages in the published build, with links to the pages it used.

![The published site with the Ask the docs panel open next to a page](/docs/images/public-docs-site-ask.png)

## How visitors use it

- Typing a question in the box opens a chat panel next to the page.
- Every answer cites the pages it came from, so visitors can click through to the source.
- The conversation keeps its context, so follow-up questions work. **New chat** starts over.
- From the page action menu, **Ask the agent** starts a question about the page the visitor is reading. See [Context menu](https://falconer.com/docs/public-docs/customize-your-site.md#context-menu).

The assistant answers only from your site. It doesn't browse the web or draw on anything outside the published build.

Ask the docs has daily fair-use limits per visitor and per organization. See [Plans and limits](https://falconer.com/docs/public-docs/plans-and-limits.md#ask-the-docs).

## When answers update

The assistant reads from the index of the build you published, the same index as [site search](https://falconer.com/docs/public-docs/site-search.md). Indexing runs right after each build, and a build shows **Indexed** when it's ready. If you publish a build before indexing finishes, the assistant keeps answering from the previously indexed build until it completes. See [Build status](https://falconer.com/docs/public-docs/build-and-publish.md#build-status).

## Control what it can see

| To | Do this |
| --- | --- |
| Keep a page out of the site entirely | Mark it private. See [Private and hidden](https://falconer.com/docs/public-docs/navigation-sections.md#private-and-hidden). |
| Build a page but keep it out of answers | Hide it from navigation, or set `pagefind: false` in its frontmatter. |
| Limit who can ask at all | Turn on [password protection](https://falconer.com/docs/public-docs/password-protection.md). The assistant sits behind the same password as the pages. |