---
title: "Edge Assist"
description: "Add AI answers to your website with one script tag. Assist answers visitor questions from your own content, with citations, streamed word by word."
url: "https://edge.network/docs/assist"
section: "Assist"
---

# Edge Assist

Edge Assist adds AI answers to your website. Visitors ask questions in a search-and-ask widget, and Assist answers from your own content, with citations, streamed word by word. One script tag to embed; no model keys, no infrastructure.

## How it works

1. **You give Assist your content.** Your site publishes a small JSON index that Assist re-fetches hourly, so answers track your content automatically. See [Content ingestion](/docs/assist/ingestion).
2. **Visitors search or ask.** The widget gives instant full-text results as they type (free, unlimited), and composes an AI answer when they ask a question. Answers are grounded in your content and cited, so it links the pages it drew from.
3. **Repeat questions come from cache.** Answered questions are cached per site and replayed instantly, invalidated the moment your content changes. See [Answer caching](/docs/assist/caching).
4. **Humans stay in the loop.** A visitor can hand the conversation to your team at any point. Assist emails you the transcript and their address, and you reply directly.

Assist is grounded: it answers from the retrieved passages and the conversation, and declines rather than inventing facts your content doesn't contain. Every answer cites its sources.

## Quick start

Create a site in the [console](/console/assist), point it at your content, and add one line to your pages:

```html
<script src="https://assist.edge.network/widget.js"
  data-sitekey="ea_your_sitekey" defer></script>
```

That renders a floating launcher on every page. The full walkthrough, including inline embeds, the hosted page and keyboard shortcuts, is in [Getting started](/docs/assist/getting-started).

## Key concepts

| Concept | What it is |
|---|---|
| Site | One Assist deployment: a hostname, a content index, widget settings and metrics. Accounts can have multiple sites. |
| Sitekey | A public identifier (`ea_…`) embedded in your pages. There is no secret key; see origin enforcement below. |
| Origin enforcement | Search, ask and handoff only accept requests from your registered hostname (and subdomains), so a copied sitekey is useless on another domain. `localhost` is always allowed for development. |
| Question | The billable unit: one AI-composed answer. Searches are free and unlimited. Every site answers 250 questions free each month. |
| Override | Your final word: **pinned facts** take precedence over site content in every answer, and **curated Q&As** return your exact wording verbatim when a question strongly matches. Free on every site, managed in Control. |

## In this section

- [Getting started](/docs/assist/getting-started) — Create an Assist site, point it at your content, and add the widget to your pages. AI answers from your own content, live in minutes.
- [Widget and embedding](/docs/assist/widget) — Every way to put Edge Assist in front of visitors: floating launcher, inline embed, hosted page, hotkeys, custom triggers, and the JavaScript API.
- [Content ingestion](/docs/assist/ingestion) — How Edge Assist ingests your content: the JSON index file format, chunking guidance, the hourly refresh cycle and per-site ingestion limits.
- [Bucket ingestion](/docs/assist/bucket-ingestion) — Point Edge Assist at an Edge Storage bucket: supported formats, the ETag diff cycle, the 10,000-document cap and private access with API keys and tokens.
- [Answer caching](/docs/assist/caching) — How Edge Assist caches answers: repeat questions are served instantly from your site's cache, invalidated the moment your content changes.
- [API reference](/docs/assist/api) — The HTTP API behind the Edge Assist widget: config, instant search, streamed answers over Server-Sent Events, and human handoff.
- [Limits and billing](/docs/assist/limits-and-billing) — Edge Assist's free allowance of 250 questions per site, per-question pricing, pay-as-you-go billing and every operational limit in one place.


## Next steps

- [Edge Assist overview](/assist)
- [Live demo](/assist/demo)
- [Pricing](/assist/pricing)