---
title: "Edge Assist"
description: "Add AI answers to your site with two lines of code. Widget embed, content ingestion, and API reference for Edge Assist."
url: https://edge.network/docs/assist/
---

# Edge Assist

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.
This page covers the widget embed, content ingestion, and the HTTP API.

## Quick Start

Create an Assist site in the [control panel](https://edge.network/account),
point it at your content (see Ingestion below), and add the widget to your pages:

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

By default the widget renders a floating launcher. To render it inline — in a help
centre, docs sidebar, or 404 page — give it a mount point:

```
<!-- Render inline instead of as a floating launcher -->
<div data-edge-assist></div>
```

## Content Ingestion

Assist answers only from content you give it. Two ways in, both kept in sync automatically:

- **Content index** — your site build publishes a JSON index at a URL on your domain (e.g. `/assist-index.json`); Assist polls it hourly and re-ingests when the content hash changes.
- **Storage bucket** — point Assist at an Edge Storage bucket and drop in documents (markdown, plain text, HTML, PDF). Changes are picked up incrementally.

The index format is deliberately small:

```
{
  "hash": "sha256 of the content",
  "chunks": [
    {
      "url": "/pricing",
      "title": "Pricing",
      "section": "pricing",
      "text": "One chunk of page content, ~1,400 characters,\nsplit on sentence boundaries…"
    }
  ]
}
```

Sites support up to 10,000 documents. Larger knowledge bases are handled by
[Expert Services](https://edge.network/solutions/expert-services).

## API Reference

### Search

Instant results over the ingested content — no AI call, unlimited and free.

```
GET /api/assist/search?q=how+much+is+storage

{
  "results": [
    { "url": "/storage/pricing", "title": "Storage Pricing", "section": "storage" }
  ]
}
```

### Ask

Composes an answer over the ingested content and streams it as Server-Sent Events:
a `sources` event first
(retrieval is instant), then `delta`
events with JSON-encoded answer fragments, then `done`.

```
POST /api/assist/ask
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "question": "How much does storage cost?",
  "history": [],            // optional: prior turns [{ role, content }]
  "page": "/storage/pricing" // optional: page the visitor is on
}

// Response: Server-Sent Events
event: sources
data: [{ "url": "/storage/pricing", "title": "Storage Pricing", … }]

event: delta
data: "Storage is billed at "

event: delta
data: "$0.015 per GB per month…"

event: done
data: {}
```

Each answered question is one metered question. Answers are grounded in the retrieved
passages: Assist declines rather than inventing facts your content doesn't contain.

### Handoff

Hands the conversation to a human. The widget calls this when a visitor leaves their
email — from the "Need a human?" link or the offer that appears when Assist can't
answer. It opens a support ticket with the transcript attached; replies go to the
visitor's email. Handoffs are free (no metered question).

```
POST /api/assist/handoff
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "email": "visitor@example.com",
  "message": "I'd like a demo of Shield",   // optional
  "page": "/shield",                        // optional
  "transcript": [                           // optional: recent turns
    { "role": "user", "content": "Can I talk to someone about Shield?" },
    { "role": "assistant", "content": "Of course — …" }
  ]
}

{ "success": true, "ticketId": "TKT-2026-0042" }
```

## Limits

| Limit | Value |
| Question length | 500 characters |
| Conversation history sent per ask | 6 turns (12 with extended conversations) |
| Search rate limit | 60 / minute / visitor |
| Ask rate limit | 10 / 5 minutes / visitor |
| Handoff rate limit | 3 / hour / visitor |
| Documents per site | 10,000 |

## Learn More

[Edge Assist overview](https://edge.network/assist) [Live demo](https://edge.network/assist/demo) [Pricing](https://edge.network/assist/pricing)
[Back to Docs](https://edge.network/docs) [Need help?](https://edge.network/support)