Four ways into the panel — a question bar, a navbar icon, a keyboard shortcut and a link under the article — and three shapes it opens in.
Triggers and layout
A reader opens the panel from the question bar at the bottom of the page, from an icon beside your search box, with ⌘ I (Ctrl I), or from the Didn't find it? Ask DocPilot link under each article. Press a variant to see where it puts the door.
Options
| Key | Default | What it does |
|---|---|---|
ui.trigger | 'fab' | Where the buttons go. 'nav' puts an icon beside search and a row in the mobile menu; 'fab' a floating button; 'both' all three; 'none' no button. |
ui.panel | 'auto' | 'popup' floats above the button; 'drawer' takes the full height at the edge; 'bar' puts a question bar at the bottom centre and raises the conversation above it as the reader types, in place of the floating button. 'auto' picks the bar when the floating placement is in the list, the drawer when it is not, and never the popup. |
ui.side | 'end' | The edge the floating button, its popup and the drawer sit at: 'left', 'right', or 'start'/'end' to follow the page's text direction. |
ui.fabLabel | true | The words on the corner button under 'popup' or 'drawer': true shows Ask AI, a string shows that text, false shows the icon alone. |
ui.layout | 'overlay' | 'push' narrows the page instead of covering it when the drawer opens, from whichever edge ui.side names. |
ui.background | 'notify' | An answer that finishes while the panel is closed puts a dot on the trigger; 'open' reopens the panel instead. |
ui.prefetch | 'hover' | Starts fetching the index when the pointer reaches a trigger, so the first answer starts sooner. |
Below 960 px the panel is a full-screen sheet, whatever the setting. ⌘ I works on every page, even with trigger: 'none'; Esc closes the panel, or stops an answer that is still being written.
Deep links
composer.deepLink (on by default) lets a link open the panel with a question already typed:
https://docs.example.com/guide/webhooks?dp-ask=How+do+retries+work&dp-scope=pageThe question is filled in, never sent. dp-scope=page narrows the search to the page the link lands on.
More: ui in the reference, and The assistant panel.