Train Your Qödiak Chatbot with Documents – A Practical Guide

Imagine a support bot that instantly answers questions from your product manuals, policy PDFs, or help‑center website – without writing a single line of code. In this tutorial you’ll discover how to train Qödiak’s AI chatbot using documents, so your app can deliver accurate answers, lower support tickets, and keep visitors engaged.

Why Train Your Chatbot with Documents?

Benefits for Support and Engagement

• Instant answers from existing knowledge bases, reducing response time.
• Consistent information – the bot pulls directly from the source files you trust.
• Scalable support – handle unlimited queries without hiring extra staff.
• Improved SEO – a well‑trained chatbot keeps users on your site longer, signaling relevance to search engines.

How Qödiak Handles Knowledge Bases

Qödiak’s chatbot component can ingest PDF files, crawl public websites, and accept manually entered Q&A pairs. All content is indexed in a vector store, enabling fast semantic search when a visitor asks a question. The process is completely no‑code: you upload, configure, and publish.

Tip: Start with a single, high‑quality document. The chatbot learns faster and provides clearer answers.

Preparing Your Documents for Upload

Choosing the Right File Types

Qödiak accepts PDF (up to 100 MB) and plain‑text formats like .txt or .md. If you have Word files, convert them to PDF first to preserve layout.

Organizing Content for Better Answers

Structure your material with clear headings and short paragraphs. For example, a policy document could use:

• Section 1 – Refund Policy
• Section 2 – Account Management
• Section 3 – Data Privacy

Each heading becomes a natural anchor for the chatbot to match user intent.

Formatting Tips

Keep tables simple, avoid multi‑column layouts, and ensure text is selectable (not scanned images). If you must include images, add descriptive alt text – the bot can surface that description in its answers.

Step‑by‑Step: Uploading PDFs and Web Crawling

Accessing the Chatbot Settings

1. Open your Qödiak app in the visual editor.
2. Select the Chatbot component from the component palette.
3. Click Settings in the right‑hand panel.

Uploading PDFs

1. In the Document Uploads section, click Upload File.
2. Select your PDF (e.g., user‑guide.pdf) and confirm.
3. Qödiak will automatically extract text, create vector embeddings, and display a progress bar.
4. When the status changes to Ready, the document is searchable by the bot.

Crawling an External Website

1. Scroll to the Web Crawl tab.
2. Enter the base URL you want to index, such as https://support.myapp.com.
3. Set the crawl depth (usually 2‑3 levels) to avoid over‑indexing.
4. Click Start Crawl. Qödiak fetches pages, strips navigation elements, and adds them to the knowledge base.

Adding Manual Q&A

If a specific question isn’t covered by your documents, you can add it directly:

1. Open the FAQ Builder inside the chatbot settings.
2. Enter the question (e.g., “How do I reset my password?”) and the exact answer.
3. Save – the pair is instantly available for semantic matching.

Fine‑Tuning the Chatbot’s Behavior

Adjusting Temperature and Token Limits

The chatbot uses a generative model behind the scenes. In the Response Settings panel you can set:

• Temperature – lower values (0.2‑0.4) make answers more deterministic.
• Max Tokens – limit response length to keep replies concise.

Example configuration:

Temperature: 0.3
Max Tokens: 150

Setting Up Escalation Triggers

When the bot is unsure, you can forward the conversation to a human agent via Zendesk or Intercom. Enable the Escalation Triggers and add keywords such as “talk to a human” or “agent please”.

Testing with the Built‑in Chat Interface

After uploading, click the Preview button on the chatbot component. Type a few sample queries like “What is the refund policy?” and verify that the answer pulls the correct paragraph from your PDF.

Pro tip: Use the showMessage() scripting API to display a friendly “I’m looking up the answer…” toast while the bot processes large documents.

Integrating the Chatbot into Your App

Placing the Chatbot Component on Pages

Drag the Chatbot component onto any page – the home page, help center, or even a checkout confirmation screen. Use the showComponent() and hideComponent() scripts to toggle visibility based on user role.

if (getSession('role') === 'admin') {
  showComponent('chatbot');
} else {
  hideComponent('chatbot');
}

Using Custom Domains and SSL

When you’re ready to go live, map your app to a custom domain (e.g., support.mycompany.com) via the Custom Domains feature. Qödiak automatically provisions SSL, keeping user data secure.

Monitoring Performance with Analytics

Qödiak provides built‑in analytics for the chatbot component. Track:

• Number of sessions per day.
• Top‑asked questions.
• Escalation rate to human agents.

Use these insights to add missing documents or refine existing FAQs.

Conclusion

Training your Qödiak chatbot with documents turns static PDFs and help‑center pages into a dynamic, searchable assistant. By following the steps above you’ll empower users to find answers instantly, cut support costs, and boost overall satisfaction. Ready to give your app a smarter front‑line? Explore the AI Chatbot today, upload your first document, and watch the magic happen.