Public Experts

A public Expert is one of your Experts opened to people who aren’t on your team: anyone with its link, or a chat button on your website. Use it to answer customers and visitors from your own documents, such as a caterer answering from its menus and price list. It answers only from the files you choose, and from the web if you allow it; when it can’t, the visitor can leave the question for a person, and you reply from Visitor questions. This page covers publishing, the limits, what visitors see in each situation, and what to do when something doesn’t work.

What it can read#

The panel sums it up: “People outside your team ask this Expert on a page of its own, with no account. It reads only the files you choose here, never your connected tools, and it can’t send or change anything. Their questions use your credits.” When a limit is reached or your credits run out, it rests instead of failing, and visitors can still leave their question.

Who can publish#

Account	Who can publish
An organisation	Its owners and admins. A member reads: “Only an owner or admin of your organisation can make an Expert public.” See Members and roles.
Your own account	You.

The built-in Expert, Ysra, can’t be made public: create your own Expert first. See Experts.

For your team, and for a visitor#

	For your team	For a visitor
Reads	Its sources, your files, the web, your memories	Only the files you chose, and the web if you allowed it
Slack, Jira and Gmail	As its capabilities allow	Never
Connected services (MCP servers)	As its capabilities allow	Never
Proposes Slack messages or Jira changes	If it has the capability	Never. It answers and hands over to you
The real browser, making images, looking at photos	If it has the capability	Never. Directions to your business still come as a route link
Memory	Yours	None, and nothing from your own conversations
Name	“Ysra” or the Expert’s name	The Expert’s name only. It never names Ysra or signs its answers

It answers only from what it was given. When that doesn’t cover a question, it says it doesn’t have that information and that the visitor can leave the question for the team. It doesn’t guess, quote prices or agree to anything the files don’t state.

Its job is its description#

A public Expert keeps to the job its Description gives it, in your words. It declines anything else in one sentence: general knowledge, code, homework, translation or jokes. So write the description as the job, clearly, for example “Answers questions about our catering menus, prices and delivery area.” Only the first 400 characters are used.

Directions to you#

Give the Expert a Location in its settings, and getting to you becomes part of its job. A visitor who asks the way, sends where they are or pastes a map link gets a few short lines on the usual way to come (taxi, car, on foot or public transport, with “about” for times and distances), what to know on arriving, and a link, Open the route in Google Maps, that opens the route turn by turn in their own Maps app.

Setting	What it holds	Example
Address	Street, number and city, up to 300 characters.	“12 Derb Lalla Azzouna, Marrakech”
On arriving	What to know on getting there, up to 1,000 characters.	“The medina is pedestrian-only: ask the taxi for Place Ben Youssef.”

The visitor	What happens
Asks “how do I get to you?” with no starting point	The route link opens in Maps from where their phone is.
Says where they are (“from the airport”, a hotel’s name)	The route starts there.
Pastes a shared Google Maps link	Ysra reads the place the link points to and starts the route there.
Says how they travel (on foot, by bus)	The route opens in that mode; otherwise Maps chooses.
Asks the way with no Location set	The route goes to the place they name.

Emptying the address removes the Location.

How fast it answers#

A public Expert answers on its Expert’s Speed. On Auto, it answers Quick: a fast lookup in the files you published. Set the Expert to Thorough for answers that need more reading. See Auto, Quick or Thorough.

Publishing an Expert#

Open the Expert#

Go to Experts on the rail, and choose Configure on an Expert you own. Find the panel Anyone with the link can ask. It shows Off. The web and desktop apps show the same panel.

Set it up#

Choose Set it up, then choose what it reads and its limits:

Setting	What it does	To start with	Range
Files a visitor’s question may read	The only files it may read, from the Expert’s workspace. Visitors never see your files or their names; Visitor questions show which ones an answer used.	None	Up to 50
It may search the web	“Web pages it used are named and linked under the answer.”	Off	—
Questions per visitor, per hour	Under Limits.	10	1 to 60
Questions per day, in total	From all visitors.	200	1 to 5,000
Most credits a month (empty: no ceiling)	The most credits it may spend in a calendar month.	Empty	Any ceiling
Websites its chat button may be placed on	See On your website.	None	Up to 10
Show “Powered by Ysra”	Under the chat.	On	—

Publish#

Choose Publish. The panel shows On, the link with Copy the link, and how it is doing: Questions today, Credits this month and Waiting for a person. Below the panel, the report shows more.

To change it later, choose Change what it reads and its limits, then Save changes. Visitors get the new settings from their next question. Switch off stops the link and the chat button at once; the conversations are kept.

Choosing files#

Choose files with text Ysra can search: documents, PDFs, images once Ysra has read them (a few seconds after upload), and the reports and workbooks Ysra made for you. An Expert publishes files only from the workspace it belongs to.

What the panel says	Why	What to do
“… has no text a visitor’s question can search (it’s still being read, couldn’t be read, or has nothing written in it). Choose another file.”	The file is still being read, couldn’t be read, or has no text.	Wait a few seconds and try again, use Retry indexing on the file, or choose another.
“This Expert belongs to every workspace, so it has no files to choose. Put it in one workspace to choose files; it can still answer from the web.”	The Expert isn’t tied to one workspace.	Put it in one workspace.
“One of those files isn’t in this Expert’s workspace.”	The file belongs to another workspace.	Upload it to the Expert’s workspace.

Link states#

State	What visitors see	What moves it on
Off (never published, or switched off by you)	“This assistant isn’t available.” and “The link may have been switched off. Ask whoever sent it to you.”	Set it up and Publish, or switch it on again
On	The page or chat, answering.	Switch off; a limit; credits running out; Ysra switching it off
Resting	“This assistant is resting for now. Leave your question and an email address, and the team will get back to you.”	The hour or day passes, the monthly ceiling resets, credits come back, or you raise a limit
Switched off by Ysra	That it isn’t available.	Only Ysra support. Once support lifts it, the link stays off until you switch it on.

What visitors see#

A visitor needs no account. The link opens a page with the Expert’s name and “An assistant for …, answering from their published information.” (“…and the web” when it may search the web), then its description and “Ask a question to get started.” They type in Type your question and choose Ask a question.

Situation	What the visitor sees
It is answering	“Answering…”, then the answer as it is written, usually starting within a few seconds. A web page it used is linked under the answer; your file names never show.
They leave the question for a person	Leave your question for a person, then Your email address, Anything to add (optional) and Send to the team.
They left an email address	“Sent. The team will reply to …”
They left no address	“Sent. The team’s reply will appear here.”
Waiting for the team	“Your question is with the team. Their reply will appear here.” Replies are labelled “The team”, never with a person’s name.
The question is too long	“That’s too long. Keep it under 2000 characters.”
Too many questions at the same moment	“Lots of people are asking right now. Try again in a moment.” Asking again a little later works.
A limit is reached, or your credits are out	Resting (see Link states); no error.
The link is switched off or never existed	“This assistant isn’t available.”
The chat is on a website you didn’t list	“This assistant isn’t available on this website.” The link’s own page still works.

Each conversation keeps its last 60 turns.

Every visitor page also shows “You're chatting with an AI assistant. Answers can be wrong.” and a Report abuse link, which opens a short form at ysra.ai/report.

Visitor questions#

Every conversation visitors have with your public Experts is kept in Experts → Visitor questions. The list, the waiting count and Home’s Visitor questions card show the Experts of the workspace you have open, and those available in all your workspaces. Show All, or Waiting for a person with how many are waiting. You get an email when a visitor asks for a person.

Conversation state	What it means
Waiting for a person	The visitor asked for one, or the Expert couldn’t answer.
Answered	The Expert answered.
Couldn’t answer	It said it didn’t have the information.
Replied	Someone on your team replied.

Open one to read the questions and answers, and what the visitor added. A reply from your team shows who wrote it: “Answered by …”.

To	Do this	What happens
Answer the visitor	Write in Reply to the visitor and choose Send reply.	They see it in the same conversation, and by email if they left an address. If they answer that email, it comes to you by email.
Close it without answering	No reply needed.	It leaves the waiting list and stays in the history.

Answering for teammates#

In an organisation, everyone sees and answers the visitor questions of every public Expert in it, in the same list: “Everyone in your organisation sees and answers these, for teammates’ Experts too.” A teammate’s conversation names whose Expert it is, such as “(Sam’s Expert)”, and when open adds “its settings stay with them”: only the Expert’s owner can publish it, change its settings or switch it off. On your own account, you see only your own Experts’ conversations.

A public Expert answers within its limits, never guesses, and hands over to a person.

The report#

Under Anyone with the link can ask, in an Expert’s settings on the web and Configure in the desktop app, the Report shows “What visitors asked, what this Expert could not answer, and which files its answers used.” Choose 7 days, 30 days or 90 days.

Figure	What it counts
Questions	Every question visitors asked, “in … conversations”
Answered by the Expert	Questions it answered, with their share
Could not answer	Questions it said it didn’t have the information for, with their share
Answered by your team	Replies from a person in Visitor questions
Waiting for a person	Conversations still waiting for a reply
Credits used	What its answers cost, in credits

Section	What it shows
Questions per day	Each day of the period: how many were asked, and how many of those it could not answer.
Questions it could not answer	Newest first: “Each opens its conversation. A file that covers the question, published to this Expert, answers it next time.” Each opens in Visitor questions, marked Waiting for a person while it still waits.
Published files	Every published file, most used first, with how many answers used it. Not used: no answer used it in the period. No longer published: answers used it, but it is no longer published.

Until the Expert has a link, the report says “Nothing to report yet. Turn on “Anyone with the link can ask” above; what visitors ask is counted from then.” In a period with more than 2,000 conversations, the figures cover the newest 2,000, and the report says so.

On your website#

The same Expert can appear on your website as a chat button.

List your websites#

In Websites its chat button may be placed on, put one address per line, up to 10, such as https://www.example.com. Use https://; http://localhost is allowed for trying it out. Then Save changes.

Copy the code#

Under Chat button for your website, choose Copy the code. It is one line:

<script src="…/widget.js" async></script>

Paste it before </body> on a listed website.

Change how it looks (optional)#

Add any of these to the tag:

Add	What it does
`data-accent="#rrggbb"`	The colour of the button, the chat’s header and the visitor’s messages, for example `data-accent="#00aa77"`. Text on it stays readable.
`data-theme="light"` or `data-theme="dark"`	Keeps the chat light or dark.
`data-side="left"`	Puts the button in the left corner instead of the right.

Part	How it behaves
The button	A round icon in the corner of the page, named “Ask a question” for screen readers. Choosing it opens the chat, and the button becomes an arrow that closes it.
On a phone	The chat fills the screen, with a close button in its header.
The header	The Expert’s avatar (or the first letter of its name), its name, and your organisation, or its description when there is no organisation.
An empty chat	The avatar, the name, the description and the Expert’s conversation starters.
While it works	Moving dots, then the answer as it is written.
Links in an answer	A route link or a page opens with a tap.
Light or dark	Light, and dark only when your website is dark, whatever the visitor’s computer is set to. Use `data-theme` to fix one.

Conversations go to Visitor questions too.

What it costs#

A public Expert’s answers are charged to its owner’s credits, like your own questions. That includes opening your own link: you are a visitor like any other, and it counts against the limits. Set Most credits a month to cap it. See Credits and usage and Limits and costs.

When Ysra switches a link off#

Ysra can switch off a public Expert that is misused. Visitors then read that it isn’t available, and you can’t turn it back on yourself: write to support@ysra.ai to have it looked at. When support lifts the switch-off, the link stays off until you switch it on again.

Limits#

Limit	Default	Can be set to
Questions per visitor per hour	10	1 to 60
Questions per day, all visitors	200	1 to 5,000
Credits per month	No ceiling	Any ceiling
Files it may read	—	Up to 50
Websites it may sit on	—	Up to 10
Length of a question	2,000 characters	—
Conversation kept	The last 60 turns	—
Description used as its job	The first 400 characters	—

If it doesn’t work#

“This assistant is resting for now…”#

Why: a limit was reached (per visitor per hour, per day, or the monthly credit ceiling), or your credits ran out or your account is paused. What to do:

Check Questions today and Credits this month on the panel.
Raise the limit under Change what it reads and its limits, or add credits.
Otherwise it answers again when the hour, the day or the month turns over.

“This assistant isn’t available.”#

Why: the link is switched off, never existed, or Ysra switched it off. What to do:

Check the panel shows On; if not, switch it on.
Check the visitor has the whole link (Copy the link again).
If you can’t switch it on, Ysra switched it off: write to support@ysra.ai.

“This assistant isn’t available on this website.”#

Why: the page’s address isn’t one of the websites listed. Each address is matched exactly, scheme and host: https://example.com and https://www.example.com are two websites. What to do:

Add the address exactly as the browser shows it, with https://, one per line, and Save changes.
Add both the www. and the bare address if your site answers on both.

The chat button doesn’t show on the website#

Why: usually, the line isn’t on the page that loaded. What to do:

Check the line from Copy the code is in the page, before </body>.
Check the panel shows On and the website is listed.
Open the link’s own page: if that works, the website setup is the problem (see above).

It says it doesn’t have that information#

Why: no published file covers the question, and it never guesses. What to do:

Look under Questions it could not answer in the report.
Publish a file that covers it: the next question like it is answered.
Reply to the waiting visitor from Visitor questions.

It declines a question in one sentence#

Why: the question is outside the job its Description gives it. What to do: rewrite the description as the job it should do. See Its job is its description.

“Lots of people are asking right now…” or “Too many requests from here…”#

Why: too many questions arrived at once, or from one address in a short time. What to do: wait a moment (a few minutes for “Too many requests from here. Try again in a few minutes.”), then ask again.

“Only an owner or admin of your organisation can make an Expert public.”#

Why: you are a member of the organisation. What to do: ask an owner or admin to publish it.

Experts — the Expert behind the link: description, files and capabilities.
Limits and costs — the limits next to every other cap.
Set up with Ysra — a public Expert and its website code made for you.
Credits and usage — what visitor questions cost you.