How does Alysium work step by step?

Three steps: (1) Upload your documents — PDF, Word, Excel, and 8 other formats. Alysium indexes them automatically. (2) Write behavioral instructions in plain English — up to 8,000 characters configuring tone, scope, and escalation. (3) Choose a widget theme, publish, and embed via script tag on your website. Knowledge updates take effect within 1–2 minutes of re-upload.

How does Alysium answer questions accurately?

Alysium uses semantic search to retrieve the most relevant chunks from your uploaded documents when a visitor asks a question. The agent answers from that retrieved content — not from general internet data. Accuracy depends on the quality and completeness of your uploaded documents. Well-documented knowledge bases produce accurate, consistent answers.

Can I update my Alysium agent after it's live?

Yes — Alysium auto-saves all changes. Re-upload a document with updated information and the knowledge base refreshes within 1–2 minutes. Change instructions and they take effect immediately. The agent stays live while you edit — nothing in the builder takes it offline or requires re-embedding the script tag.

How long does it take to build an agent on Alysium?

One afternoon for a functional first version — typically 45–90 minutes organizing and uploading documents, 30 minutes writing instructions, 15 minutes configuring the widget, and 15 minutes testing and embedding. Non-technical users with no prior AI experience complete this on their first attempt.

How Does Alysium Work? (Plain English)

TL;DR: Alysium works in three steps — upload your documents (11 formats including PDF, Word, Excel), write behavioral instructions in plain English, and embed the widget on your website via script tag. The agent answers visitor questions from your content only. No coding at any step. Changes take effect within minutes.

Alysium turns your documents into a conversational AI. Here's the complete process from blank screen to live agent.

Step 1: Upload your knowledge. Create a free account, start a new agent, and upload the documents you want the agent to know. Alysium supports PDF, DOCX, XLSX, CSV, TXT, Markdown, HTML, and four more formats. You can also paste text directly. Alysium automatically processes each document in the background — chunking it into searchable segments and indexing it for semantic retrieval. A live status indicator shows when processing is complete, usually within a minute or two.

Step 2: Write your instructions. The instruction field is where you configure how the agent behaves — up to 8,000 characters of plain-text guidance. Tell it the scope of what it should answer, the tone it should use, how to handle questions outside its knowledge base, and any specific patterns for common scenarios. You don't need to write code or use any special format. Plain English works. The difference between a vague instruction ("be helpful and professional") and a specific one ("when asked about pricing, lead with the most common package before listing alternatives") is what makes an agent sound like your business rather than a generic AI.

Step 3: Configure the widget and go live. Choose from 36 visual themes to match your brand — you can also override the accent color with any hex value or add custom CSS. Set your welcome message and up to five conversation starters that appear as clickable buttons for first-time visitors. Hit publish. Copy the script tag Alysium generates and paste it into your website's code injection or custom HTML settings. The widget is live.

After You Launch

Visitors interact with your agent directly on your website. The agent retrieves relevant content from your uploaded documents and responds in real time. If a visitor asks something outside your knowledge base, the agent responds based on whatever escalation instruction you've written — typically directing to a contact method.

You can update your agent at any time without taking it offline. Re-upload a document with new information and the knowledge base updates within minutes. Change your instructions and they take effect immediately. Alysium auto-saves as you type — there's no publish button to forget.

Optional: Sell on AgentHub

If you want to monetize your agent, apply for creator status, configure a marketplace listing with per-conversation pricing, and connect Stripe. Once approved, your agent is discoverable in AgentHub. Buyers pay per conversation; earnings route to your Stripe account on Stripe's standard settlement schedule.

Build yours now. Start on Alysium for free — the whole process takes an afternoon.

How Alysium Compares to Building With an API

Building a custom AI chatbot from scratch requires a RAG pipeline, vector database, chat frontend, authentication, and hosting infrastructure. Estimated cost when outsourced: $15,000–$60,000. Time when built in-house: 4–12 weeks of engineering. Ongoing maintenance: continuous.

Alysium provides all of those components as a managed platform. You don't configure the infrastructure — you configure the knowledge and the behavior. The technical layer is Alysium's responsibility. The content and instructions are yours.

For non-technical creators, this isn't a minor convenience. It's the difference between building something in an afternoon and never building it at all.

The One Thing Most First-Time Builders Get Wrong

They spend too much time on the knowledge base and too little on the instructions. A thorough knowledge base with vague instructions ("be helpful and professional") produces a generic AI. A complete knowledge base with specific instructions — how to respond to pricing questions, how to handle knowledge gaps, what vocabulary to use, how long responses should be — produces an agent that sounds like your business.

The instruction field is where your voice lives. The knowledge base is where your facts live. Both matter. Most builders discover the instruction field late. Don't. Spend at least as much time on instructions as on documents.

Build yours now. Start on Alysium for free.