--- title: "Build your first bot" description: "Create a Chat Thing bot that answers from your own content, either by letting Otto set it up with you or step by step in the dashboard." canonical_url: "https://chatthing.ai/docs/get-started/build-your-first-bot" last_updated: "2026-09-25" --- # Build your first bot Create a bot that answers questions from your own content, ready to test and add to your website. > **Before you start** > > You need a Chat Thing account. [Sign up for free](https://app.chatthing.ai/app/auth/register) with your email, Google or GitHub. > > **Who can do this:** [team owners and admins](https://chatthing.ai/docs/account/teams#what-each-role-can-do). There are two ways to build a bot. Both end in the same place, and you can switch between them at any time. - **Let Otto set it up.** Describe your business or give it your website, and Chat Thing's assistant researches your site, writes the bot's instructions, adds your pages as knowledge and matches your branding. - **Set it up yourself.** Fill in a short step-by-step form: name and welcome message, then your first data source. ## Option 1: let Otto set it up 1. Go to **My Bots** and click **New bot**. 2. If you see **Set up your agent with AI**, tell the assistant about your business and what the bot should do, or paste your website address. You can also pick a starting point such as **Answer customer questions on my site** or **Capture and qualify leads**. 3. Answer any questions the assistant asks. As it works, the **Your agent** panel fills in: **Personality & voice**, **Knowledge**, **Power-ups** and **Branding**. 4. Try the bot in the **Live preview**. Answers may be incomplete until your knowledge has finished syncing. 5. When you're happy, click **Open dashboard**. If you see the step-by-step **New Bot** form instead, you can still have Otto do the work: enter just a **Bot name**, click **Next: Add data source**, then **Skip: I don’t need a data source** and **Finish: Go to bot dashboard**. Click **Ask Otto** and ask it to set up the bot from your website, for example *"Set this bot up to answer customer questions from example.com"*. See [Otto](https://chatthing.ai/docs/get-started/otto) for what it can and can't do. To switch from the assistant to the form at any point, click **Set up manually**. ## Option 2: set it up yourself [Video: create your first bot (YouTube)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rYlKFoump2Y) *Video walkthrough, recorded in 2024. Some screens have changed since.* 1. Go to **My Bots** and click **New bot**. If the AI setup opens, click **Set up manually**. 2. In **General settings**, enter a **Bot name**. Optionally add: - **Welcome message**: the first thing the bot says, such as "Hi! How can I help?" - **Example questions**: suggested questions shown in the chat so visitors can start with one click. - **Prompt**: instructions for how the bot should behave. Leave it blank to use Chat Thing's default, or see [Write your bot's instructions](https://chatthing.ai/docs/bot-settings/instructions). 3. Click **Next: Add data source**. 4. Choose the type of content to add, for example **Website**, then click **Next: Add content**. To add knowledge later, click **Skip: I don’t need a data source**. ![Step 2 of the New Bot form, Choose data source, with Website selected and the Skip and Next: Add content buttons](https://res.cloudinary.com/djyjvrw5u/image/upload/v1721375560/choose_data_source_2fcb716e95.png) 5. Add your content, such as the pages of your website, then click **Next: Synchronise**. [Adding a website](https://chatthing.ai/docs/knowledge/website) explains the options. ![Step 3 of the New Bot form, Add content, listing website pages waiting to sync and a Next: Synchronise button](https://res.cloudinary.com/djyjvrw5u/image/upload/v1721375561/add_content_67cdfed696.png) 6. Wait while Chat Thing syncs your content. Small sources take seconds; large websites can take several minutes. Click **Next: Test**. ![Step 4 of the New Bot form, Synchronising, with the Discovery, Pull and Teaching phases all finished and a Next: Test button](https://res.cloudinary.com/djyjvrw5u/image/upload/v1721375560/test_the_bot_6924d14d7b.png) 7. On **Say hello to your new bot!**, ask the bot a few questions you know the answers to. ![Step 5 of the New Bot form, Say hello to your new bot, with suggested next steps beside a test chat and a Finish: Go to bot dashboard button](https://res.cloudinary.com/djyjvrw5u/image/upload/v1721375561/finish_go_to_dashboard_cd4a6b69e1.png) 8. Click **Finish: Go to bot dashboard**. ## Check it works On your bot's page, click **Test** and ask questions that your content answers. A good answer uses your wording and facts, not general knowledge. If you turned on **Include sources for responses** in **General settings**, the answer shows which pages it used. ![A bot's Overview page with the Embed, Test and Open bot buttons, this month's usage stats and a usage chart](https://res.cloudinary.com/djyjvrw5u/image/upload/v1721375560/bot_dashboard_d08451b13a.png) If answers are wrong or the bot says it doesn't know, see [Improve your bot's answers](https://chatthing.ai/docs/improve/improve-answers). ## Troubleshooting ### My data source is still syncing Syncing continues in the background, so you can leave the page. The bot can only answer from content that has finished syncing. Check progress on the **Data sources** tab. ### I don't see the New bot button Only team owners and admins can create bots. Ask an owner or admin of your team to change your role, or [create your own team](https://chatthing.ai/docs/account/teams). ## Next steps - [Install the chat widget on your website](https://chatthing.ai/docs/channels/website/install) - [Add more knowledge](https://chatthing.ai/docs/knowledge/manage-data-sources) - [Test your bot with test cases](https://chatthing.ai/docs/bot-settings/test-your-bot) - [Check you're ready to launch](https://chatthing.ai/docs/get-started/launch-checklist) ## Related - [How Chat Thing works](https://chatthing.ai/docs/get-started/how-chat-thing-works): The building blocks of Chat Thing (bots, knowledge, power-ups, channels, conversations and Otto) and how they fit together. - [Build and manage bots with Otto](https://chatthing.ai/docs/get-started/otto): Otto is Chat Thing's built-in assistant. Ask it to explain, change and test a bot, or to work out why an answer went wrong. - [Add the chat widget to your website](https://chatthing.ai/docs/channels/website/install): Copy your bot's embed code and paste it into your site as a chat widget or embedded chat, with steps for WordPress, Shopify, Webflow, Wix and more.