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Captain

Read more about Captain, our AI agent designed specifically for customer support.
Pranav Raj Aakash Bakhle
By Pranav Raj and 1 other
• 10 articles

Creating an assistant with Captain

The Assistant in Captain is built to help answer customer questions, provide solutions, and assist with product-related issues. It learns from your help center articles and past conversations to give accurate responses. When linked to an inbox, it can handle conversations directly with your customers. How to create an assistant in Captain? If you’re using a paid plan on Chatwoot Cloud, you’ll find the Captain menu on the left-hand sidebar. Under this menu, you’ll see options for Assistants, Documents, and FAQs. Click on Assistants. You will see a page like the one give below. Click on Create a new Assistant button. Here are the fields currently available in the form to create an assistant: | Field Name | Description | Default | Required | | -- | -- | -- | --| | Assistant Name | This is the internal name of the assistant | -- | Yes | | Description | Provide a description of the assistant on what it does. Note: This is not an instruction to the assistant | -- | Yes| | Product Name | This is important. The assistant is built around the product, having the product name would help it to identify the content gaps and the questiosn from the user | -- | Yes | | Features: Enable FAQs from resolved conversations | If you enable this option, the Captain Assistant would try to identify the gaps in your help center article and would suggest with new FAQs, refer to FAQ document for more | false | No | | Features: Capture key details as memories from customer interactions | If enabled, this would try to identify key details from conversations and would save it in the notes | false | No | Once you’ve entered the details, click Create, and your assistant will be added to your account! You can create multiple assistants to handle different use cases if needed. How do you connect an assistant to inboxes? Adding an assistant to your account doesn’t automatically connect it to all the inboxes. You’ll need to manually link each assistant to the relevant inboxes where it’s required. This gives you the flexibility to assign assistants based on specific products, or customer segments. To connect an assistant, click on the three-dot menu next to the assistant details. From the dropdown, select View Connected Inboxes. This will take you to a page displaying all the inboxes linked to the assistant. From there, you can manage the connections. Note: Each inbox can only be connected to one assistant at a time. Click on Connect a New Inbox to see a list of available inboxes. Select an inbox from the list and connect it. That’s it! The assistant is now live on the inbox. Give it a try—send a message in your chat and see if it responds with the initial greeting. You can deploy the assistant on any available inbox, whether it’s live chat, WhatsApp, Instagram, email, or more. Great! The assistant has been set up successfully. However, at this stage, it doesn’t have any knowledge about your business and the product. After the initial greeting, the assistant will attempt to transfer the conversation to an agent. To give the assistant context about your product, you can add documents. Learn more about documents in this article.

Last updated on Jan 29, 2025

Creating a document in Captain

A document in Captain acts as a knowledge resource for the assistant. By linking your help center or guides, Captain can analyze the content and effectively assist with customer inquiries. Currently, we support website URLs and PDF files as sources , but we’re planning to expand this to include Notion documents in the future. How to create a document? On the sidebar menu, click on the Documents option under Captain. You will see a page like the one below. By clicking on Create a New Document, you will be presented with a form where you can either enter the URL of your knowledge base or upload a PDF file. Note that we only support public URLs at the moment. Once you’ve entered the URL of your knowledge base or help center or uploaded a document, click on Create to start the process. Captain will begin analyzing the content from the provided URL or document, using it as a starting point to gather information that can help answer customer questions effectively. Captain will systematically crawl all pages linked under the provided URL path, scanning for articles, guides, and other resources associated with the main URL. For instance, if you provide a URL like https://chatwoot.help/user-guide, Captain will analyze all URLs that start with this path. As it crawls the content, it organizes and indexes the information, making it easily accessible for answering customer inquiries. This structured crawling process guarantees that all relevant knowledge from your specified source is captured and available for reference. For PDF uploads, Captain will extract and analyze the text content from the file. This is useful for adding product manuals, guides, or any other documentation stored as PDFs to your knowledge base. The document will be generated, and any newly identified documents during the crawling will also be added individually as separate documents. If you wish to remove a specific document that is not relevant, you can delete it. This will also erase all the associated information Captain has collected from that document, and ensures it is no longer referenced in any conversations. How can I verify that the content is properly parsed? To ensure that the content is properly parsed, Captain analyzes the provided documents to identify potential questions. It then generates a list of FAQs related to the document. By reviewing these FAQs, you can verify that the content has been accurately processed and correctly interpreted. You can view the FAQs generated for each document. Simply click on the three-dot menu in the document and choose View Related Responses to access them. This will display the related FAQs, as shown below. Usage limit If you haven’t subscribed to a paid add-on for Captain, the number of documents you can add will be limited. With the Startups plan, you can add up to 100 documents for free. For higher plans, the limit increases to 200 free documents with the Business plan and 300 free documents with the Enterprise plan.

Last updated on Nov 04, 2025

Creating an FAQ with Captain

FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions) are a collection of common questions and their answers, designed to provide quick and easy assistance to customers. Captain uses these FAQs to respond to customer queries efficiently, ensuring accurate and consistent information is provided. How are FAQs generated? FAQs are generated in two ways: Automatically: Captain analyzes your help center articles and resolved customer conversations to identify content gaps or frequently asked topics. Based on this analysis, it suggests FAQs. Manually: You can create FAQs directly by navigating to the FAQs section, clicking “Add New,” entering the question and answer, and assigning it to the assistant. How can you add an FAQ manually? Go to the FAQs section in the sidebar under Captain. If FAQs have already been generated from your documents, you will see them listed here. Otherwise, the page will appear as shown below. Click on “Create New FAQ” to add a question and its corresponding answer, as shown below. Select the assistant and click “Create.” The FAQ will now be ready for use in conversations. How do you check the FAQs generated from conversations? At the end of each conversation, Captain analyzes the interactions to identify potential gaps or frequently recurring questions that are not yet addressed in your knowledge base. Based on this analysis, it suggests new topics as FAQs to help improve your content coverage. These suggested FAQs are added to the “Pending” list in the FAQs section, where you can review them. To review a suggested FAQs, go the FAQ pages and apply the "Pending" filter. Review the suggested questions carefully. If a question is relevant and useful, click on the three-dot menu, and select the option to mark it as approved. You can also edit the suggested answer to ensure it is accurate and fits your knowledge base before approving the FAQ. You can also view the conversation from which the question was generated. If you’re unsure about the relevance of a suggested question, simply click on the conversation ID to review the interaction before deciding whether to approve the FAQ. Regularly reviewing these suggestions helps keep your knowledge base accurate, up-to-date, and aligned with your customers’ evolving needs.

Last updated on Jan 29, 2025

How to use Captain Memories?

Captain Memories are pieces of information saved from customer conversations to provide context for future interactions. These memories enable personalized, efficient, and context-aware responses. For example, if a customer mentions they have a team of 18 people or shares specific preferences, Captain will store this information. This allows your team to use these insights during future conversations to enhance the customer experience. What Type of Information Does Captain Save? Captain is designed to save details shared by customers that are relevant to providing personalized support. This may include: • Customer preferences (e.g., preferred communication style or product preferences). • Questions and recurring issues (e.g., “How do I manage users in the dashboard?”). • Unique requirements (e.g., “Our team uses the Enterprise Plan and needs an API for integrations.”). • Operational context (e.g., “Our team consists of 18 members”). These details are automatically saved as notes in the customer’s profile, making them easily accessible for future reference. Where Can I See a Captain-Generated Memory? Captain-generated memories are stored in the Notes section of the customer dashboard, linked directly to the relevant customer. This ensures your team can access them anytime during conversations. How to View Memories: 1. Open the customer’s profile in the dashboard. 2. Go to the Notes section, where all saved memories are organized with timestamps and context for easy reference.

Last updated on Jan 29, 2025

How to use Captain Copilot?

Captain Copilot is designed to help support agents work smarter by providing helpful suggestions and insights right from your dashboard. Here’s a guide to help you get the most out of Captain Copilot. Where to Find Copilot? To get started, ensure Captain Copilot is enabled in your inbox. Open your dashboard and go to the conversation screen. On the right side, you’ll see the Copilot tab next to the contact options. Click on the Copilot tab to access and start using its features. How Copilot works? Copilot is a tool that can improve communication in multiple ways. It can analyze the current conversation and draft an appropriate response or even translate a message into another language while ensuring the tone and context remain intact. Additionally, Copilot can review the tone of a conversation, identify areas for improvement, and suggest adjustments to align better with your brand’s voice and values. To further improve the experience, Copilot can also find relevant articles or resources related to the current conversation, offering quick access to information that supports your responses. With its ability to bridge communication gaps, refine tone, and provide actionable insights. How to use copilot? Simply type your request in natural language, and Captain will analyze it to provide the best response. You can use it to draft replies, translate messages, or improve tone. For better results, make your requests clear and specific. For example, instead of saying, “Help with this reply,” try, “Write a polite response explaining the delay and offering a new timeline.” Captain uses knowledge from your documents to craft accurate and relevant responses. Here is quick example showing how to draft the response. When Captain suggests a response, click “Use this” to add it directly to your message window. Additional Tips for Effective Usage - Always review Copilot’s suggestions before sending them to ensure they align with your team’s tone and guidelines. - Use Copilot’s recommendations to fill any gaps in customer communication, such as adding more detailed instructions or clarifying ambiguous points. - Encourage your team to explore and utilize Copilot regularly for smoother collaboration and improved customer interactions.

Last updated on Jan 29, 2025

How to enable Captain on self-hosted installations?

Captain is an AI assistant that helps you respond faster and more accurately. With Bring Your Own Key (BYOK), you can use your own API key from OpenAI or any compatible AI service. You control the data, costs, and which model is used. In a self-hosted setup, Captain only sends data to the AI model you choose. This guide will show you how to enable Captain in your self-hosted Enterprise Edition, add your API key, and set up a custom model if you want. Prerequisites Before you begin, make sure that you have: - Chatwoot Enterprise Edition with a paid plan. - Admin access to the Super Admin Console. - A valid OpenAI API key. - (Optional) A self-hosted OpenAI-compatible API endpoint. - (Optional) A Firecrawl API key for a better documentation crawling. Enabling Captain in the Super Admin Console To enable Captain at the installation level: Log in to the Super Admin Console. Navigate to Settings → Captain. Fill in the configuration fields: 1. OpenAI API Key (Required) – The key for authenticating requests to OpenAI or a compatible service. 2. OpenAI Model (Required) – Default is gpt-4o-mini. You may choose another supported model like gpt-5. 3. OpenAI API Endpoint (Optional) – Enter your custom API endpoint if you are using a self-hosted model. 4. Firecrawl API Key (Optional) – Recommended for better website and documentation crawling. Click Submit to save your configuration. Enabling Captain for an Account After enabling Captain globally, activate it for individual accounts: 1. In the Super Admin Console, go to Accounts. 2. Select the account you want to enable Captain for and click Edit. 3. Under the Premium Features section, toggle Captain on. 4. Save the changes. Troubleshooting If Captain is not responding as expected: - Verify that the OpenAI API key is correct and active. - Check that the model name matches a supported model. - Ensure your Firecrawl API key is valid if using crawling. - Confirm that Captain is enabled both at the installation and account levels. If Captain is still not responding, review the Chatwoot server logs for both the web and worker processes to identify any errors, and share those error details with the support team for further assistance.

Last updated on Aug 15, 2025

How AI Credits work in Captain?

This guide explains how AI credits are consumed, how your credits are updated when you top up, when your monthly renewal happens, what happens when you change plans, and how notifications work if your credits run out. How are AI credits consumed? AI credits are deducted whenever an AI action is performed. Examples include: - Captain assistant responses - Copilot lookups - Editor actions (rephrase, summarise, suggest a reply) - Label Suggestions - Any workflow or automation that triggers a model call - Audio transcription Different models consume credits at different rates. At the moment, all actions consume 1 credit per message, since a fixed model configuration only is supported. This will change in the future as more model options are supported, at which point different models may consume different credit amounts per action. If an action cannot be completed due to insufficient credits, a credit failure occurs (explained later). When does usage reset? Usage resets to 0 only during monthly renewal. Usage does NOT reset when: - Topping up credits - Changing your plan - Changing seat count This means you can top up credits at any time without losing track of your current usage cycle. How are AI credits updated? 1. Topping Up Credits When you buy additional credits, they are simply added to your existing balance. Example - Previous credits: 1500 - Top-up: 1000 - New total credits: 2500 No other values change. 2. Monthly Renewal Every plan includes a monthly free credit allowance. At renewal, we adjust usage and credits based on how much you consumed in the previous month. Case A: No usage Usage: 0 → Your total credits do not change. Case B: Usage is less than your monthly free credits - Previous credits: 1500 - Usage: 200 - Monthly free credits: 300 → No deduction is applied. → Total credits stay 1500. → Usage resets to 0. Case C: Usage exceeds your monthly free credits - Previous credits: 1500 - Usage: 600 - Monthly free credits: 500 Overage = 600 − 500 = 100 → Deduct overage from total credits. → New total credits: 1400 → Usage resets to 0. 3. Changing Your Plan When you switch plans, your monthly free credits may increase or decrease. Example - Startup plan: 300 free credits - Business plan: 500 free credits - Enterprise plan: 800 free credits If you switch from Startups to Business, your total credits would increase by 200. Similarly, if you downgrade from Business to Startups, your total credits would decrease by 200. Your usage remains unchanged. Credit Failure (Insufficient Credit Handling) A credit failure occurs when an AI action is triggered but there are not enough credits to perform it. What Happens During Credit Failure - The action is not executed. Any available fallbacks are executed — for example, if the assistant cannot respond, the conversation is transferred directly to an agent. - We log the failed action internally for audit

Last updated on Dec 10, 2025

How to Set Up Custom Tools for Captain?

Custom Tools let Captain call your external APIs during conversations — so it can check warranty status, verify service coverage, or fetch data from your own services without handing off to a human agent. When a customer asks a question, Captain extracts the relevant values from the conversation, inserts them into your API request, and uses the response to form its reply. Custom Tools is available on the Business plan and above. Creating a tool Navigate to Captain -> Tools and click Create a new tool. Fill in the following fields: Tool Name — A short name like "Warranty Lookup" or "Service Area Check" (max 55 characters). Description — Tell Captain when to use this tool. This is the most important field. Write it like you're briefing a support agent: "Checks the warranty status of a product by its serial number." Vague descriptions like "Warranty API" will cause Captain to miss opportunities to use the tool. Method — Choose GET (for fetching data) or POST (for submitting data). Endpoint URL — Your API's URL. Use {{ parameter_name }} to insert values extracted from the conversation: https://api.yourcompany.com/v1/warranty/{{ serial_number }} The URL must use HTTPS, must be a hostname (not an IP address), and cannot point to localhost or private networks. Authentication — Choose how your API authenticates requests: - None — No authentication - Bearer Token — Sends your token in the Authorization header - Basic Auth — Sends a username and password - API Key — Sends a custom header name and value (e.g., X-API-Key) Authentication credentials are only visible to account administrators. Parameters — Define what Captain should extract from the customer's message. Each parameter needs a name, type, and description. For example: serial_number (String) — "The product serial number, found on the back of the device." Request Template (POST only) — A JSON body template using Liquid syntax. Response Template — Controls what Captain sees from your API's response. If left blank, Captain receives the raw JSON. Use Liquid to extract relevant fields, for example: Serial {{ response.serial_number }}: {{ response.warranty_status }}. Expires: {{ response.expiry_date }}. Use response to access the parsed JSON body. Response templates help Captain focus on the relevant data and avoid internal fields like database IDs or debug info. Testing your tool Click Test connection before saving to verify your endpoint is reachable. The test reports the HTTP status code. A green result (HTTP 200–299) means the connection and authentication are working. Note that the test sends the URL without filling in parameter values, so it only verifies that your endpoint is reachable and your credentials are accepted. If the test fails, check the following: - 401 Unauthorised — Your authentication credentials are incorrect. Double-check your bearer token, API key, or username/password. - 403 Forbidden — Your API is rejecting the request. If you require identity verification, note that test requests don't include contact headers. - 404 Not Found — The endpoint URL is wrong. Verify the path and ensure your API is running. - Timeout — Your API took too long to respond. Custom tools have a 30-second timeout; make sure your endpoint responds within that window Context sent with every tool call When Captain calls your API, it includes metadata headers so your backend knows the context: - X-Chatwoot-Account-Id — Your account ID - X-Chatwoot-Conversation-Id — The conversation ID - X-Chatwoot-Contact-Email — The customer's email (if available) - X-Chatwoot-Contact-Inbox-Verified — Whether the customer's identity is HMAC-verified - X-Chatwoot-Assistant-Id — The Captain assistant making the call - X-Chatwoot-Tool-Slug — The tool's internal identifier - X-Chatwoot-Contact-Id — The customer's contact ID - X-Chatwoot-Contact-Phone — The customer's phone number (if available) - X-Chatwoot-Conversation-Display-Id — The conversation's display number You can use these headers to look up the customer in your own system, log which conversations triggered API calls, and verify request authenticity. Security Built-in protections: - All endpoints must use HTTPS - Requests to private IP ranges, localhost, and .local domains are blocked - HTTP redirects are not followed - Responses are capped at 1 MB - Auth credentials are only visible to administrators Identity verification: If your tool returns customer-specific data (orders, billing, account details), your API should check the X-Chatwoot-Contact-Inbox-Verified header. Without HMAC verification enabled on your inbox, a visitor could set any email address in the chat widget. Only return sensitive data when this header is true. For tools that return public data this check is not needed. Prompt injection: If your API returns user-generated content (reviews, forum posts), malicious text could influence Captain's behavior. Use response templates to extract only structured fields, and sanitize content on your API side. Limits - Max tools per account — 15 - Recommended — 10 or fewer. A warning appears above 10; more tools make it harder for Captain to pick the right one. - Tool name length — 55 characters - Response size — 1 MB max - Request timeout — 30 seconds When to use custom tools Custom tools are best suited for structured lookups with predictable inputs — checking system status, fetching schedules, or looking up records by ID. If you already have a dedicated Chatwoot integration for your use case (e.g., Shopify for e-commerce), use that instead — dedicated integrations handle search, fuzzy matching, and data sync more reliably than a single API call. Examples Warranty Lookup When a customer asks whether their product is still under warranty, Captain can check it using the serial number. - Tool Name: Warranty Lookup - Description: Checks the warranty status of a product by its serial number. Use when a customer asks if their product is covered, when the warranty expires, or what type of coverage they have. Service Area Check For businesses that operate in specific regions — customers ask whether service is available at their location. - Tool Name: Service Area Check - Description: Checks whether service or delivery is available in a specific area using the customer's zip code or city name. Custom Tools work best when the inputs are straightforward and the API response is predictable — status checks, lookups, and other structured queries are a great fit.

Last updated on Apr 02, 2026