Chat.sh: an AI knowledge base for customer self-service

What is Chat.sh, in plain English?

Chat.sh turns your product documentation into a searchable help center that can answer customer questions. Think of it as a product manual with a question box: you supply the articles, public webpages and PDFs, and readers receive an answer with links back to the material used. It suits founders and support teams who already have useful information but want customers to find it more easily.

The public help center is available now. The website still labels the chat messenger and human support inbox as upcoming. Choose it for the live documentation workflow; do not plan an immediate replacement for a complete live-chat or ticketing system around features that have not shipped.

Why the sources matter more than a fluent answer

Typing in the search box finds matching published material without spending AI credits. Asking for a generated answer uses one credit. According to the official documentation, the answer uses workspace sources, numbers its claims and links them to the relevant pages. If the sources do not cover the question, it says so and directs the reader toward support.

For a useful trial, prepare a real customer question, a differently worded version and a question your docs cannot answer. Open the citations and check the actual conditions, not just the topic. Clear titles, one-sentence descriptions and one article per question help keep the source material focused. These are practical checks, not a guarantee that every generated answer is correct.

Free access, lifetime plans and the costs to count

Checked on 2 October 2026, the homepage advertises 50 pages and 100 AI answers each month for free on a chat.sh address, with no card. The workspace-creation guide describes the paid workflow, so the exact free onboarding path has not been independently tested.

The official lifetime pricing lists US$399 per workspace for 1,000 pages and 1,000 monthly AI credits, or US$799 for 5,000 pages and 5,000 credits. These are public USD offers, not a verified tax-inclusive price in every market. Custom domains and MCP access are paid capabilities.

One article or webpage uses a page unit per 2,500 text characters, with at least one unit; a PDF uses one unit per physical page. AI credits reset on the first of the month. An extra 1,000 credits costs US$20 through support. The planned inbox includes three or five people depending on the plan; additional people are listed at US$10 monthly. A lifetime purchase therefore does not mean unlimited usage or no possible recurring extras. Future buyers’ prices are scheduled to increase as features ship.

Publish a first article and add existing material

Once you have workspace access, follow the documented article publishing workflow:

1. Open Help center, choose Add a new source, then Create a new article.
2. Add a title, a short description and the body. Use headings for the steps and exceptions a customer needs.
3. Choose a collection. Keep the article as Draft while reviewing it, or select Published and Save to make it available to readers.
4. Open the public help center, ask a question the article answers and verify the linked source.

TXT and Markdown imports fill one new article at a time and have a 1 MB file limit. PDFs use Add a file and have a 9 MB limit. Public webpages use Add a web page; login-protected pages cannot be fetched. A webpage source helps answer questions but does not become a sidebar article.

A reader can open a PDF when an answer cites it. Treat this as a public documentation workflow and review files before adding them. The checked pages do not establish retention, model-training or commercial-licensing guarantees.

Use your own domain or a folder on your site

A help center can use a chat.sh address, your own subdomain or a path such as example.com/help. For a subdomain, the Domain settings provide CNAME and TXT records, followed by Check DNS. Cloudflare users are told to keep the record DNS only so the certificate can be issued.

A subfolder needs your website to forward both the help path and /chat-assets. The official folder-hosting guide provides configurations for Cloudflare Worker, Vercel, Next.js and nginx. Use the configuration generated for your workspace and check both the home page and article pages after deployment. This serves a hosted service through your site; it is not evidence that the application can be self-hosted.

Maintain documentation through connected AI tools

Published pages can be copied as Markdown, and the site advertises llms.txt for assistants. For editing, the MCP connection guide describes the endpoint https://chat.sh/mcp, sign-in and workspace permissions. This connection requires a lifetime workspace.

Start with a request to list articles or create a draft. Reading includes drafts; editing an already published article changes the live page immediately. Publishing and deletion have separate permissions. Review those choices before connecting a client, and ask to inspect changes before saving when the article is already public.

Questions before trying Chat.sh

Can I use Chat.sh for free?

The homepage offers a free chat.sh-address plan with 50 pages and 100 monthly AI answers. A custom domain and the documented MCP connection require a paid lifetime workspace.

Can it answer questions about my PDFs?

Yes. Upload a PDF up to 9 MB and wait for processing. Each PDF page counts toward your allowance, and cited files can be opened by readers.

Is Chat.sh a general-purpose AI chat?

Its documented job is to answer from your workspace’s support sources. It is intended for product help, not an unrestricted assistant answering from arbitrary knowledge.

Official documentation and support

• Chat.sh help center: setup instructions and the public support contact.
• AI credit and page rules: current accounting, top-ups and what happens at the page limit.