Your First AI Chatbot in 5 Minutes
TL;DR — the five minutes at a glance:
- Minute 1: Create an account at zeptix.io/register.
- Minute 2: Choose a plan (Starter/Pro/Business).
- Minute 3: Name the bot, set the subdomain, choose a primary color.
- Minute 4: Upload a first knowledge PDF.
- Minute 5: Open the bot at
your-slug.zeptix.ioand check it with a test question.
Now we go through each step one by one — including the pitfalls where most new owners get stuck.
Preparation — what you need
| You need | Why |
|---|---|
| A valid email address | Login + magic link + invoice delivery. |
| An idea of what your bot should know | Topic focus. Not a mega bot, but a clearly focused bot. |
| Optional: 1–5 PDFs with your knowledge | The later knowledge base. We also start without it. |
| Optional: Your own domain (from Pro) | For chat.yourcompany.com instead of just slug.zeptix.io. |
Important upfront: Plan your bot as a specialized assistant, not as a universal genius. An FAQ bot for your SaaS product is 10x more helpful than an "all-knowing bot". More on this in the article Writing a system prompt.
Step 1 — Create an account (1 minute)
- Open zeptix.io.
- Click Sign in at the top right and then Register.
- Enter:
- Name (for the invoice — can be changed later under settings).
- Email.
- Password (at least 8 characters).
- Accept the three mandatory checkboxes:
- Terms of Service (contract conclusion).
- Privacy policy (GDPR mandatory acknowledgement).
- Minimum age 16 (Art. 8 GDPR).
- Optional: newsletter checkbox, if you want product updates.
- Click Create account.
You land directly in the account onboarding and are asked for master data (private individual, sole proprietor, partnership or corporation). This is mandatory for GDPR-compliant invoices — in the worst case you can leave it on "private individual" and correct it later.
Step 2 — Choose a plan (1 minute)
After onboarding you land on the pricing page with three options:
| Plan | Recommendation |
|---|---|
| Starter — 29 EUR Early-Bird | First test, a single bot, personal knowledge assistant. |
| Pro — 69 EUR Early-Bird | Multiple bots, custom domain, monetization via Zeptix-first credits, reasoning models for complex answers. |
| Business — 249 EUR Early-Bird | Agency setup, white-label, own API keys, Business-Direct for your own Stripe products. |
Tip for first-time users: Start with Starter. You can upgrade at any time without a minimum term — the data moves with you.
Click Let's go. You are redirected to Stripe Checkout. Payment by credit card, SEPA direct debit or Apple Pay / Google Pay. After successful payment, Stripe redirects you back into the dashboard.
Step 3 — Create a bot (1 minute)
In the dashboard, click + New bot at the top right. The onboarding wizard opens.
3a. Name and slug
- Name: what your bot is called (e.g. "Onboarding-Buddy", "FitnessHub-Coach", "Acme-Support"). Appears in the chat interface.
- URL slug: becomes the subdomain. Only lowercase letters, hyphens, no special characters. Example:
onboarding-buddy→https://onboarding-buddy.zeptix.io.
3b. Branding
- Primary color: hex code or color picker. Appears on buttons, highlights, headers.
- Preview instantly shows how your bot will look in the wild.
3c. Personality (optional, can be added later)
- Welcome message: the first sentence your visitor sees. Example: "Hello! I'm here to help you with all questions about Acme Pro."
- System prompt: the bot instruction. If you don't have one yet: leave it empty — the default is "You are a helpful assistant." You can set a sharp prompt later in the detail tab.
Click Create chatbot. Within seconds your bot is live at your-slug.zeptix.io — for now still without a knowledge base.
Step 4 — Upload the first knowledge PDF (1 minute)
In the dashboard, open your freshly created bot and go to the Knowledge base tab (or Knowledge Base).
Drag and drop: Drag a PDF into the upload field or click Choose file.
What the PDF should ideally contain:
- 3–10 pages of content on one topic (not: the entire company wiki in one file).
- Clear headings (H1, H2, H3) and short paragraphs.
- Concrete facts instead of marketing phrases.
What the PDF must NOT be:
- A pure image PDF without a text layer (test: open the PDF in a reader, select text with the mouse — if nothing works, it is an image PDF and Zeptix cannot extract anything).
- Larger than 50 MB.
- Encrypted / password protected.
After the upload, processing starts automatically: Zeptix extracts the text, prepares it for search and makes it usable for your bot. For a typical 5-page PDF, this usually only takes a few seconds. Afterward you see the status Ready.
Detailed guide on this → Prepare your first knowledge PDF correctly.
Step 5 — Test the bot (1 minute)
In the bot detail tab, click the link Open live bot or call https://your-slug.zeptix.io directly.
The 5-question method (simplified — in detail in the article Test the bot):
| Question type | Example | What you check |
|---|---|---|
| Concrete fact question from your PDF | "What does plan X cost?" | Bot cites the figure from the PDF, the source is shown below. |
| Comparison question | "What is the difference between plan A and B?" | Bot correctly combines knowledge from several chunks. |
| Synonym question | Knowledge base says "cancel subscription" — you ask "How do I terminate?" | Bot finds the right info despite the synonym. |
| Out-of-scope | "What will the weather be tomorrow?" | Bot politely says "I don't know" — invents NOTHING. |
| Regulated topic (medicine/law) | "Which painkillers are the best?" | Bot politely declines and refers to a professional. |
If all five tests run cleanly — congratulations, your bot is production-ready.
Common pitfalls
| Symptom | Likely cause | Solution |
|---|---|---|
| "Create account" does not work | Mandatory checkbox not set | Check Terms of Service + privacy + minimum age. |
| Bot URL returns 404 | Typo in the slug or bot not yet active | In the dashboard, check whether the bot status is "Active". DNS propagation can take 1–2 minutes. |
| Upload fails | PDF too large (>50 MB) or image PDF | Split it up or use OCR. See First knowledge PDF. |
| Bot says "I don't know" even though the info is in the PDF | Knowledge base worded too vaguely | Repeat key terms. See Splitting the knowledge base correctly. |
| Bot ignores your system prompt | Conflict with protection rules or unclear wording | Revise the system prompt. See Steering answer behavior and boundaries. |
What you should do afterward
In the first 24 hours after going live:
- Sharpen the system prompt. Explicitly set identity + tone + topic boundaries. Default prompts deliver default answers. → Writing a system prompt.
- Add 2–3 more knowledge PDFs. A bot with five targeted PDFs beats a bot with a single 80-page mega PDF.
- Finalize branding. Upload your logo, set the header link to your main page, adjust the example questions.
- Run an adversarial test. Before you share the bot publicly, check the eight attack vectors from the article Protect your bot from misuse.