--- title: "Discover the Kanal AI Agent" description: "Set up the Kanal AI Agent to answer your customers automatically on WhatsApp, 24/7: activation, AI Active / Inactive switch, sources, testing and escalation." url: https://help.getkanal.com/en/articles/89-discover-the-kanal-ai-agent collection: "AI Agent" updated: 2026-10-23 language: en alternates: [fr-fr] --- # Discover the Kanal AI Agent Set up the Kanal AI Agent to answer your customers automatically on WhatsApp, 24/7: activation, AI Active / Inactive switch, sources, testing and escalation. The Kanal AI Agent replies automatically to your customers' WhatsApp messages, in your name and with your tone. It relies on your website, your Shopify catalog, your documents and your questions and answers, and replies 24/7. When a request is beyond its abilities, it applies the escalation mode you chose. > **Info:** **Scale plan required** > The AI Agent is available on the Scale and Business plans. Each AI reply costs 0.05 €, deducted from your message balance. Tests in the Playground are free. The AI Agent pages are displayed in English, whatever the language of your Kanal interface. ## Conditions for the AI to reply The AI Agent replies to a message only if: - your Shopify store is connected to Kanal; - the AI is active on your account and not turned off in the conversation; - no automation has handled the message (answer to an automation question, keyword, unsubscribe, "Any text" flow); - the message is a text, an image, an audio, or a video or document sent with a caption; - the message comes in on WhatsApp. All the details are in [When does the AI Agent reply?](https://help.getkanal.com/en/articles/130-when-does-the-ai-agent-reply.md). ## Enable the AI Agent 1. In the left menu, click **AI Agent**. 2. Click **Activate AI Agent**. 3. Read the billing terms, check the acceptance box and confirm. You are then redirected to the automatic setup. The setup pages are only available once the AI Agent is activated. > **Warning:** **The AI replies to your customers as soon as it is activated** > Activate AI Agent turns the AI on immediately, for your real customers, even before Auto Setup and your tests. To set it up and test safely, switch the toggle at the top of the AI Agent menu to AI Inactive, then switch it back to AI Active when everything is ready. ## Turn the AI on or off at any time The toggle at the top of the AI Agent menu turns the AI on or off for your whole account: - **AI Active**: the AI replies to your customers. - **AI Inactive**: the AI no longer replies to any customer. An **AI is disabled** banner shows on the AI Agent pages; click **Re-enable** to turn it back on. To turn the AI off for a single conversation, use the AI button of the conversation in the Inbox (see below). ## The AI Agent menu - **Auto Setup**: automatic setup based on your website. - **Website**: the pages of your site used as a source. - **Shopify**: your store information and the products visible to the AI. - **Custom Q&A**: your reference questions and answers. - **Documents**: documents used as an additional source. - **Personality**: the agent's name, tone, style, instructions and escalation mode. - **Notifications**: the email addresses alerted when the AI hands off to a human. - **Playground**: a conversation simulator to test the AI. ## Automatic setup (Auto Setup) Auto Setup explores your website and pre-fills your brand identity, your tone and frequent questions. 1. Enter your website URL (e.g. `www.your-store.com`). 2. Review the suggested information and adjust it if needed. 3. Confirm. > **Warning:** **Auto Setup replaces your Custom Instructions** > Running Auto Setup again overwrites the Custom Instructions already saved in Personality. If you wrote them yourself, copy them before running it again. ## Knowledge sources - **Website**: add the pages of your site one at a time with **Add Page**. Kanal does not re-read your site automatically: after a change, delete the page and add it again. See [Set up your knowledge sources](https://help.getkanal.com/en/articles/69-set-up-your-knowledge-sources.md). - **Shopify**: the AI knows your products, prices and stock as they were at the last sync, not in real time. See [Connect your Shopify data to the AI Agent](https://help.getkanal.com/en/articles/70-connect-your-shopify-data-to-the-ai-agent.md). - **Custom Q&A**: your reference answers. The AI does not copy them word for word, it rephrases them. See [Control your answers with Custom Q&A](https://help.getkanal.com/en/articles/71-control-your-answers-with-custom-qanda.md). - **Documents**: add PDF, TXT or Markdown files (10 MB maximum), with an optional title. ## The agent's personality In **Personality**, you set the agent's name (Agent Name), informal or formal address, the tone (4 options), emoji use (4 levels), answer length (3 levels), greeting and closing formulas, forbidden words, your Custom Instructions (up to 6,000 characters) and your context (shipping, returns, hours, promotions). Custom Instructions take precedence over the other sources. At the bottom of the page, the **When the AI can't answer** block sets the escalation mode. See [Define your AI Agent's personality and tone](https://help.getkanal.com/en/articles/72-define-your-ai-agents-personality-and-tone.md). ## Test in the Playground Test the AI in the **Playground**: send messages the way a customer would and check the answers. Playground tests are not billed. If an answer does not fit, complete your sources or your Custom Instructions, then test again. Keep the toggle on AI Inactive until your tests are conclusive. ## Escalation to your team When the AI cannot handle a request, it applies the mode chosen in Personality, block When the AI can't answer: - **Hand off to a human**: the AI pauses in the conversation, flags it in the Inbox and alerts the email addresses saved in **Notifications** (up to 5). - **Give a contact email**: the AI gives the customer your **Public contact email** and keeps replying. There is no alert, no pause and no flag in the Inbox. See [AI Agent escalation to your team](https://help.getkanal.com/en/articles/128-ai-agent-escalation-to-your-team.md). ## Take over in the Inbox The AI does not pause when a team member replies in the Inbox. To handle a conversation yourself, click the **AI** button in the conversation header (tooltip "Disable AI"). The button then shows **AI Off**: the AI no longer replies in this conversation. Click it again to turn the AI back on. ## Good to know - The AI replies 24/7. The **Support Hours** setting is informational only: it does not limit when the AI replies. - The AI replies in the customer's language. - Billing is 0.05 € per reply, even when the reply is shown in several bubbles. No reply quota is included in the plans. See [AI Agent pricing](https://help.getkanal.com/en/articles/79-ai-agent-pricing-how-it-works.md). - You can turn the AI Agent off at any time with the AI Inactive toggle, with no commitment. > **Info:** **Tip** > Start by adding your customers' 10 most frequent questions to Custom Q&A, then check the answers in the Playground.