Tutorial: Build an in-app documentation assistant

Build and embed an in-app documentation assistant that answers user questions with cited information from your Mintlify documentation site.

What you will build

A reusable widget that embeds the assistant directly in your application. The widget provides:

• A floating button that opens a chat panel when clicked
• Real-time streaming responses based on information from your documentation
• Message rendering with Markdown support

Users can use the widget to get help with your product without leaving your application.

Prerequisites

• The Mintlify assistant enabled
• Your domain name, which appears at the end of your dashboard URL. For example, if your dashboard URL is https://app.mintlify.com/org-name/domain-name, your domain name is domain-name
• An assistant API key
• Node.js v18 or higher and npm installed
• Basic React knowledge

Get your assistant API key

1. Navigate to the API keys page in your dashboard.
2. Click Create Assistant API Key.
3. Copy the assistant API key (starts with mint_dsc_) and save it securely.

Your assistant API key controls access to your assistant quota. This tutorial keeps the key server-side using a backend proxy so it never reaches the client bundle.

Set up the example

Clone the example repository and customize it for your needs.

1. Clone the repository

   git clone https://github.com/mintlify/assistant-embed-example.git
   cd assistant-embed-example
   
2. Choose your development tool

   The repository includes Next.js and Vite examples. Choose the tool you prefer to use.

   Next.js

   cd nextjs
   npm install
   
3. Configure your project

   Open src/config.js and update with your Mintlify project details.

   src/config.js

   export const ASSISTANT_CONFIG = {
     domain: 'your-domain',
     docsURL: 'https://yourdocs.mintlify.app',
   };
   

   Replace:

   • your-domain with your Mintlify project domain found at the end of your dashboard URL.
   • https://yourdocs.mintlify.app with your actual documentation URL.
4. Set up your API key

   Store your assistant API key as a server-side environment variable. Avoid the VITE_ prefix, which bundles the value into your client code:

   .env

   MINTLIFY_TOKEN=mint_dsc_your_token_here
   

   Replace mint_dsc_your_token_here with your assistant API key.

   Then add a backend route (for example, /api/assistant) to proxy requests to the Mintlify API:

   1. Accept the user’s message from the widget.
   2. Attach the Authorization: Bearer $MINTLIFY_TOKEN header and forward the request to https://api.mintlify.com/discovery/v1/assistant/{domain}/message.
   3. Stream the upstream response back to the client unchanged, so token streaming and X-Thread-Id / X-Thread-Key headers reach the widget.
   4. Point the widget’s api option at your backend route instead of the Mintlify API directly.
5. Start the development server

   npm run dev
   

   Open your application in a browser and click the Ask button to open the assistant widget.

Customization ideas

Source citations

Extract and display sources from assistant responses:

const extractSources = (parts) => {
  return parts
    ?.filter(p => p.type === 'tool-invocation' && p.toolInvocation?.toolName === 'search')
    .flatMap(p => p.toolInvocation?.result || [])
    .map(source => ({
      url: source.url || source.path,
      title: source.metadata?.title || source.path,
    })) || [];
};

// In your message rendering:
{messages.map((message) => {
  const sources = message.role === 'assistant' ? extractSources(message.parts) : [];
  return (
    <div key={message.id}>
      {/* message content */}
      {sources.length > 0 && (
        <div className="mt-2 text-xs">
          <p className="font-semibold">Sources:</p>
          {sources.map((s, i) => (
            <a key={i} href={s.url} target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" className="text-blue-600">
              {s.title}
            </a>
          ))}
        </div>
      )}
    </div>
  );
})}

Track conversation threads

Store thread IDs and thread keys to maintain conversation history across sessions.

When a user creates a new conversation thread, the server returns two values in the response headers:

• X-Thread-Id: The thread identifier
• X-Thread-Key: A secret key for the thread (only returned once, when the thread is created)

You must capture and persist both values on the first response. On every subsequent message, include both threadId and threadKey in the request body. If you send a threadId without the corresponding threadKey, the server returns a 404 error.

You must store the X-Thread-Key header immediately. The server only returns it when a new thread is created. You cannot retrieve it later.

import { useState, useEffect } from 'react';

export function AssistantWidget({ domain, docsURL }) {
  const [threadId, setThreadId] = useState(null);
  const [threadKey, setThreadKey] = useState(null);

  useEffect(() => {
    // Retrieve saved thread ID and key from localStorage
    const savedId = localStorage.getItem('assistant-thread-id');
    const savedKey = localStorage.getItem('assistant-thread-key');
    if (savedId && savedKey) {
      setThreadId(savedId);
      setThreadKey(savedKey);
    }
  }, []);

  const { messages, input, handleInputChange, handleSubmit, isLoading } = useChat({
    api: '/api/assistant',
    body: {
      fp: 'anonymous',
      retrievalPageSize: 5,
      ...(threadId && { threadId }),
      ...(threadKey && { threadKey }),
    },
    streamProtocol: 'data',
    sendExtraMessageFields: true,
    fetch: async (url, options) => {
      const response = await fetch(url, options);
      const newThreadId = response.headers.get('x-thread-id');
      const newThreadKey = response.headers.get('x-thread-key');
      if (newThreadId) {
        setThreadId(newThreadId);
        localStorage.setItem('assistant-thread-id', newThreadId);
      }
      if (newThreadKey) {
        setThreadKey(newThreadKey);
        localStorage.setItem('assistant-thread-key', newThreadKey);
      }
      return response;
    },
  });

  // ... rest of component
}

Add keyboard shortcuts

Allow users to open the widget and submit messages with keyboard shortcuts:

useEffect(() => {
  const handleKeyDown = (e) => {
    // Cmd/Ctrl + Shift + I to toggle widget
    if ((e.metaKey || e.ctrlKey) && e.shiftKey && e.key === 'I') {
      e.preventDefault();
      setIsOpen((prev) => !prev);
    }

    // Enter (when widget is focused) to submit
    if (e.key === 'Enter' && !e.shiftKey && document.activeElement.id === 'assistant-input') {
      e.preventDefault();
      handleSubmit();
    }
  };

  window.addEventListener('keydown', handleKeyDown);
  return () => window.removeEventListener('keydown', handleKeyDown);
}, [handleSubmit]);