Introduction: Getting Started
Section 2.1: Creating Your First Chatbot
Ready to build something amazing? In the next 30 minutes, you'll create a working AI chatbot that answers customer questions automatically. No coding required. No complex setup. Just follow along step-by-step, and you'll have your first AI agent up and running!
What We're Building
Imagine this: A customer visits your website at 2 AM and asks "What are your business hours?" Instead of waiting until morning for a response, your AI chatbot answers instantly—friendly, accurate, and helpful.
That's what you're building today. An AI assistant that:
- Never sleeps or takes breaks
- Always knows the answers to common questions
- Responds instantly, 24/7
- Gets smarter as you teach it more
Sound good? Let's get started!
💡 What You'll Learn
By the end of this section, you'll have:
- ✅ Created your first table
- ✅ Added columns for questions and answers
- ✅ Configured an AI to respond automatically
- ✅ Tested your chatbot with real questions
Step 1: Create Your Table
Every automation starts with a table. Your table is like a workspace where all the magic happens.
Let's create one:
- Click the "+ Create New Table" button (top right of your dashboard)
- Name it: "Customer Conversations"
- Add a description: "Track conversations with customers and AI responses"
- Click "Create Table"
Create New Table
Set up your workspace
Each row in this table will represent one customer conversation.
What just happened? You created a workspace. Each row in this table will be one customer conversation—one question, one AI answer.
💡 💡 Think of It Like This
Your table is like a guest book at an event. Each row is one person who signed in. Except instead of just names, each row will contain a full conversation—the question they asked and the AI's response!
Another way to think about it: If your table is called "Customer Conversations," then:
- Each row = one conversation
- Each column = one piece of that conversation (question, answer, status, etc.)
Simple, right?
Step 2: Add the Incoming Message Column
Now we need a place for customer questions to go. This is where you'll type (or customers will send) their questions.
Here's how:
- Click "+ Add Column" button
- Choose "Text" as the column type
- Set the Column Name to:
customer_message - Set the Column Label to: "Customer Question"
- Click "Add Column"
What just happened? You created a column for incoming messages. This is where customer questions will appear—whether you type them manually (for testing) or they come from a website, email, or WhatsApp later.
💡 Column Name vs. Column Label
- Column Name (
customer_message) - Technical name, lowercase, no spaces - Column Label ("Customer Question") - What you see in the table, friendly name
Both refer to the same column!
Step 3: Add the AI Response Column
Now for the exciting part—adding the AI that will automatically answer questions! This is where your chatbot comes to life.
Here's how:
- Click "+ Add Column" again
- This time, choose "AI Assistant" from the column types
- Look for it in the "Talk to Customers" category
- Set the Column Name to:
ai_response - Set the Column Label to: "AI Answer"
Add Column
Choose the type of action or data
Text
Store text, names, messages
AI Assistant
Generate AI responses
Talk to CustomersNow configure the AI:
- Under "Wait for these columns first", check "Customer Question"
- This tells the AI to wait until there's a question before responding
- In the "AI Instructions" box, write:
You are a helpful customer service assistant.
Answer questions about our products clearly and friendly.- Choose GPT-4 (Recommended) as the AI model
- Click "Save Configuration"
Configure AI Assistant
Set up how your AI will respond
AI will wait until the customer asks a question before responding
Ready to generate AI responses!
When a customer asks a question, your AI will automatically generate a helpful answer.
What just happened? You taught your AI how to behave! It will:
- Wait for a customer question
- Read the question
- Generate a friendly, helpful answer
- All automatically!
💡 ✨ The Magic
You just set up automatic intelligence. Every time a new question appears in the "Customer Question" column, your AI will automatically fill in the "AI Answer" column. No clicking, no manual work!
Step 4: Test Your Chatbot!
Time to see your agent in action!
Here's how:
- Click "+ Add Row" button (top of your table)
- In the "Customer Question" column, type: "What are your business hours?"
- Press Enter or click outside the cell
- Watch the magic happen! ✨
Customer Conversations
Your first AI agent in action!
| Customer Question | AI Answer | Status |
|---|---|---|
What are your business hours? | We're open Monday through Friday, 9 AM to 6 PM EST. Feel free to reach out anytime and we'll get back to you during business hours! | ✓ Complete |
What are your business hours? ← You just typed this | AI is thinking... | ⚡ Processing |
🎉 You just built your first AI agent!
Watch as the AI automatically generates an answer. It's that simple! You can add more rows to test different questions.
What you'll see:
- The "Customer Question" shows your typed question
- The "AI Answer" column shows a spinning animation with "AI is thinking..."
- After a few seconds, the AI answer appears!
- The Status badge changes from "Processing" to "Complete" with a green checkmark
You just built your first AI agent! 🎉
Understanding What Just Happened
Let's break down the magic you just witnessed:
The Automatic Flow:
- You typed a question → It appeared in the "Customer Question" column
- The AI noticed → "Oh! There's a new question to answer!"
- The AI read your instructions → "I need to be helpful and friendly"
- The AI generated an answer → It appeared in the "AI Answer" column
- Status updated → From "Processing" to "Complete" ✓
Here's the beautiful part: This happens automatically for EVERY row you add. You don't need to click anything. You don't need to manually trigger the AI. Just add data, and the automation kicks in!
It's like having a tireless assistant who watches your table and jumps into action the moment they see new work to do.
💡 💡 Try These Questions
Add more rows and test these questions:
- "What's your return policy?"
- "Do you ship internationally?"
- "How do I track my order?"
- "What payment methods do you accept?"
Watch your AI answer each one automatically!
What's Next? Making Your AI Smarter
Right now, your AI is pretty clever—it can have conversations and be helpful. But it's giving somewhat generic answers because it doesn't know the specifics of YOUR business yet.
Here's the problem: If a customer asks "What's your return policy?", your AI will make up a reasonable-sounding answer... but it won't be YOUR actual policy!
The solution? Give your AI knowledge! In the next section, you'll learn how to:
- Upload your FAQ documents, policies, and product guides
- Give your AI specific knowledge about YOUR business
- Make responses accurate and personalized to your company
- Turn your AI from "smart" into "expert"
Think of it like hiring a new employee. Right now, they're friendly and willing to help (great!), but they need training on your company's specifics. That's what we'll do next.
Continue to Section 0.2.2: Adding Knowledge to Your Agent →
Quick Troubleshooting
"My AI isn't responding"
- Check that you checked the "Customer Question" dependency
- Make sure you filled in a question
- Wait 10-15 seconds (sometimes it takes a moment)
"The answer is too generic"
- That's normal! In Section 2.2, we'll give it specific knowledge
- For now, it's using general knowledge
"I want to edit my AI instructions"
- Click on the column header "AI Answer"
- Select "Edit Column"
- Modify your instructions
- Click "Save"
🎉 Congratulations!
You just built your first working AI agent! Let's celebrate what you accomplished:
- ✅ Created a table from scratch (your workspace)
- ✅ Added columns for questions and AI answers
- ✅ Configured your first AI agent with custom instructions
- ✅ Saw it answer questions automatically in real-time
This is huge! You now understand the foundation of everything you'll build with Uniki.
The Pattern You Just Learned
Every automation you create follows this same simple pattern:
- Data comes in (questions, orders, emails, forms, etc.)
- Actions happen automatically (AI responds, emails send, data enriches, tasks create)
- Results appear (answers, confirmations, summaries, reports)
It's always the same: input → automatic processing → output. That's it!
What's Next?
Right now, your AI is pretty smart, but it's giving generic answers. In the next section, you'll learn how to give your AI specific knowledge about YOUR business—your products, your policies, your FAQ—so it can give accurate, personalized answers.
Ready to make your agent an expert? Let's go!