Lens Channels: Choose Where Lens Shows Up

A channel is any place where people can ask Lens a question and get an answer. For example, a chat window on your website is one channel, and an AI tool like Claude that's connected to Lens is another.

Lens offers four kinds of channels: a widget, MCP, the API, and answer engines. This article explains what each one does, when to use it, and how to set it up. Every channel answers from the same content, so people get the same right answer wherever they ask.

Use Case Information

If you want customers to get answers right on your website or inside your product, add a small chat window (called a widget). And if your customers ask ChatGPT or other AI tools about your product, Lens can help those tools find your content instead of guessing (this is called answer engines).

If your team already uses AI tools like Claude, you can connect those tools to Lens (using MCP), so your team gets answers without leaving the tool. If you already have a chatbot, or your developers want to build something of their own, they can connect it to Lens too (using MCP or the API).

You can start with one channel and add more anytime. They all answer from the same content.

The Four Kinds of Channels

Here's what each kind of channel does and who it's best for.

• Widget: A small chat window that sits on your website or inside your product, where people can type a question and get an answer right away. It's the best choice for helping customers and website visitors.
• MCP: A way to connect Lens to AI tools your team already uses, like Claude or Copilot, so those tools can answer questions about your product using your content. It's the best choice for your own team. MCP stands for Model Context Protocol, but you don't need to know how it works to use it.
• API: A way for your developers to connect Lens to your company's own apps and tools. It's the best choice if you want to build something custom or you already have your own chatbot.
• Answer engines: Helps public AI tools like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity find and use your content when people ask them about your product. It works quietly in the background, so there's no chat window to set up.

To see your channels, click Channel in the menu on the left, where each kind has its own tab. You can set up more than one of each, like one widget for customers and another for your sales team.

You also decide what content each channel can answer from. You do this with source groups, which are sets of your knowledge sources that you group together and name, like "Customer help." To learn how to create one, see the Sources article.

How to Set Up a Widget

A widget is the chat window people see on your website or in your product. When you sign up, Lens creates one widget for you, so you just need to set it up.

To set up a widget:

1. Click Channel in the menu on the left, then open the Widget tab.
2. Click Configure on your widget. To make a new one, click Add.
3. Under Allowed domains, add the website addresses where the widget can appear, like yoursite.com. You need at least one. The widget won't show up anywhere else, which also stops other websites from using it.
4. Choose which source groups (the sets of content it can answer from) the widget can use. A new widget uses all of your content.
5. Give the widget a Name that says who it's for, like "Customer help." Then write a Welcome message, which is the first thing people see when they open it. You can also add instructions for how the widget should answer, like the tone to use.
6. Choose a Layout. Floating shows a small button people click to open the chat. Inline puts the chat right on the page.
7. Choose an Appearance (Default or Dark) and an Accent color to match your brand.
8. Click Save.

To test it and add it to your website:

1. Open the Preview tab and ask a few questions the way a customer would.
2. When the answers look right, make sure your Lens script is on your website. The Lens script is a small piece of code that makes Lens show up on your site, and you only need to add it once. If you haven't added it yet, add it to your website's header using your website builder's "Header code" or "Custom code" setting, or paste it just before the closing </head> tag. Then publish your site. If someone else manages your website, send them the script.

Once your widget is live, visitors can ask questions in their own words and see which pages each answer came from.

How to Connect an AI Tool (MCP)

MCP lets AI tools like Claude and Copilot look things up in Lens. Once it's connected, anyone using that tool can ask about your product and get answers from your content, without switching windows.

1. Click Channel, then open the MCP tab.
2. Click Add.
3. Give the connection a name that says who it's for, like "Support team."
4. Choose which source groups (the sets of content it can answer from) the connection can use.
5. Copy the one-line install command Lens gives you.
6. Run that command on the computer where the AI tool is installed. It sets everything up for you. If you're not sure how to run a command, ask someone on your IT or developer team.
7. Open your AI tool and ask it a question about your product.

To change a connection later, click Configure on its row.

How to Add API Access

The API lets your developers connect Lens to their own apps and tools, and show answers however they like. It uses the same content and source groups as every other channel.

1. Click Channel, then open the API tab.
2. Click Create API key. An API key works like a password that lets your developer's app talk to Lens.
3. Give the key a name and choose which source groups (the sets of content it can answer from) it can use.
4. Copy the key and share it only with the developers who need it.
5. Point your developers to the example request and the API reference on the same page.

If a key isn't needed anymore, or may have been shared by mistake, click Revoke. The key stops working right away.

When to Use MCP or the API

MCP and the API both let other tools get answers from Lens. The difference is how they connect. MCP is the easy choice when the tool you're connecting already supports it, like Claude. The API is for developers who are writing their own code. Here are a few common ways people use them:

• Keep another chatbot accurate: If you already use a chatbot or support assistant, it can check Lens right before it answers, so its answers come from your content instead of just one tool.
• Give your team's AI tools the facts: If your team uses AI tools like Claude every day, connect them to Lens so their answers about your product come from your latest content.
• Build your own experience: If you want answers to look and feel like part of your website, like a custom help page or a personalized banner, use MCP or the API to build it your way instead of using the widget.

How to Set Up Answer Engines

More and more people ask public AI tools like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity about the products they use. Answer engines help those tools find and understand your content, so they're more likely to use it and point back to your website. It works in the background, and your visitors don't have to do anything.

1. Click Channel, then open the Answer engines tab.
2. Click Add site and enter your website address.
3. On the AI configuration tab, add the site under Allowed domains. Then use Choose pages to pick which pages to include.
4. Make sure your Lens script is on that site. Lens keeps everything up to date from there.

Lens also creates a few behind-the-scenes files that tell AI tools what to read on your site. You'll find them on the Discovery files tab. Click Regenerate to rebuild them, or Download all to save a copy. If you can't change your website's code, use Manual install to add the files yourself.

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