For Docusaurus v3

Ask AI for your Docusaurus docs

Q: Will it work with my Docusaurus version?

The docusaurus-biel plugin is built for Docusaurus v3. v2 sites can use biel-react with a small Footer wrapper. Both routes ship the same widget.

Q: How long does the install take?

Install the package and add one plugin entry to docusaurus.config.js. Indexing time depends on the size of the site.

Drop in docusaurus-biel and your site gets two connected surfaces: a page-search modal with Ask AI, and a separate assistant for source-linked answers. One config block. Multilingual out of the box.

Add Biel to Docusaurus See the install code

14-day free trialNo credit card required

docs.acme.dev/api/webhooks

Acme Docs

DocsAPIBlog

Search docs⌘K

Webhook retry policy

Acme retries failed webhook deliveries automatically using exponential backoff. The retry policy is configured per-endpoint via the dashboard or the API.

# Configure retry policy
curl -X POST https://api.acme.dev/v1/webhooks \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer sk_..." \
  -d '{"retry_policy": "exponential"}'

By default, Acme retries up to 8 times over a 24-hour window. Each retry waits twice as long…

Used by documentation and developer-experience teams

Install

Three ways to ship Biel on Docusaurus

A floating Ask AI assistant, a page-search modal that can replace DocSearch and hand queries to chat, or a hosted MCP endpoint Claude and Cursor can query directly.

Full installation guide

Add the assistant widget

The standard install. The docusaurus-biel plugin drops a floating Ask AI button onto every page. Two lines in docusaurus.config.js, no theme changes, no swizzling.

→Floating button on every page
→Five button positions, dark or light
→Modal can dock right or float center
→Compatible with DocSearch (run both)

docusaurus.config.js

// 1. npm install docusaurus-biel
// 2. Add the plugin to docusaurus.config.js

module.exports = {
  // ...
  plugins: [
    [
      'docusaurus-biel',
      {
        project: '<YOUR_PROJECT_ID>',
        headerTitle: 'Documentation AI',
        version: 'latest',
      },
    ],
  ],
};

Replace DocSearch with Biel search

Swizzle the classic theme’s SearchBar component and render <biel-search-button> in its place. The Biel modal returns matching pages and offers an Ask AI handoff to the assistant. The navbar position stays where users expect it.

→Drop-in replacement for DocSearch
→Keeps ⌘K shortcut
→Page results with an Ask AI handoff
→Algolia themeConfig entry can be removed

src/theme/SearchBar.tsx

// 1. npm run swizzle @docusaurus/theme-classic SearchBar
//    Choose: TypeScript, then Eject.
// 2. Replace SearchBar.tsx with the snippet below.

import React from 'react';

export default function SearchBar() {
  const projectId = '<YOUR_PROJECT_ID>';
  const headerTitle = 'Documentation AI';
  // @ts-ignore: web component, not a React component
  return (
    <biel-search-button
      project={projectId}
      button-style="rounded"
      header-title={headerTitle}
    >
      Search
    </biel-search-button>
  );
}

Make your docs queryable by AI agents

Hosted MCP is available from $150/month. Enable it for your Biel project to give compatible AI tools access to the same indexed documentation. Codex, Claude Code, Cursor, and other MCP-compatible assistants can search your docs directly. Configure once in mcp.json or your editor’s MCP settings.

→Hosted MCP server, no self-hosting
→Same index as the assistant, one source of truth
→Works with Codex, Claude Code, and Cursor
→Private projects require a project-scoped API key

mcp.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "biel-ai": {
      "name": "Biel.ai",
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://mcp.biel.ai/v2/YOUR_PROJECT_SLUG/mcp"
    }
  }
}

Biel.ai vs Algolia DocSearch for Docusaurus

Where DocSearch wins, where Biel.ai adds value, where the two complement each other on a typical Docusaurus site.

Dimension	Algolia DocSearch	Biel.ai
Query type	Keyword and title matching. Returns a list of pages, ranked by relevance.	Semantic page results, with Ask AI for natural-language questions and source-linked answers.
Source attribution	Page title and URL fragment. User clicks through to find the relevant section.	Direct quote with a link to the exact page and section it came from.
Multi-source	Indexes one Docusaurus site at a time. Combining sources requires custom work.	Index multiple Docusaurus instances, blogs, GitHub repos, or PDFs in one project.
Analytics	Algolia provides query volume and click-through data. No content-gap signal.	Unanswered questions, satisfaction trends, and a Content Gaps view that updates daily.
Languages	Strong multilingual keyword search via Algolia's language analyzers.	Answers in 60+ languages, including languages your docs are not written in.
Install complexity	Apply for the free OSS program, configure the crawler, wire into themeConfig.	npm install docusaurus-biel and add a plugin entry. Indexing time depends on site size.
Hosting	Algolia US/EU clusters, depending on plan tier.	Supports GDPR compliance, with EU data residency available on Enterprise plans. Customer content is not used to train models.
Cost	Free for OSS via DocSearch program. Paid Algolia tiers scale with query volume.	Self-serve. 14-day free trial, no credit card required.

Before you install

Will it work with my Docusaurus version?

The docusaurus-biel plugin is built for Docusaurus v3. v2 sites can use biel-react with a small Footer wrapper. Both routes ship the same widget.

Can we keep DocSearch?

Yes. Keep DocSearch and add the Biel assistant, or replace it with Biel Search. Its Ask AI option sends the current query to the assistant.

Does it work on Vercel, Netlify, and GitHub Pages?

Yes. The plugin adds scripts at build time, the widget loads from a CDN, and indexing runs against your live URL. No server requirements and no host-specific config.

Can it use our translated docs?

Index the published URLs for each language you want to include. Readers can ask in their own language. Use separate projects if answers must draw only from one language.

Can we keep our swizzled theme?

Yes. The assistant plugin leaves your theme overrides in place. Replacing the SearchBar is optional and affects only that component.

How long does the install take?

Install the package and add one plugin entry to docusaurus.config.js. Indexing time depends on the size of the site.

Make your Docusaurus docs answer questions

Try Biel with your docs Book a demo

14-day free trial · No credit card required

Use a different platform? See our integration pages for Sphinx, MkDocs, Starlight, Antora, and Jekyll.