Skip to main content
Test is the page in the HelpAlive dashboard where you try the agent before your users do. It has two views. On your app, the one it opens on, tries the whole agent in your real app; see Test it on your app. Question batches runs a batch of questions through the agent so you can read its answers. Use it after you change sources, tone, length or custom responses on Train, before you press Publish.

​
Testing at a glance

  • Question batches test chat answers: up to 50 questions a run, read side by side with Compare.
  • On your app tests the whole agent, assists included, through a test link that works in one browser for 14 days.
  • Tests never reach your users and never count against your plan. Your workspace gets 300 test chats and 50 test assists a month.
  • Changes to the agent’s training and settings don’t reach your users until you press Publish. An assist on your app is real, though: it changes real records.

​
How a question batch works

A question batch answers the way the chat in your app does. When you have unpublished changes to guidance, custom responses or sources, it answers from them and the page shows Previewing draft. Each question counts as one of your workspace’s test chats for the month.

​
Run a batch of test questions

1

Start a new test

Press New test. Give it a Test name (optional).
2

Add questions

Type one question per line under Questions (one per line). To test follow-ups, press Add conversation and add an Opening question with up to four Follow-up questions. A run holds up to 50 questions, follow-ups included.
3

Or load questions

Load set opens a set you saved before. Upload CSV reads a file with columns turn_1, turn_2 and so on, one conversation per row.
4

Run it

Press Run test. Answers fill in the results table as they come. Cancel stops the run. Your workspace runs one batch at a time.

​
Read a batch’s results

Each run appears in the list on the left with its state: Queued, Running, Done, Cancelled or Error. Open a run to see each question and a plain-text preview of the agent’s answer. Click a row for Question detail, including Sources it answered from. The summary strip at the top says how the run is going, for example “Running: 8 of 12 answered”. Once it ends, it says how it went, for example “Finished all 12 questions”. Not asked means that a stopped run never reached that question. Once a run has ended, you can:
  • save the questions as a reusable set, to run them again later;
  • export the results as a CSV file;
  • Compare it with another run.

​
Compare two runs

Open a finished or canceled run and press Compare in its summary strip. The Compare runs view opens. Pick a second run under Pick a run to compare…. HelpAlive pairs the answers by question and puts them side by side, each with its sources. Above the answers, a box lists what changed between the runs, such as docs added or “The answer guidance changed.” Sources changed means that the two answers in a pair drew on different sources. Questions asked in only one run are listed at the end. Export CSV saves the comparison. Answers can be worded differently even when nothing changed, because the agent writes each answer afresh. Run the same set before and after a change on Train to see what the change did.

​
Test it on your app

Test → On your app lets you try the whole agent, assists included, in your real app, before you turn it on for anyone. Step 3 of Settings → Setup & API Key brings you here.
A test assist works in your real app, as you. When it saves, sends or deletes, that happens for real, with your app’s usual effects. Test with a test account and test data where you can.
You don’t need to change Controls or pick yourself there. Sign in to your app in this browser and press Test it on your app. The agent shows there for you only, even while it is off for your users.
1

Check your app

Our script, identify() and your published docs come first. Enter your app’s address and press Check this address. Three checks must pass: Our script on app.yourcompany.com, Your app says who is signed in and Your docs, published. If your docs show Not published, use Go to Train to publish them, then check again.
2

Make a test link

Sign in to your app as the person you’ll test with, then press Test it on your app. Your app opens in a new tab with the link. The agent shows in that browser only, with a Test badge, even while it is off for everyone else.
A link works in the first browser that opens it, for 14 days or until you end it. To test in another browser, make a new link. Revoke on the dashboard, or End test on the widget’s Test strip in your app, ends a link. A test link never changes who gets the agent on Controls. The 50 test assists and 300 test chats a month are shared by test links and question batches. The top of On your app shows what is left as Test assists and Test chats. Every assist and chat from a test link appears there, step by step. The step on Setup turns green once a test has run an assist or a chat.

​
Check it works

Run one question your docs answer. The row turns Done and shows an answer drawn from your sources.

​
Troubleshooting

  • “Run test” is disabled. The run is over the 50-question limit, or has more questions than your workspace’s test chats left this month. Remove some questions, or wait for the day they start again.
  • “A test run is already going.” Your workspace runs one batch at a time. Wait for it to finish or cancel it, then start yours.
  • The test link can’t be made. If Your docs, published shows Not published, publish your docs on Train, then check again. If A plan or free trial shows No plan, testing on your app starts once your plan or free trial does.
  • The widget says “This test has ended.” The link was revoked or its 14 days are over. Make a new link.
  • The test link does nothing in this browser. Each link works in the first browser that opens it. Make a new link for this browser.

​
Next

Train

Change what the agent knows.

Publishing

Take your tested changes live.

Appearance

Style the widget your users see.
Last modified on October 12, 2026