wordpress/Getting Started

Getting Started

Connecting takes a minute and needs nothing copied or pasted. You sign in on savanto.ai, approve the connection, and land back in WordPress with your content already syncing.

Connect Your Site

  1. Go to Savanto → Settings in your WordPress admin
  2. Click Connect to Savanto
  3. Sign in, or create a free account if you do not have one
  4. Approve the connection for your site

The Savanto settings screen before connecting, showing the Connect to Savanto button

You are returned to WordPress connected. There is no key to find or store — the plugin and Savanto exchange credentials directly, and the key never passes through your clipboard or your browser history.

If you do not have an account yet, create one during this flow rather than beforehand. Signing up part-way through works, including the trip to your inbox for the verification email.

Open that verification link in the same browser you started in. The link brings you back to where you left off, and the record of where that was is kept in your browser — so opening the email on your phone while you started on a laptop will finish the signup but land you on your dashboard instead of back in WordPress. If that happens, nothing is lost: return to Savanto → Settings and click Connect to Savanto again, and it will complete straight away now that you are signed in.

What happens when you connect

  1. Your site is registered with Savanto and a workspace is attached
  2. Keys for the search and chat widgets are generated and stored
  3. Search and chat are switched on
  4. Your first content sync is queued and starts in the background

The workspace is chosen for you. If your account already has one, the plugin connects to it rather than creating another; reconnecting the same site reuses the workspace it had before.

The connected settings screen showing the workspace and connection status

Connecting With a Secret Key Instead

The guided flow is the easy path, but pasting a key still works — useful for moving a site between accounts, or if you would rather not leave WordPress.

  1. Create a free account at savanto.ai (no credit card required)
  2. Copy a Secret Key from API Keys in your dashboard
  3. In WordPress, go to Savanto → Settings and expand Use a secret key instead
  4. Paste the key and click Connect

Your secret key starts with if_sk_. It grants full access to your workspace, so treat it like a password.

⚠️
Keep your secret key secure
Your secret key provides full access to your Savanto workspace. Never share it publicly or commit it to version control. The Connect button avoids handling it at all, which is why it is the recommended route.

If Setup Does Not Finish

Occasionally a connection completes but the setup after it does not — the site shows as connected while search and chat stay switched off. The Settings screen says so when this happens and offers a Finish setup button, which completes the remaining steps. It is safe to click more than once, and it will not switch a feature back on that you deliberately turned off.

Workspace Management

Switching Workspaces

If you have multiple workspaces, you can switch between them:

  1. Go to Savanto → Settings
  2. Expand Advanced
  3. Choose a workspace from Switch to a different workspace
  4. Click Switch Workspace

Content you have already synced stays with the workspace it was synced to, so after switching you need to sync again to populate the new one.

Disconnecting

To disconnect your site:

  1. Go to Savanto → Settings
  2. Click Disconnect
  3. Confirm the action
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Disconnecting deletes all data
Disconnecting permanently deletes all your data from Savanto including indexed content, chat configuration, prompts, and styling. All local plugin settings will also be removed. This action cannot be undone. If you just need to change your API key, use the "Change" button instead.

Initial Content Sync

After connecting, sync your content to build the AI knowledge base:

  1. Go to Savanto → Knowledge
  2. Select which post types to include (Posts, Pages, Products, etc.)
  3. Click Sync Now

Knowledge page with post types

The initial sync may take several minutes depending on your content volume. You can monitor progress on the Status page.

Verify Your Setup

After connecting and syncing, verify everything is working:

Check the Status Page

Go to Savanto → Status to see:

  • ✓ API Connection — Connected to Savanto servers
  • ✓ Workspace — Active workspace name
  • ✓ Indexed Content — Number of documents in your knowledge base

Test the Chat Widget

  1. Visit your website's frontend (not wp-admin)
  2. Look for the chat widget (usually bottom-right corner)
  3. Ask a question about your content

If the chat widget doesn't appear, check that it's enabled in Savanto → Chat.

Test Search

  1. Use any search form on your site
  2. Try a natural language query like "products for outdoor activities"
  3. Results should show semantically relevant content

What's Automatically Enabled

Once connected and synced, these features work immediately:

FeatureDescription
Semantic SearchReplaces WordPress search with search that matches on meaning
Chat WidgetFloating chat assistant on your frontend
WooCommerce SearchProduct search enhanced (if WooCommerce active)
Real-time SyncContent changes sync automatically

No code changes or theme modifications required.

Next Steps