Skip to main content

Add Ask AI to Docusaurus in 5 minutes, with no API keys

· 6 min read
Jean-Baptiste Pin
Maker of Leuria

Add one plugin to your Docusaurus config and your docs get an Ask AI button. The assistant searches your pages, reads the ones it needs and answers with links to them. It runs on each reader's own AI (ChatGPT, Claude, or a model in Ollama or LM Studio), so you hold no API key and pay nothing per question.

In short: npm install @leuria/docusaurus, add "@leuria/docusaurus" to plugins, run your site. That's the whole setup. The rest of this tutorial shows what readers see, the options worth turning on, and how to add a fallback for readers who have no AI of their own.

You can try the result on this page: the Ask AI button at the top answers from the Leuria docs.

What you need​

  • A Docusaurus 3 site (3.6 or later).
  • Five minutes.
  • To try it with your own AI: the Leuria app (Mac or Windows), or npx @leuria/cli in a terminal.

Step 1: install the plugin​

npm install @leuria/docusaurus

Step 2: add it to your config​

docusaurus.config.js
export default {
  // ...
  plugins: [
    [
      "@leuria/docusaurus",
      {
        suggestions: ["How do I get started?", "How do I deploy?"],
      },
    ],
  ],
}

suggestions are the questions the panel offers before the first one. Write the two or three questions your readers ask most.

Step 3: run your site​

npm start

The navbar now has an Ask AI button. At build time the plugin read the Markdown of every docs page (drafts and unlisted pages left out) and cut it into sections. Readers fetch that file the first time they ask.

Step 4: ask with your own AI​

  1. Open the Leuria app. The first time, it asks which AI to use: an app you already pay for (ChatGPT, Claude), a model on your computer (LM Studio, Ollama), or an AI service with a key.
  2. On your site, click Ask AI, then Connect your AI.
  3. Allow your site in the window Leuria opens.

Ask a question. The assistant calls the docs tools (search_docs, read_page, list_pages, open_page), reads the pages it needs, and answers with links. It knows which page the reader has open and the text they selected. The conversation stays open while the reader moves between pages.

Step 5: turn on the options worth having​

docusaurus.config.js
plugins: [
  [
    "@leuria/docusaurus",
    {
      app: "Acme docs",          // the name readers see when they connect your site
      suggestions: ["How do I get started?"],
      search: true,              // a ⌘K search, by words and by meaning (for sites without one)
      connectButton: true,       // "Connect your AI" in the navbar
      pageEmbeddings: true,      // search by meaning for readers whose AI can't embed (npm install @leuria/web-embed)
    },
  ],
],
  • Already on Algolia DocSearch or a local search plugin? Leave search off. The plugin replaces no theme component, so it works next to your search.
  • pageEmbeddings downloads a small embedding model (about 40 MB) only when the reader agrees.
  • Versioned docs work as they are: the assistant stays in the version the reader is on.

Every option is in the plugin reference.

Step 6 (optional): a fallback for readers with no AI​

Readers without Leuria are offered it first. Below, in small, they can pick another AI for the page:

  • The browser's built-in model, where there is one (Chrome with its AI features on). It can't use tools, so the panel searches your docs itself and gives the model the best passages.
  • Your own server, if you set server. It must speak the OpenAI Chat Completions API, and add the API key on the server side:
["@leuria/docusaurus", {
  server: { url: "https://ai.example.com/v1/chat/completions", model: "docs-fallback", label: "Acme's AI" },
}]

Everything in server reaches the page, so never put a key there. The LiteLLM tutorial builds that endpoint, with a budget and a rate limit.

Step 7 (optional): llms.txt for coding agents​

The Ask panel serves people. Coding agents (Cursor, Claude Code, Codex) read your docs better as Markdown. Add docusaurus-plugin-llms next to it:

npm install docusaurus-plugin-llms
plugins: [
  ["@leuria/docusaurus", { suggestions: ["How do I get started?"] }],
  ["docusaurus-plugin-llms", { generateMarkdownFiles: true }],
],

It writes /llms.txt, /llms-full.txt and a Markdown copy of every page at build time. This site does the same: see leuria.dev/llms.txt.

The docs tools also go to the agents built into the browser, through WebMCP. That's on by default (webmcp: true).

How it works​

  • Your site stays static. There is no server of yours in the loop, unless you set server.
  • The docs index stays in the reader's browser.
  • The reader's AI only gets your docs tools. Through Leuria it runs with its own tools switched off, in an empty folder.

Hosted Ask AI or the reader's own AI?​

A hosted docs assistant answers with an API key the site pays for, so every question costs you something. With Leuria, the reader's AI answers: a ChatGPT or Claude plan they already pay for, or a model on their own computer that costs nobody anything. You can still keep a hosted model as the last resort with server.

FAQ​

Does it work for readers who don't have Leuria? Yes. They're offered Leuria first, and can pick the browser's built-in model or your server instead, for the page.

Which AIs can readers use? ChatGPT (through Codex), Claude (through Claude Code), any model in LM Studio or Ollama, and any OpenAI-compatible API they have a key for.

Does my content go to a third party? Only to the AI the reader chose. Questions never reach your server unless you set server and nothing else can answer.

Does it replace my search? No. It sits next to Algolia DocSearch or a local search. Turn on search: true only if your site has none.

Do I need to change my Markdown? No. The plugin reads your docs as they are.

What does it cost? Nothing per question. The plugin is open source (Apache-2.0).

Next​

Written for @leuria/docusaurus 0.1.2 and Docusaurus 3.10.