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URL structure

Your help center always has a default URL pattern:
Where {your-slug} is the help center’s slug (configurable in Settings). This URL works immediately, before any DNS configuration. Use it for previewing while you finish setup. For non-default languages, paths include the language prefix:

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Going live

Help centers have an is_live flag. When off, the help center is in preview mode:
  • Search engines see noindex, nofollow (regardless of other settings)
  • Anonymous visitors can browse but it’s clearly preview
Set is_live to on in Settings when you’re ready for the public. You can also gate indexing separately with disable_search_indexing — useful when your help center is live but you don’t want search engines to crawl yet.

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Custom domains

To serve your help center at help.yourcompany.com instead of /hc/{slug}:
1

Add the domain

Go to Help Center > Settings > Custom Domain. Click Add Domain and enter help.yourcompany.com.
2

Configure DNS

Halo shows a CNAME target. Add a CNAME record at your DNS provider:
  • Name: help (or whatever subdomain)
  • Type: CNAME
  • Value: the target Halo provides
Provider-specific hints in the dashboard: Cloudflare, GoDaddy, Namecheap.
3

Verify

Click Verify DNS. Once propagation completes (typically 5–30 minutes; up to 48 hours), the status turns to Verified.
4

SSL provisions automatically

Halo provisions an SSL certificate. The ssl_status flips to active once issued (usually within minutes after DNS verification).
After this, help.yourcompany.com serves your help center directly. Internally, requests are rewritten to /hc/{slug}/... paths.

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Search indexing & robots

Halo sets per-page robots metadata based on: Sitemaps are auto-generated at /hc/{slug}/sitemap.xml (or /sitemap.xml on a custom domain).

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Authenticated articles (SSO/JWT)

For articles with visibility: authenticated or visibility: company_specific, configure auth in Settings: When set up, your app generates a JWT for the logged-in user (with claims like company_id), passes it to the help center via a hc_token cookie, and the help center allows access to authorized articles. Without auth configured, restricted articles show a “Sign in required” empty state. For company-specific articles, also set allowed_company_ids on the article — the JWT’s company_id claim must match.

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Settings reference

The full settings list at Help Center > Settings:

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Where to go next

Design

Theme your help center for production.

Migrating

Import existing content before going live.

Analytics

Track pageviews and search queries after launch.