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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}:
On some workspaces our support team finishes the connection. If your domain card says Our support team finishes connecting this domain, follow the steps below as usual (add the domain, publish the DNS records, click Check status) and email support@haloagents.ai with the subdomain. We connect it and issue the SSL certificate; the domain serves your help center once its DNS is verified and we’ve connected it.
1

Add the domain

Go to Help Center > Settings > Custom Domain. Click Add Domain and enter a subdomain such as help.yourcompany.com. Root domains (yourcompany.com) aren’t supported because a CNAME record can’t live at the root of a zone.
2

Configure DNS

Halo shows the records to add at your DNS provider, each with a copy button:If you use Cloudflare, set the CNAME’s proxy status to DNS only (grey cloud). Provider-specific hints are in the dashboard: Cloudflare, GoDaddy, Namecheap.
3

Check status

Click Check status. DNS changes typically propagate in 5–30 minutes (up to 48 hours). The status shows what’s left:
  • Awaiting verification: a TXT record above hasn’t been found yet.
  • Waiting for DNS: ownership is proven, but the CNAME doesn’t point at cname.vercel-dns.com yet.
  • Active: the domain is connected and serving your help center over HTTPS.
  • Error: our hosting provider rejected the domain; the message explains why.
4

SSL provisions automatically

Halo provisions an SSL certificate once DNS is in place. 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. A hostname that reaches Halo but isn’t connected to a verified help-center domain (for example before Check status passes) answers with a plain 404: This domain is not connected to a help center.

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Removing a domain

Deleting a domain in Settings > Custom Domain removes its verification, so the hostname stops serving your help center immediately and shows that 404 instead. The domain also has to be detached from our hosting provider (Vercel). Halo does this automatically on workspaces where the hosting integration is enabled; where our support team connected the domain, email support@haloagents.ai when you remove it so we detach the hostname too. Until it’s detached and your DNS no longer points at cname.vercel-dns.com, visitors keep seeing the 404 page.

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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.