Teach it to talk

Time: 12 minutes

Goal

Give your companion answers people actually need, in your own voice.

How answers work

const answers = [
  { question: 'Is my data stored?', answer: 'Only your saved lists, in your browser. Nothing else.' },
]

<Companion character={recei} answers={answers} greeting="Hi! Ask me anything." />

• Each question is a button. Tapping it shows its answer.
• greeting is the first line. It defaults to "Hi, I'm {name}."
• With no answers at all, tapping just makes the companion wave.

Writing good answers

Do	Avoid
One or two sentences.	Paragraphs.
Plain words a newcomer understands.	Jargon and internal names.
True today.	Promises about future features.
"Yes, free for personal use."	"We believe in accessibility for all."

Aim for 3 to 6 questions. More than that and nobody reads them.

Why fixed answers?

A companion that makes things up is worse than no companion. Fixed answers can be reviewed, tested and trusted. That is why the kit has no AI built in.

If you add AI later

Some apps will want free-form questions. If you add a model, keep these rules:

1. Answer only from your own docs. Pass them in; tell the model to say "I don't know" when the answer is not there.
2. Show where the answer came from. Link the page it used.
3. Keep the fixed answers too. The most common questions should never depend on a model.

The Receipts app follows the same idea: every AI answer must point to real lines, or it is shown as "Can't tell".

Check it works

Tap your companion. Every question shows its answer, and the text reads naturally out loud.

Exercise

Read your answers aloud to someone who has never seen your app. Rewrite any they had to ask about.