Quickstart

Setting up Plain has four phases: invite your team, connect a channel, structure the queue and turn on Plain AI. Most teams are live within a week. For the API, start with the API quickstart instead.

Plain AI is on by default on new workspaces. Manage or disable individual features in Settings, then Plain AI, or read the AI security policy. Connecting email or Slack may need a teammate with Google Workspace or Slack admin access.

Invite your team

Go to Settings, then Members, and invite people by email. Give each person a standard role or a custom role. Viewer seats are free, so invite your whole company and let anyone follow a customer thread.

Connect your first channel

Start with the channel your customers use most, usually Slack or a shared inbox. The first two phases take 30 minutes to an hour.

For Slack, go to Settings, then Slack, and pick an ingestion mode. Add your channel naming convention, such as ext-customername-company, so the Plain bot joins customer channels automatically. Slack Connect channels become customer threads. Internal channels can be added as Discussions.

For email, follow the email setup guide to send and receive from your support address. You can connect several addresses, such as help@, security@ and billing@.

Plain also supports Chat, Discord, Microsoft Teams and contact forms, all in one queue.

Structure the queue

Plan for two to three hours.

Tiers segment customers, such as Enterprise, SMB and Self-Serve, and attach response-time SLAs to each. First set business hours in Settings, then Business Hours, so SLAs respect weekends and holidays. Then in Settings, then Tiers, define your segments and set first-response and next-response SLAs per Tier. A CRM integration can sync companies into Tiers. Slack notifications warn you before an SLA breach. Warnings also appear on the thread and in the queue.

Create 5 to 10 labels in Settings, then Labels, such as Bug, Feature Request, Billing and Onboarding. Then use the Workflow Builder to route and assign threads by Tier, Company, Owner, Label or any thread field, set priority, and add escalation paths to raise urgency.

Turn on Plain AI

Turn on auto-triage in Settings, then Plain AI, to label and prioritize incoming threads automatically.

Ari, your AI support agent, resolves Tier I questions end-to-end before they reach your team. Configure it in Settings, then Plain AI, then Ari: connect your Help Center, link Knowledge Sources and define the scope. The more content Ari has, the better it performs.

Ask Sidekick anything about your workspace or any open thread: customer history, suggested actions or reply drafts. Open it from the sidebar or any thread.

Suggested replies, drafted from your past conversations and knowledge sources, are also enabled in Settings, then Plain AI. Your team reviews and sends.

Once you are live, read What to set up next.

If you get stuck, email help@plain.com any time.