API Overview Enterprise
The AskVio API lets you use the same retrieval and answer pipeline behind the hosted widget, but inside your own applications, workflows, and channels.
When API usage is the better choice
The visual widget is the fastest way to launch on a website. The API is better when you need tighter control of UX, orchestration, or integrations.
- Custom frontend experiences: build your own search box/chat UI while keeping AskVio answer quality.
- Headless integrations: call AskVio from server workflows, automation tools, or internal portals.
- Multi-channel delivery: reuse knowledge across web, mobile app, support console, or CRM tools.
- Security/governance requirements: route requests through your backend for stricter policy enforcement and observability.
Typical use cases
- Embedding AI answers in a custom help center search experience.
- Powering agent-assist tools for support teams with private/internal data.
- Building a unified assistant that combines AskVio retrieval with your own business logic.
- Running A/B tests on prompt or UX layers without changing the hosted widget.
Widget vs API at a glance
| Need | Widget | API |
|---|---|---|
| Fastest time-to-live | Best fit | Possible, but more implementation work |
| Custom interface/flow | Limited to widget settings | Full control |
| Backend orchestration | Minimal | Best fit |
| Internal/non-web channels | Not ideal | Best fit |
If you are starting from scratch, many teams launch with the widget first, then add API endpoints for advanced product use cases once traffic and requirements grow.