Getting started

Install and activate

Install the free core from the WordPress plugin directory the same way you install any plugin, or upload the premium plugin zip under Plugins, then click Activate. Living Manual adds a "Living Manual" item to your WordPress admin menu.

Connect your Anthropic key

The AI features run on your own Anthropic API key, so the first thing the setup wizard asks for is that key.

1. Create an account at console.anthropic.com and add billing.
2. Create an API key under Settings, and paste it into the wizard.
3. Click Test key. Living Manual makes one tiny live call so you can confirm Claude answers before you save.
4. Click Save and continue.

Your key is stored only in your own WordPress database and is used to talk to Anthropic directly. You can update it later under the Living Manual settings.

Add your first manual

On the second step of the wizard (or later, under Living Manual > Add New), you create a manual:

• Name it, for example "Operations Manual."
• Choose who can read it (see access, below).
• Upload the source PDF of your manual, handbook, or policy book.

Click Create, and ingestion begins. Living Manual reads the PDF, reconstructs it into browsable sections, and builds the knowledge graph the docent searches. This runs in the background in steps and can take a few minutes for a long document. Keep the tab open on the Knowledge Bases screen, where progress updates live and the status flips to ready when it is done.

Browsing and search

Your manual lives at /manual/your-manual-slug/. It has a table of contents, every chapter and section as its own real web page, and full-text search across the whole document. This is the free core, and it works with no AI key at all.

The AI docent

On every manual page, an "Ask about this manual" widget lets your team ask questions in plain language. The docent searches your document, ranks what it finds, and composes an answer.

• Every answer cites the exact sections it came from, and the citations link straight to the source.
• If your manual does not cover a question, the docent says it does not know rather than inventing an answer.
• Readers can rate an answer with a thumbs up or down, which feeds the insights dashboard.

Who can read it

Each manual is set to one of two access rules when you create it:

• Logged-in users: only people signed in to your WordPress site can view the manual and use the docent. Best for internal handbooks and policies.
• Public: anyone can read it. Best for customer-facing documentation.

The insights dashboard

Under Living Manual > Insights, every question your team asks is logged. Run the AI analysis and Living Manual clusters the questions for you:

• Question themes: what people actually ask about, grouped.
• Coverage gaps: the topics where answers looked thin or your manual had little to say.
• Content suggestions: concrete sections to add next, drawn from the real questions.

Re-run the analysis whenever you want a fresh read. Your manual stops being a static document and becomes a feedback loop.

Licensing and activation

The free core, the browsable manual and search, needs no license and never expires. The premium features, the AI docent and the insights dashboard, require an active license.

• After purchase, paste your license key into the Living Manual settings to activate the premium features on that site.
• Your plan sets how many sites you can activate on: Single (one site), Multi-site (up to five), or Agency (unlimited, including client sites).
• If a license lapses, the free browse and search keep working. The docent and insights pause until you renew. Your content always stays on your site.

What it costs

Living Manual does not charge for AI usage, because it never touches it. Anthropic bills your account directly for the calls made on your key. As a rough guide, ingesting a full-length manual is a one-time run that typically costs a few dollars, and each visitor question afterward costs a fraction of that, on the order of pennies. Current per-token prices are on Anthropic's pricing page.

Troubleshooting

My manual pages show a 404

Flush your permalinks: go to Settings > Permalinks and click Save once. This is the one-time step after first activation.

Ingestion seems stuck

On the Knowledge Bases screen, use Re-ingest to restart. Ingestion is built in idempotent steps, so restarting picks up cleanly without duplicating work. Long documents legitimately take several minutes.

The key test failed

The Test key button reports the specific cause, such as an invalid key, no credits, or a rate limit, along with how to fix it. Confirm the key is active and has billing enabled at console.anthropic.com.

Get help

Stuck on something not covered here? Email william@williamalexander.co and you will reach the person who builds it.