ZotGPT Creator

ZotGPT Creator is a platform that allows faculty, staff, and researchers to create customized AI chatbots for administrative tasks, research projects, and other applications. It is designed to support workflows, provide access to specialized knowledge, and enable users to develop solutions tailored to their needs.

Creator Info Session

Are you a staff or faculty member interested in custom AI solutions with Creator? Watch our Creator Info Session recorded on June 11, 2025.

Watch the webinar

Features

Create a custom chat bot

Create chatbots that assist with managing data, answering FAQs, or serving as digital assistants for research teams. Customize your bot's behavior to fit the unique needs of your project or administrative goal.

Upload your own content

Upload documents, datasets, or policies to create a knowledge base your chatbot can access. From research protocols to administrative procedures, your bot can provide accurate and reliable answers in real-time.

Monitor usage through advanced analytics

Monitor how your chatbot is being utilized. Use data-driven insights to track user engagement, identify common questions, and optimize functionality to meet your objectives.

Configurable to meet your unique needs

Personalize your chatbot with flexible configurations. Define its scope, choose the AI model, adjust its tone, set usage limits, or apply guardrails to ensure it aligns with your research or operational goals.

Quick Start Guide

Get up and running with ZotGPT Creator in just a few steps. This guide will walk you through creating your first custom chatbot.

1Accessing ZotGPT Creator

• Go to creator.zotgpt.uci.edu

• Log in with your UCI credentials

• Available to all UCI faculty and staff

Note: Creation of custom chatbots is currently only available to faculty and staff. Students can use shared chatbots but cannot create their own.

2Understanding the Interface

You'll see three main tabs at the top:

My Chatbots

Lists all chatbots you have created

Shared with Me

Lists chatbots others have shared with you

Recent Chatbots

Lists all chatbots you have recently accessed

3Creating Your Custom Chatbot

Initial Setup

• Navigate to the My Chatbots tab
• Click the Create Chatbot button
• Fill in: Name, Description, and System Prompt

💡 Tips for Writing an Effective System Prompt:

• Define the chatbot's role in interactions
• Specify the tone of communication
• Establish formatting preferences for responses
• Set rules for the chatbot to follow
• Provide guidelines on how to handle different topics

💡 Check out the ZotGPT Academy module on prompt engineering for detailed guidance!

Setting Access Controls

Invite Only

Only accessible to people you explicitly invite

UCI

Anyone at UCI with the link can access it

Open to Public

Accessible to anyone (requires ZotGPT team approval)

AI Model Configuration

Choose Your AI Model:

Open Source

Mistral Large 2

Conversation Style:

BalancedCreativePrecise (recommended)

4Adding Knowledge Sources

Website Scraping

• Limited to a few websites per chatbot
• Only .edu, .org, and .gov domain websites permitted

File Upload

• Upload documents for reference
• File size limit: 200 MB

Click Create Chatbot to complete the process!

Managing & Sharing Your Chatbot

From the My Chatbots tab, click Manage to access your chatbot's detailed settings. The management interface includes four tabs:

SSummary

Provides general analytics and details about your chatbot, including usage statistics and overall performance metrics.

HConversation History

Offers analytics on chatbot usage plus detailed breakdowns of every conversation. Includes the ability to export conversations as CSV files.

UUsers

Manage who has access to your chatbot. Add or remove users and control permissions for your created chatbots.

⚙Settings

Adjust your chatbot's knowledge base, system prompt, AI model, and other configuration settings to optimize performance.

Quick Actions:

To share: Use the shareable link option according to your access control settings

To chat: Click Start New Chat from the My Chatbots tab

To manage: Click Manage next to any chatbot you've created

Need Help?

If you need assistance or have questions about enabling additional features like public access, contact the ZotGPT team.

zotgpt-support@uci.edu