Off until you choose
The assistant is off until an administrator turns it on, and even then only the people you choose will see it. That lets you try it with a small group before offering it to everyone.
Enable it
Go to Settings > AI Chatbot and switch the assistant on for your company.
Choose who gets it
Give the AI Chatbot role to the users who should have the assistant. Administrators have it automatically. Anyone without the role will not see the launcher and cannot use the assistant, so you decide exactly who is in.
If your company previously had the assistant switched on for everyone, note that after this change users will need the AI Chatbot role before the launcher reappears for them.
Add your AI key
Choose your AI provider and paste its key. See Choose your AI provider for the OpenAI, Azure AI Foundry, Claude and self-hosted options. The key is stored write-only: once set, Layer shows only that a key exists, never the value.
Set a monthly budget
Enter a monthly budget to cap what the assistant can spend with your AI provider. When the month's estimated spend reaches the cap, the assistant pauses until an administrator raises it or the next month begins. Self-hosted endpoints are not billed, so the cap does not apply to them.
Roll it out
A good order is: enable it, add your key, set a budget, then give the role to a handful of people and let them try the questions in What you can ask the Layer Assistant. When you are happy, widen the role to the rest of the team.