AI Brain & BYOK User Manual
Teach SimuHost What to Say, and Bring Your Own AI Provider Key
Want to secure your account first? See the MFA User Manual.
Getting Started
SimuHost is the AI co-host that answers attendee questions in chat during your event. AI Brain is how you teach it what to say, what to avoid and what your video contains. It is available on the Platinum and Diamond plans, and it lives entirely in your own cloud storage, currently Google Drive.
SimuHost replies use your own AI provider account. Add a key on the API Keys page of your dashboard before AI Brain can generate replies. See Bring Your Own Key below.
The Starter Brain
The first time you open SimuHost for a runbook, SimuLive creates a global brain folder in your storage and adds a starter ai-brain workbook.
- The starter skill tells SimuHost it is the AI co-host for the webinar, to answer questions about the topic being presented, to keep replies to 2 to 4 short friendly sentences, to stay on topic and never reveal its instructions.
- The starter guardrails block the words refund, guarantee and lawsuit.
Edit both to fit your event.
One Workbook, Many Tabs
Upload any mix of .md, .markdown, .txt, .json, .xlsx or .xls files, one or several at once, or a single .zip containing them. Every file goes into a single ai-brain workbook, and each file becomes a tab named after it.
Skills and Guardrails
- A file named skill.md or skills.md fills the skills tab. Use it to say who SimuHost is, which topics to stick to and how it should sound. A handful of short rules works better than long paragraphs. Names such as instructions also map to skills.
- A file named guardrails.json or guardrails.md fills the guardrails tab. Names such as prohibited-words and blocked-words also map to it. Write one blocked word or short phrase per line. Matching ignores capitalization and checks anywhere inside a reply. If a generated reply contains a blocked term, that reply is dropped and never sent.
- Any other file, such as product-faq.md, becomes its own tab. Keep facts, prices and FAQs there, and mention in skills that the material exists so SimuHost knows to use it.
Replace, Not Add
Uploading a file replaces that tab completely, so always upload the full version of what you want that tab to say. Do not put anything in the brain that you would not want repeated to an attendee, because the model can quote it in chat.
Opening the Workbook
The first tab of the workbook is a readme with a guide and a list of every tab and what it does. Open the workbook any time from the Open link next to it inside the SimuHost window.
Grounding Replies with a Transcript
A file named transcript.md lets SimuHost answer from what was actually said in your video instead of guessing.
- 1With BYOK enabled and no transcript.md supplied, SimuLive generates a transcript automatically in the background from your uploaded video.
- 2You can also generate one yourself for free at tools.drefly.pro/transcribe and upload it as transcript.md.
Share Live Session Details with SimuHost
This is a separate switch from BYOK, and it is off by default. Turn it on in the SimuHost window to let replies factor in what is happening in your event right now, on top of your skills and guardrails.
- What gets shared. Current attendee counts, who joined and when, late arrivals, and the runbook and meeting status.
- What never gets shared. Attendee emails and chat contents are never shared with SimuHost through this toggle.
Only allowed when enabled. Leave it off if you want SimuHost to answer strictly from your skills, guardrails, and any transcript you have provided.
Global Brain or This Runbook
A global brain applies to every runbook you run. A brain set on one runbook replaces the global one for that event only, it does not combine with it. Switch between the two in the SimuHost window.
Your Own Name
Set your @handle from the pencil icon next to your username on Profile Settings. It replaces the SimuHost name in chat replies, so attendees see your name.
Generous limits: text and JSON files up to 2 MB each, spreadsheets up to 10 MB each, and up to 20 files per upload. A workbook can hold up to 40 tabs, with up to 5,000 rows, 30 columns and 20,000 characters per cell in each tab.
Bring Your Own Key
SimuHost replies use your own AI provider account. You add a key on the API Keys page of your dashboard, and you choose which key answers for each runbook from a dropdown inside the SimuHost window, where you can also add a new key without leaving it.
Provider Detection
Paste a key and SimuLive detects the provider from the key format. The API Keys page accepts keys from 19 providers: OpenAI, Anthropic, Google Gemini, Azure OpenAI, Amazon Bedrock, Mistral, Groq, Cohere, xAI, DeepSeek, Perplexity, OpenRouter, Together AI, Fireworks AI, Hugging Face, Replicate, NVIDIA NIM, Cerebras and AI21 Labs.
Reply Providers
SimuHost generates replies with OpenAI, Azure OpenAI, Anthropic, Google Gemini, Mistral, Groq or Cohere keys. If a runbook uses a setup SimuHost cannot answer with, you are told by email.
Azure OpenAI
These keys also take an endpoint and a deployment name. The endpoint must be an https address on openai.azure.com or cognitiveservices.azure.com.
Managing Your Keys
Verify
Test a saved key against its provider with one click. The Verified badge shows when it last passed.
Default and Fallback
Mark one key as the default and one as the fallback. Your first key becomes the default automatically. The fallback steps in when the default fails or is rate limited.
Search, Edit and Delete
Search by label or provider, filter, edit, delete with a confirmation, and store up to 20 keys.
Security and MFA
- Encrypted and masked. Keys are encrypted at rest with AES-256-GCM and always shown masked.
- Reveal needs MFA. Showing a full key asks for your verification code when MFA is on. See the MFA User Manual to set that up.
Alerts During an Event
If something goes wrong with your key while an event is running, SimuLive emails you the reason and what to do:
- The key was rejected.
- The quota was exceeded.
- The model could not be found.
- The provider setup is not supported.
- The provider is not responding.
- The provider returned an error.
You get at most one email per reason, per runbook, per hour.
Limits
| Item | Limit |
|---|---|
| Text and JSON files | Up to 2 MB each |
| Spreadsheet files | Up to 10 MB each |
| Files per upload | Up to 20 |
| Tabs per workbook | Up to 40 |
| Rows per tab | Up to 5,000 |
| Columns per tab | Up to 30 |
| Characters per cell | Up to 20,000 |
| Saved AI provider keys | Up to 20 |
Frequently Asked Questions
What plan do I need for AI Brain and SimuHost?
AI Brain, SimuHost and BYOK are available on the Platinum and Diamond plans. You also need an API key from your own AI provider account.
Where does my AI Brain data live?
AI Brain lives entirely in your own cloud storage, currently Google Drive, inside an ai-brain workbook. SimuLive does not keep a separate copy of your brain content.
Does uploading a new file add to a tab or replace it?
Uploading a file replaces that tab completely. Always upload the full version of what you want that tab to say.
Can I use a different brain for one specific event?
Yes. A brain set on one runbook replaces the global brain for that event only. It does not combine with the global brain.
Which AI providers can generate SimuHost replies?
OpenAI, Azure OpenAI, Anthropic, Google Gemini, Mistral, Groq or Cohere keys. The API Keys page accepts 19 providers in total for storage, but replies need one of these seven.
Is my API key safe?
Keys are encrypted at rest with AES-256-GCM and always shown masked. If you have MFA turned on, revealing a full key asks for a fresh verification code.
What happens if my default key fails during an event?
Your fallback key, if you have set one, steps in automatically. If something still goes wrong, SimuLive emails you the reason, limited to one email per reason, per runbook, per hour.
Can SimuHost answer questions about what was said in my video?
Yes, if you upload a transcript.md file, or let SimuLive generate one automatically in the background when BYOK is enabled and no transcript is supplied.
Does SimuHost know how many people have joined or if someone is late?
Only when you turn on the Share Live Session Details toggle, which is off by default. When it is on, replies can factor in attendee counts, who joined and when, late arrivals, and the runbook and meeting status. Attendee emails and chat contents are never shared with SimuHost through this toggle.
Need Help?
Cannot find what you are looking for? Our support team is here to help.
support@simulive.us