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How to access Scout

Scout appears in a few places, each with a clear job:
  1. Global Scout - Scout mascot in the bottom-right of the workspace (Campsite orange by default, or your org colour when you have one). After a moment, Scout may pop up with a short line of help. The line changes each time. Dismiss it on this page, tap the line to open chat, or tap Scout. The prompt hides when it would cover a button, drawer, or dialog, so Save and Submit stay clickable. The prompt can return when you close chat or move to another page. You can also type a how-to question in the command menu (Cmd+K / Ctrl+K). Scout answers inline in the menu. Use this for how to use Campsite and for organisation policy questions grounded in your Resource library. Global Scout reads the same product guides as the help centre, including hiring, Finance (timesheets, payroll, and budgeting), rota, leave, HR, and admin setup. For questions such as expense rates or leave rules, it ranks matching library documents (including PDFs and Word files) and answers from those when your organisation has uploaded them. It can also use the current page to explain what you are looking at.
  2. Resource Library Scout - On /resources, open Ask Scout for library-wide questions across titles, folders, and uploaded documents. Scout ranks the most relevant files and can read matching PDFs and Word (.docx) files for policy detail. Open a specific file when you want chat locked to that document only.
  3. Compliance Scout - On a compliance update, use Ask Scout for questions grounded in that update. Compliance analyses also include a neutral fact-check and balance layer (verified facts, disputed claims, labelled perspectives, and a politically neutral summary). See Gov Monitor for details.
  4. Marketing demo - A live Scout demo is available on the Campsite landing page.
Organisation managers control who can use Scout under Admin → Roles & permissions → Scout access. Policies include all staff, operations teams, HR and People, line managers, or a selected allowlist. Scout usage is tracked per organisation each calendar month. Plan defaults are 200 answers on Launch, 1,000 on Growth, 2,000 on Scale, and 10,000 on Enterprise. Organisation managers see used, remaining, and a progress bar on Admin → Roles & permissions → Scout access. Unused answers carry into the next month, up to one month of the current allowance. Scout pauses new requests when a hard monthly limit is reached. Global product-help Scout shares the same access and monthly usage limits as library Scout. Managers can buy extra answer packs from the same Scout access page when Direct Debit billing is active. Packs are charged as a one-off Direct Debit payment. Extra answers are added to this month’s allowance only after payment confirms (usually a few working days). Purchase history appears under Buy more capacity. Managers can also raise the monthly cap, turn off the hard stop, or enable unlimited Scout. Those overrides are marked Unbilled: they sit outside the plan allowance. Saving an unbilled override accepts Campsite overage terms. If Scout is hidden for you, your organisation has restricted access. Ask an organisation manager to review the Scout access policy or add you to the allowlist.

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Global product help

Open the bottom-right Scout button, or open the command menu and type your question (Scout answers in the menu after a few characters). In the floating chat you can start a new thread, browse history from this browser tab, or delete a thread. Ask natural-language questions such as “How do I hire someone?”, “How do I create a budget cycle?”, or “How do I invite a new member?” Global Scout explains product workflows and can answer organisation policy questions from your Resource library when the question is about your uploaded policies (for example expense claims or leave rules). It does not answer how Campsite is built or other internal technical details. For regulatory update questions, use Compliance Scout on that update. For tickets and the external help centre, use Help & support in the sidebar. Vague questions (for example “sync Google Calendar”, “where is leave?”, or “how does budgeting work?”) are mapped to the closest product workflow. Calendar sync lives under Settings → Integrations. Budget cycles live under Budgeting.

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Asking Scout about your documents

Library Scout (and Global Scout, for policy-style questions) works best when you ask natural-language questions about your organisation’s policies and procedures. You don’t need to know which document contains the answer. Scout ranks matching library files, attaches the most relevant PDFs when they fit, extracts text from matching Word (.docx) files, and cites the document title. Examples: “What is the annual leave policy?” “How do I report an absence?” “How much can I claim for lunch?” Open Global Scout anywhere, open Ask Scout on /resources, or open a specific document, type your question in plain English, review the answer and citation, then ask follow-ups. Threads are kept for the current browser tab until you clear them.

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Document-level chat

When you open a specific resource in the library - say, your HR handbook - you can start a chat scoped to that document. This is useful when you know which policy you’re reading but want to quickly find a specific section or ask a clarifying question about its content without reading the whole document end to end. Document-level chat is ideal for long, complex documents like employment contracts, compliance policies, or multi-section handbooks where finding a specific clause manually would take time.

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What Scout can and can’t do

Scout is powerful, but each surface has boundaries. Scout can:
  • Explain how to use Campsite product workflows (global Scout)
  • Answer organisation policy questions from the Resource library, including ranked PDF and Word contents (global Scout and library Scout)
  • Answer questions based on an open document (document Scout)
  • Cite the document used (library / document Scout)
  • Handle follow-up questions in a conversation
Scout cannot:
  • Access the internet or external sources
  • Answer questions about documents not in the library
  • Reveal how Campsite is built, its tech stack, or internal systems
  • Make decisions or take actions on your behalf
  • Guarantee 100% accuracy on complex legal questions
Scout’s answers are guidance only. While Scout is accurate when your documents and product context are clear, always refer to the original policy document for definitive information - especially for HR, legal, or compliance matters. If in doubt, consult a qualified adviser.

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Getting the most out of Scout

Upload your key policy documents to the resource library to unlock document Scout. Start with your HR handbook, annual leave policy, absence reporting procedure, disciplinary policy, and any compliance or GDPR documentation. Use global Scout when you need help navigating the product itself. Scout reduces repetitive how-to and policy questions your teams field day-to-day.