Available on KnoCommerce Analyst and above.
Overview
The Open-Text Autocomplete feature adds predictive text suggestions to open-ended survey questions. As respondents type, matching suggestions appear in a dropdown that they can select from. Respondents can always type a custom answer.
Suggestions can be drawn from two sources:
A suggestion list you create and manage
Previously submitted responses from other survey takers
When both sources are active, the suggestion list takes priority. As the respondent types, matching entries from your suggestion list are shown first. If no suggestion list entries match the current input, the system falls back to matching against previously submitted responses. If neither source has a match, the respondent simply types their own answer. This means your curated suggestions always take precedence over historical data.
When "Exclude previous responses" is turned on, only your suggestion list is used. Historical responses are never shown, regardless of whether the suggestion list has matches.
Autocomplete works across all survey environments: Legacy Shopify, Shopify Extensibility, KnoLinks, and Custom Embed.
Supported Question Types
Autocomplete is available on:
Text and TextArea questions (applied to the main input field)
Radio, Checkbox, and Dropdown questions (applied to the "Other" free-text field when the "Other" option is enabled)
Setting Up Autocomplete on Text / TextArea Questions
Open your survey in the builder and select the Text or TextArea question you want to configure.
In the Content panel on the right, find the Autocomplete toggle under the question-type options and turn it on.
Once enabled, the Suggestion List section appears below the toggle. You can add suggestions here (see "Managing the Suggestion List" below).
Optionally, turn on Exclude previous responses if you only want suggestions to come from your curated list.
Setting Up Autocomplete on Radio / Checkbox / Dropdown "Other" Fields
Open your survey in the builder and select the Radio, Checkbox, or Dropdown question.
In the Content panel, enable the "Other" option toggle.
Once "Other" is enabled, the Show suggestions toggle appears below it. Turn it on.
Configure the suggestion list and "Exclude previous responses" toggle the same way as described above.
Managing the Suggestion List
The suggestion list is the curated set of answers you want to offer as suggestions. You can build it two ways:
Manual entry: Type suggestions directly into the text area, one per line (up to 1,000 entries, 255 characters each).
CSV import: Click Import CSV to upload a file. The CSV should contain one suggestion per row in the first column only (max 1,000 rows, 1 MB file size). Click Download Example to get a template.
If you already have suggestions and import a new CSV, you'll be asked whether to Replace All (overwrite the existing list) or Add (merge the new entries with the existing list, removing duplicates automatically).
Use the Sort A-Z / Z-A button to alphabetize your list.
Note: If Autocomplete and "Exclude previous responses" are both enabled but no suggestions have been added, a warning will appear. Either add suggestions or disable "Exclude previous responses" so that previously submitted answers can be used as a fallback.
What Survey Takers See
When a respondent types into a text field with autocomplete enabled, a dropdown of matching suggestions appears once they've typed at least 3 characters. Matching is case-insensitive and works on any part of the suggestion (e.g., typing "piz" would match "Cheese Pizza"). Respondents can click a suggestion or use keyboard navigation (arrow keys to browse, Enter to select, Escape to dismiss). On Shopify checkout surveys, suggestions appear using Shopify's native design to match the rest of the checkout experience.
Respondents can always ignore suggestions and type any answer they want.
Need help? Reach out to hello@knocommerce.com or click the chat bubble.