diff --git a/pkg-py/docs/greet.qmd b/pkg-py/docs/greet.qmd
index 5750ae06..8ab59908 100644
--- a/pkg-py/docs/greet.qmd
+++ b/pkg-py/docs/greet.qmd
@@ -5,11 +5,17 @@ title: Greet users
 
 ### Provide a greeting
 
-When the querychat UI first appears, you will usually want it to greet the user with some basic instructions. By default, these instructions are auto-generated every time a user arrives; this is slow, wasteful, and unpredictable. Instead, you should create a greeting file and pass it when creating your `QueryChat` object:
+When the querychat UI first appears, you will usually want it to greet the user with some basic instructions. By default, these instructions are auto-generated every time a user arrives. In a production setting with multiple users/visitors, this is slow, wasteful, and non-deterministic. Instead, you should create a greeting file and pass it when creating your `QueryChat` object:
 
-```python
+```{.python filename="titanic-app.py"}
+from querychat import QueryChat
+from querychat.data import titanic
 from pathlib import Path
-qc = QueryChat(titanic, "titanic", greeting=Path("greeting.md"))
+
+app_dir = Path(__file__).parent
+
+qc = QueryChat(titanic(), "titanic", greeting=app_dir / "greeting.md")
+app = qc.app()
 ```
 
 You can provide suggestions to the user by using the `<span class="suggestion"> </span>` tag:
@@ -33,13 +39,13 @@ You can see this behavior in our [`querychat template`](https://shiny.posit.co/p
 
 If you need help coming up with a greeting, you can use the `.generate_greeting()` method:
 
-```python
+```{.python filename="penguins-greeting.py"}
 from palmerpenguins import load_penguins
 from querychat import QueryChat
+from pathlib import Path
 
 # Create QueryChat object with your dataset
-penguins = load_penguins()
-qc = QueryChat(penguins, "penguins")
+qc = QueryChat(load_penguins(), "penguins")
 
 # Generate a greeting (this calls the LLM)
 greeting_text = qc.generate_greeting()
@@ -50,9 +56,21 @@ greeting_text = qc.generate_greeting()
 # Save it for reuse
 with open("penguins_greeting.md", "w") as f:
     f.write(greeting_text)
+```
+
+This approach generates a greeting once and saves it for reuse, avoiding the latency and cost of generating it for every user.
+
+```{.python filename="penguins-app.py"}
+from palmerpenguins import load_penguins
+from querychat import QueryChat
+from pathlib import Path
 
 # Then use the saved greeting in your app
-qc = QueryChat(penguins, "penguins", greeting=Path("penguins_greeting.md"))
+app_dir = Path(__file__).parent
+qc = QueryChat(
+  load_penguins(), 
+  "penguins", 
+  greeting=app_dir / "penguins_greeting.md",
+)
+app = qc.app()
 ```
-
-This approach generates a greeting once and saves it for reuse, avoiding the latency and cost of generating it for every user.
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/pkg-py/src/querychat/_querychat.py b/pkg-py/src/querychat/_querychat.py
index 299ce2ec..a32ef934 100644
--- a/pkg-py/src/querychat/_querychat.py
+++ b/pkg-py/src/querychat/_querychat.py
@@ -3,7 +3,6 @@
 import copy
 import os
 import re
-import sys
 from pathlib import Path
 from typing import TYPE_CHECKING, Literal, Optional, overload
 
@@ -17,7 +16,7 @@
 
 from ._datasource import DataFrameSource, DataSource, SQLAlchemySource
 from ._icons import bs_icon
-from ._querychat_module import ServerValues, mod_server, mod_ui
+from ._querychat_module import GREETING_PROMPT, ServerValues, mod_server, mod_ui
 
 if TYPE_CHECKING:
     import pandas as pd
@@ -48,14 +47,6 @@ def __init__(
 
         self.id = id or table_name
 
-        if greeting is None:
-            print(
-                "Warning: No greeting provided; the LLM will be invoked at conversation start to generate one. "
-                "For faster startup, lower cost, and determinism, please save a greeting and pass it to init().",
-                "You can also use `querychat.greeting()` to help generate a greeting.",
-                file=sys.stderr,
-            )
-
         self.greeting = greeting.read_text() if isinstance(greeting, Path) else greeting
 
         prompt = get_system_prompt(
@@ -244,8 +235,7 @@ def generate_greeting(self, *, echo: Literal["none", "output"] = "none"):
         """
         client = copy.deepcopy(self._client)
         client.set_turns([])
-        prompt = "Please give me a friendly greeting. Include a few sample prompts in a two-level bulleted list."
-        return str(client.chat(prompt, echo=echo))
+        return str(client.chat(GREETING_PROMPT, echo=echo))
 
     @property
     def system_prompt(self) -> str:
diff --git a/pkg-py/src/querychat/_querychat_module.py b/pkg-py/src/querychat/_querychat_module.py
index 7e8beb68..356ca22c 100644
--- a/pkg-py/src/querychat/_querychat_module.py
+++ b/pkg-py/src/querychat/_querychat_module.py
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 from __future__ import annotations
 
 import copy
+import warnings
 from dataclasses import dataclass
 from pathlib import Path
 from typing import TYPE_CHECKING, Callable, Union
@@ -134,10 +135,14 @@ async def greet_on_startup():
         if greeting:
             await chat_ui.append_message(greeting)
         elif greeting is None:
-            stream = await chat.stream_async(
-                "Please give me a friendly greeting. Include a few sample prompts in a two-level bulleted list.",
-                echo="none",
+            warnings.warn(
+                "No greeting provided to `QueryChat()`. Using the LLM `client` to generate one now. "
+                "For faster startup, lower cost, and determinism, consider providing a greeting "
+                "to `QueryChat()` and `.generate_greeting()` to generate one beforehand.",
+                GreetWarning,
+                stacklevel=2,
             )
+            stream = await chat.stream_async(GREETING_PROMPT, echo="none")
             await chat_ui.append_message_stream(stream)
 
         has_greeted.set(True)
@@ -180,3 +185,10 @@ def _on_restore(x: RestoreState) -> None:
                 has_greeted.set(vals["querychat_has_greeted"])
 
     return ServerValues(df=filtered_df, sql=sql, title=title, client=chat)
+
+
+GREETING_PROMPT: str = "Please give me a friendly greeting. Include a few sample prompts in a two-level bulleted list."
+
+
+class GreetWarning(Warning):
+    """Warning raised when no greeting is provided to QueryChat."""
diff --git a/pkg-r/R/QueryChat.R b/pkg-r/R/QueryChat.R
index de998397..67cc0136 100644
--- a/pkg-r/R/QueryChat.R
+++ b/pkg-r/R/QueryChat.R
@@ -511,8 +511,7 @@ QueryChat <- R6::R6Class(
       chat <- private$.client$clone()
       chat$set_turns(list())
 
-      prompt <- "Please give me a friendly greeting. Include a few sample prompts in a two-level bulleted list."
-      as.character(chat$chat(prompt, echo = echo))
+      as.character(chat$chat(GREETING_PROMPT, echo = echo))
     },
 
     #' @description
diff --git a/pkg-r/R/querychat_module.R b/pkg-r/R/querychat_module.R
index b721a2ea..7496fedb 100644
--- a/pkg-r/R/querychat_module.R
+++ b/pkg-r/R/querychat_module.R
@@ -71,13 +71,11 @@ mod_server <- function(
       greeting_content <- if (!is.null(greeting) && any(nzchar(greeting))) {
         greeting
       } else {
-        # Generate greeting on the fly if none provided
         rlang::warn(c(
-          "No greeting provided; generating one now. This adds latency and cost.",
-          "i" = "Consider using $generate_greeting() to create a reusable greeting."
+          "No greeting provided to `QueryChat()`. Using the LLM `client` to generate one now.",
+          "i" = "For faster startup, lower cost, and determinism, consider providing a greeting to `QueryChat()` and `$generate_greeting()` to generate one beforehand."
         ))
-        prompt <- "Please give me a friendly greeting. Include a few sample prompts in a two-level bulleted list."
-        chat$stream_async(prompt)
+        chat$stream_async(GREETING_PROMPT)
       }
 
       shinychat::chat_append("chat", greeting_content)
@@ -137,3 +135,6 @@ mod_server <- function(
     )
   })
 }
+
+
+GREETING_PROMPT <- "Please give me a friendly greeting. Include a few sample prompts in a two-level bulleted list."