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Overview

Embed Avoca’s live web chat on your site or app to handle visitor conversations in real time. Web chat now has its own Sandbox setting so you can test scripts, branding, and routing without touching production traffic.
Use sandbox for experiments and QA. Keep a separate widget ID and token for production.

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Get started

  1. In the Avoca dashboard, go to Settings -> Web Chat from the sidebar.
  2. Pick the assistant and default queue to handle chat sessions.
  3. Customize the widget (greeting, theme color, button placement, allowed domains).
  4. Copy the embed snippet for your environment (production or sandbox) and paste it before </body> on pages where chat should appear.
  5. Verify events with the Unified Inbox or the live_chat.* webhooks/API.

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Sandbox

Use the dedicated sandbox toggle to keep testing traffic isolated from production.
  • Dedicated toggle: Under Settings -> Web Chat -> Sandbox, you get a separate widget ID and token that only route to the sandbox environment.
  • Safe testing: Traffic sent with the sandbox snippet stays isolated from production analytics, SLAs, and customer notifications.
  • Endpoint alignment: If you call the Live Chat API directly, point sandbox tests to your sandbox base URL and keep production calls on your primary base URL.
  • Widget separation: Keep two snippets - one for sandbox pages (staging/QA) and one for production. Do not reuse the same widget ID across environments.

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Implementation tips

  • Add the sandbox snippet only on staging or password-protected pages so real visitors do not see test chats.
  • If you simulate sessions via API (POST /live-chat/sessions), tag sandbox requests with a source_id that clearly identifies staging traffic.
  • Use a throwaway phone/email in test chats so downstream routing and deduplication rules do not trigger real-world actions.
  • After validating in sandbox, swap in the production snippet and retest key flows (greeting, handoff, booking, and notifications).