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You can customize the Webchat widget by adding plugins. Find Webchat plugins in the plugin collection on GitHub or create your own custom plugins. You can implement plugins in:
  • The Demo Webchat — test plugins from the collection by using the Webchat Endpoint settings.
  • In your code — add custom plugins or plugins from the collection to the Webchat widget in your website.
After setting them up, you need to trigger them in the Flow editor.
Plugins created for Webchat v2 are compatible with Webchat v3 but may display a different styling.

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Test Plugins in Demo Webchat

To test a plugin from the plugin collection, follow these steps:
  1. Open the Cognigy GitHub repository and select the plugin you want to use.
  2. On the Releases page, copy the URL of the JavaScript file from the Assets section of the plugin you selected. For example, the URL for the Google Firebase Authentication Webchat Plugin is https://github.com/Cognigy/WebchatPlugins/releases/download/google-firebase-authentication100/google-firebase-authentication.webchat-plugin.js.
  3. In Cognigy.AI, select a Project from the Projects list.
  4. In Deploy > Endpoints, select an Endpoint or create a new one:
  • Webchat v3
  • Webchat v2
  1. Select the Webchat (v3) Endpoint.
  2. In the Webchat v3 Endpoint settings, paste the URL into the Webchat Plugins field under the Demo Webchat Settings section.

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Set Up Plugins in Your Code

You can set up plugins in your code in the embedding code of your Webchat v3 or Webchat v2. To add the plugins in your code, proceed as follows:
  • Plugin from Collection
  • Custom Plugin
  1. Open the Cognigy GitHub repository and select the plugin you want to use.
  2. On the Releases page, copy the URL of the JavaScript file from the Assets section of the plugin you selected. For example, the URL for the Google Firebase Authentication Webchat Plugin is https://github.com/Cognigy/WebchatPlugins/releases/download/google-firebase-authentication100/google-firebase-authentication.webchat-plugin.js.
  3. Add the plugin using a <script> tag after loading webchat.js and before calling initWebchat() in your HTML code, for example:
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
    <title>Parcel Sandbox</title>
    <meta charset="UTF-8" />
    <style>
    html {
        background-color: #eee;
    }
    </style>
</head>
<body>
    <script src="https://github.com/Cognigy/WebchatWidget/releases/download/v3.2.0/webchat.js"></script>
    <script src="https://github.com/Cognigy/WebchatPlugins/releases/download/google-firebase-authentication100/google-firebase-authentication.webchat-plugin.js"></script>
    <script>
    initWebchat(
        "https://endpoint-trial.cognigy.ai/8a8b023c1da283e1c9191c471aaef8dc5090ccc8f33d6a39b00a80276754309e"
    );
    </script>
</body>
</html>

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Trigger Plugins

Most plugins based on Cognigy plugin examples are activated only when specific data is present in a message. The plugin code specifies the "match": "plugin-name" condition, which determines when the plugin is triggered. For example, the "match": "dialog" condition triggers the plugin when the message contains the word dialog. See the source code. For instance, consider a plugin that displays images in a chat interface, extracting the URL from the message’s data. This plugin has two parameters: match set to inline-image, and url which retrieves the image URL from message.data._plugin.url. When Webchat receives a message, it triggers the inline-image plugin if the condition message.data._plugin.type === 'inline-image' is met. Then, the plugin retrieves the image URL from message.data._plugin.url. You can trigger plugins using the following components:

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Basic Nodes

  1. In the Node Editor, navigate to the Options section.
  2. In the Data field, enter the following JSON to trigger plugin.
Example: 
{
  "_plugin": {
    "type": "inline-image",
    "url": "https://placekitten.com/256/256"
  }
}

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Code Node

If you prefer using a Code Node to send a message, you can pass the structured data payload as a second parameter to the actions.output method. Example: 
api.output('' , {
 _plugin: {
   type: "inline-image",
   url: "https://placekitten.com/256/256"
  }
})

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Extensions

You can build an Extension that sends a message triggering the Webchat plugin, simplifying the process to only include the necessary parameters. Custom module example: 
/**
 * Sends an image to the user via webchat
 * @arg {CognigyScript} `url` The url of the image
 */
const sendInlineImage = async (input, args) => {
    const { url } = args;

    // if no url is set
    if (!url) {
        // do nothing
        return input;
    }

    // send a message that triggers the 'inline-image' plugin with a url
    input.api.output('', {
        _plugin: {
            type: "inline-image",
            url: "https://placekitten.com/256/256"
        }
    });


    return input;
}

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More Information