Chatwoot — Open Source Customer Support & Live Chat

What Chatwoot Does

Chatwoot covers the entire customer communication workflow:

• Live Chat Widget: Embeddable chat widget for your website with customizable branding
• Omnichannel Inbox: Unified inbox for chat, email, WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Instagram DM, Twitter, Telegram, LINE, and SMS
• Team Collaboration: Agent assignment, team routing, internal notes, and canned responses
• Automation: Rule-based automation for routing, labeling, and auto-responses
• CRM Contacts: Customer profiles with conversation history, custom attributes, and notes
• Reporting: Agent performance, conversation metrics, CSAT scores, and SLA tracking
• Bot Integration: Connect with Dialogflow, Rasa, or custom AI bots for automated responses

Architecture

┌──────────────┐     ┌──────────────┐     ┌──────────────┐
│  Chat Widget │────▶│  Rails API   │────▶│  PostgreSQL  │
│  + Dashboard │     │  + Sidekiq   │     │  + Redis     │
│  (Vue.js)    │     │  (Ruby)      │     │              │
└──────────────┘     └──────┬───────┘     └──────────────┘
                            │
              ┌─────────────┼─────────────┐
              │             │             │
       ┌──────┴──┐   ┌─────┴───┐   ┌─────┴───┐
       │WhatsApp │   │Facebook │   │ Email   │
       │  API    │   │  API    │   │ (IMAP)  │
       └─────────┘   └─────────┘   └─────────┘

Self-Hosting

Docker Compose

services:
  chatwoot-web:
    image: chatwoot/chatwoot:latest
    command: bundle exec rails s -b 0.0.0.0 -p 3000
    ports:
      - "3000:3000"
    environment:
      SECRET_KEY_BASE: your-secret-key
      FRONTEND_URL: http://localhost:3000
      DATABASE_URL: postgresql://chatwoot:chatwoot@postgres:5432/chatwoot
      REDIS_URL: redis://redis:6379
      RAILS_ENV: production
    depends_on:
      - postgres
      - redis

  chatwoot-worker:
    image: chatwoot/chatwoot:latest
    command: bundle exec sidekiq
    environment:
      SECRET_KEY_BASE: your-secret-key
      DATABASE_URL: postgresql://chatwoot:chatwoot@postgres:5432/chatwoot
      REDIS_URL: redis://redis:6379
    depends_on:
      - postgres
      - redis

  postgres:
    image: postgres:16
    environment:
      POSTGRES_USER: chatwoot
      POSTGRES_PASSWORD: chatwoot
      POSTGRES_DB: chatwoot
    volumes:
      - pg-data:/var/lib/postgresql/data

  redis:
    image: redis:7-alpine
    volumes:
      - redis-data:/data

volumes:
  pg-data:
  redis-data:

Key Features

Chat Widget Integration

<!-- Add to your website -->
<script>
  (function(d,t) {
    var BASE_URL="http://localhost:3000";
    var g=d.createElement(t),s=d.getElementsByTagName(t)[0];
    g.src=BASE_URL+"/packs/js/sdk.js";
    g.defer = true;
    g.async = true;
    s.parentNode.insertBefore(g,s);
    g.onload=function(){
      window.chatwootSDK.run({
        websiteToken: 'YOUR_WEBSITE_TOKEN',
        baseUrl: BASE_URL
      })
    }
  })(document,"script");
</script>

Automation Rules

Set up automatic workflows:

• Auto-assign: Route conversations to specific agents/teams based on channel, content, or customer attributes
• Auto-label: Tag conversations automatically based on keywords or patterns
• SLA Alerts: Notify agents when response time thresholds are approaching
• Auto-resolve: Close inactive conversations after a set period

Canned Responses

Pre-built reply templates for common questions:

/greeting  → "Hi there! Thanks for reaching out. How can I help?"
/pricing   → "Our plans start at $X/month. Here's a detailed comparison: [link]"
/refund    → "I understand. I've initiated a refund for your order #..."

API Integration

# Create a contact
curl -X POST http://localhost:3000/api/v1/accounts/1/contacts 
  -H "api_access_token: YOUR_TOKEN" 
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" 
  -d '{"name": "John Doe", "email": "john@example.com"}'

# Send a message
curl -X POST http://localhost:3000/api/v1/accounts/1/conversations/1/messages 
  -H "api_access_token: YOUR_TOKEN" 
  -d '{"content": "Hello! How can I help?", "message_type": "outgoing"}'

Chatwoot vs Alternatives

FAQ

Q: What support team sizes is Chatwoot suitable for? A: From 1 person to 100+ agents. The self-hosted version has no seat limit. Larger teams should deploy via Kubernetes for better scalability.

Q: How do I integrate the WhatsApp Business API? A: Chatwoot supports WhatsApp Cloud API (official from Meta) and third-party BSPs (like 360dialog). Apply for WhatsApp Business API access through Meta Business, then configure the Channel in Chatwoot.

Q: Can I plug in an AI support bot? A: Yes. Chatwoot has native integrations with Dialogflow CX/ES and Rasa. You can also connect any custom AI service (OpenAI, Claude, etc.) via webhooks for smart replies.