> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.watx.in/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Website chat

> A chat widget for your own site, feeding the same inbox as WhatsApp and Instagram — what it does, how a visitor becomes a contact, and what the channel cannot do.

The website channel is a chat widget you paste onto your own site. A visitor opens it,
types, and a conversation appears in the [Inbox](/inbox/overview) alongside WhatsApp and
Instagram — same contacts, same automations, same [AI agents](/ai-agents/overview).

Unlike the other two channels there is no third party in the middle. Watx is the transport,
which is why the rules are different.

## What the widget does

* A **launcher** in the corner of every page, with your colour, icon and shape.
* An **opening message** and an optional **teaser bubble** that appears after a delay.
* **Live chat** with your team, updating without a page refresh in both directions.
* **AI replies**, when you switch them on, using your agent's knowledge.
* **Buttons and list choices** as real tappable controls, because the widget is the UI.
* **File uploads** from the visitor, and from your team in the Inbox.
* **Typing indicators** and **read receipts**, both ways.
* **Conversation history** that survives a page reload and a return visit.
* A **pre-chat screen** that collects details before the first message.
* **Business hours**, with an offline form or a plain "we're away" message outside them.

## How it differs from the other channels

|                   | WhatsApp | Instagram           | Website                     |
| ----------------- | -------- | ------------------- | --------------------------- |
| Reply window      | 24 hours | 24 hours            | **None**                    |
| Message templates | Yes      | No                  | **No, and none needed**     |
| Broadcasts        | Yes      | No                  | **No**                      |
| Delivery receipts | Yes      | Read only           | **Yes, and they are exact** |
| Buttons           | Yes      | Yes (quick replies) | Yes                         |
| List choices      | Yes      | No                  | Yes                         |
| Product catalogue | Yes      | No                  | No                          |

**There is no reply window.** Nobody imposes a re-engagement rule, so a conversation never
closes on you and there is nothing to re-open with a template. The Inbox composer shows no
window banner on a web conversation.

**There are no broadcasts, and cannot be.** A visitor is only reachable while their tab is
open, so there is no audience to send to. This is also why a contact who exists only on the
website cannot be messaged out of the blue.

**Delivery ticks are honest here.** The message either reached the visitor's open
connection or it did not — unlike WhatsApp, which reports Meta's opinion, and Instagram,
which reports nothing.

<Note>
  [Flows](/flows/overview) are WhatsApp-only. Website chats run on
  [automations](/automations/overview), which work on every channel and skip the individual
  steps a channel cannot do.
</Note>

## How a visitor becomes a contact

The widget mints an anonymous visitor identity in the browser and keeps it, so somebody who
asked a question yesterday comes back to the same thread rather than an empty box. That is
the resume path, and it is the common case — most widget loads are a returning visitor.

When the visitor gives you a phone number — through the built-in pre-chat screen or a form
you chose — Watx looks for an existing contact with that number and **uses it**. Somebody
who already reached you on WhatsApp and then types the same number into the widget is one
contact, not two.

<Warning>
  The widget is public and unauthenticated, so everything a visitor types is an unverified
  claim. Details they give only ever fill **blank** fields on a contact — nothing a teammate
  has entered is overwritten, and no existing name, email or phone is changed.
</Warning>

If your own site has logged-in users, you can have your server vouch for who a visitor is,
so a stranger cannot claim to be one of your customers and read their chat history. A
misconfigured signature degrades to an anonymous chat rather than breaking the widget.

## Where things live

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Install the widget" icon="code" href="/website/install">
    Allowed domains, the snippet, and how the channel goes live.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Widget settings" icon="sliders" href="/website/settings">
    Colour, launcher, wording, AI replies and branding, with a live preview.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Behaviour" icon="clock" href="/website/behaviour">
    Pre-chat form, business hours, and what happens when you are away.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Sessions and analytics" icon="chart-simple" href="/website/sessions-and-analytics">
    Where your web chats came from, and how the channel is performing.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

Hosted [forms and booking pages](/forms/overview) sit under the same panel. They are not
part of the widget — a form link works just as well sent over WhatsApp — but they are the
two things most often built alongside one.