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How to Create and Publish Shopper Chat (AI Widget)

Create and publish Tolstoy Shopper Chat from Widgets → Onsite AI, including Agent and Top Questions settings and live publish checks.

Written by David T

Shopper Chat is the AI Widget for Tolstoy’s onsite shopping assistant. A floating bubble opens one chat modal for product Q&A, cards, try-on (when enabled), coupons, and add to cart.

Agent profile, skills, and Top Questions are store-wide. Prefer Widgets → All templates → Onsite AI → Shopper chat over the legacy Customer Agent → Features → Chat Bubble path.

Live publishing needs AI Shopper balance. Preview can still work without it.

How to Set Up

  1. In Tolstoy, go to Widgets → All templates → Onsite AI.

    Onsite AI templates showing Shopper chat

  2. Select Shopper chat to create the widget (confirm the template prompt, then send).

    Shopper chat template selected in composer

  3. In the widget workspace, review the bubble and chat in Browser preview.

    Shopper chat project workspace

  4. Open the Agent tab to review tone, skills, and chat modal settings.

    Agent tab

  5. Open Top Questions (when available) for product/collection chips.

  6. Preview on Home and Product page contexts before publishing.

How to Publish

  1. Click Publish in the widget workspace and complete the Shopify embed / Tolstoy install if prompted.

    Publish

  2. On the live store, confirm the bubble, greeting, top-question chips, and add to cart.

If preview works but the live bubble is missing, check AI Shopper balance / enabled status.

Best Practices

  • Treat Agent and Top Questions as global for the store.

  • Keep first product-page questions short and purchase-oriented.

  • Use this AI Widget template for new chat installs.

Troubleshooting and FAQs

How is this different from the old Chat Bubble article?

Legacy path: Customer Agent → Features → Chat Bubble. New builds: Widgets → Onsite AI → Shopper chat.

Why is nothing showing on the live site?

Published Shopper Chat stays hidden with no AI Shopper balance. Preview can still render.

Where do I edit tone or skills?

Widget Agent tab (store-wide).

Where do top questions come from?

Product/collection settings. On a product page they can appear as chips before the first shopper message.

Can I add another entry point besides the bubble?

Yes — ask the Widgets agent to add a page button that opens the same chat modal.

Walkthrough video: pending Shopper Chat recording on this box (see PR #19541 artifact / Slack when attached). Screenshots from david.t Platform SSO workspace.

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