Live chat overview

The ZevWorkspace live chat widget is an embeddable support chat you add to any website with a single script tag. Visitor conversations arrive in your workspace inbox in real time, and your replies stream straight back to the page. It is the same chat you can see running in the corner of this documentation site.

What you get

Installation Add the widget with one script tag and your brand key.

Customizing the widget Set colors, copy, position, and business hours in the dashboard.

Custom launchers Open chat from your own button, on any device.

JavaScript API Drive the widget at runtime with window.Zev.

Identifying visitors Attach details and verify who a visitor is.

How it works

The widget loads in three stages so it never slows down your page:

1. The loader is a tiny script (around 1 KB after compression). It reads your settings from the script tag and does nothing else until the page is idle or the visitor interacts.
2. The widget bundle loads lazily, then renders the floating bubble using your brand color and logo.
3. The connection opens over a WebSocket when the visitor opens the chat, or earlier so an unread badge can appear the moment an agent replies.

Everything the visitor sees is styled inside a Shadow DOM. That means the widget’s styles never leak into your site, and your site’s styles never leak into the widget. It looks the same on every page you add it to.

Built for real conversations

• Real-time messaging. Messages and typing indicators move both ways over a WebSocket, with automatic reconnection.
• Returning-visitor history. Visitors who have chatted before land on a list of their past conversations and can pick up any thread.
• File uploads. Visitors can attach screenshots and documents, with per-file upload progress. You can disable uploads per brand.
• Full-screen on mobile. On phones the panel takes over the whole screen, matching the experience of every mainstream chat tool.
• Business hours and away mode. Show an away message and an expected reply time outside your support hours.
• Satisfaction ratings. Visitors can rate a resolved conversation, and the score lands on the ticket.

What you need

• A ZevWorkspace account with at least one brand.
• Your brand’s embed key, a public value that looks like pk_live_.... You copy it from the dashboard.
• The domains where the widget will run, added to your brand’s embed-domain allowlist.

Note

The embed key is public and safe to ship in your page source. The security boundary is the embed-domain allowlist, which is checked when the chat connects. A key used from a domain that is not on the allowlist is rejected. See Installation for where to set both.

Next step

Head to Installation to add the widget and get your brand key.