Installation on React and Single-Page Apps

This guide is for sites built as a custom React single-page application (SPA) — for example with Vite or Create React App — rather than on a website builder. It covers two ways to add the XAPP Chat Widget:

Floating chat — the standard chat button and window, on every page. Uses the script snippet.
Embedded chat — the chat window placed inside your own page layout, for example on a "Talk to us" page. Uses the @xapp/chat-widget React component.

The widget supports React 18 and React 19, and both methods work with client-side routing such as React Router.

Prerequisites

Access to your application's source code and a developer who can build and deploy it
Your chat widget key from Studio
- See instructions here

Floating Chat (Script Snippet)

Open your app's HTML entry file

This is the single HTML file your app is served from. For Vite it is index.html in the project root; for Create React App it is public/index.html.
Add the snippet just before the closing </body> tag
```
<script
  id="xapp-js"
  src="https://widget.xapp.ai/xapp-chat-widget.js?key=YOUR_CHAT_KEY"
></script>
```
Note! Please replace "YOUR_CHAT_KEY" with your actual widget key.
Build and deploy your app

The snippet goes in the source HTML file, so it is included in the next build. Editing the built output directly will be overwritten by the next deploy.

The widget loads once and stays on screen as visitors move between pages — client-side route changes do not reload it. All appearance and behavior settings come from Studio, so there is nothing else to configure in code.

Embedded Chat (React Component)

Use this when you want the chat to sit inside your own layout instead of floating over the page.

tip

Try it first on the Embedded Chat Examples page — live layouts with source code you can copy, and a field to preview your own widget key.

Install the packages
```
npm install @xapp/chat-widget react-redux stentor-models
```
(or yarn add / pnpm add with the same packages). react, react-dom, react-redux and stentor-models are peer dependencies; React 18 and 19 are both supported.

Add a component that loads your Studio configuration

The component fetches the same configuration the script snippet uses, so changes made in Studio apply here too.

import { useEffect, useState } from "react";
import { Chat as XappChat, WidgetEnv } from "@xapp/chat-widget";
import "@xapp/chat-widget/dist/index.css";

const CHAT_KEY = "YOUR_CHAT_KEY";

async function loadChatConfig(): Promise<WidgetEnv> {
  const res = await fetch(`https://widget.xapp.ai/config.json?key=${CHAT_KEY}`);
  if (!res.ok) {
    throw new Error(`Chat config request failed: ${res.status}`);
  }
  return res.json();
}

export function EmbeddedChat() {
  const [config, setConfig] = useState<WidgetEnv | null>(null);

  useEffect(() => {
    let cancelled = false;
    loadChatConfig()
      .then((studioConfig) => {
        if (!cancelled) {
          setConfig({
            ...studioConfig,
            // The action bar is a floating page element; hide it inside an embedded chat.
            actionBar: studioConfig.actionBar && { ...studioConfig.actionBar, enabled: false },
          });
        }
      })
      .catch((error) => console.error(error));
    return () => {
      cancelled = true;
    };
  }, []);

  if (!config) {
    return null;
  }
  return <XappChat config={config} mode="docked" />;
}

Note! Please replace "YOUR_CHAT_KEY" with your actual widget key.

For plain JavaScript, remove the type annotations (: Promise<WidgetEnv>, <WidgetEnv | null>) and the WidgetEnv import.

Place it in a container with a height

In docked mode the chat fills the element it is placed in, so give that element a height (and a width if you want it narrower than the column):
```
<div style={{ height: 600, maxWidth: 420 }}>
  <EmbeddedChat />
</div>
```

note

If your app already imports a component named Chat or ChatWidget, import ours under a different name, as shown above (Chat as XappChat).

Display Modes

`mode`	What it looks like
`docked`	Fills its container and is always open. Use this for embedding.
`normal`	The standard floating chat button and window, same as the script snippet.
`static`	An always-open chat window fixed to the corner of the screen. It does not sit inside your layout.

Using Both

Do not combine the script snippet with an embedded chat on the same page — visitors would see two chat windows.

If you want floating chat across the site and an embedded chat on one page, use the React component for both: render it with mode="normal" in your app layout, and skip it on the page that shows the embedded chat.

import { useLocation } from "react-router-dom";

function Layout() {
  const { pathname } = useLocation();
  return (
    <>
      {/* ...your routes... */}
      {pathname !== "/chat" && <FloatingChat />}
    </>
  );
}

Here FloatingChat is the same component as EmbeddedChat above, using the Studio config unchanged (keep the action bar) and mode="normal".

Verify Installation

Load your site and confirm the chat appears and shows its welcome message.
Navigate between a few pages without refreshing — the floating chat should stay on screen, and an embedded chat should appear only where you placed it.
Check the browser console for errors mentioning the chat widget.

Troubleshooting

Chat opens automatically on page load: This is the Auto Open Chat Widget setting in your chat settings in Studio, not something set in code.
Embedded chat is not visible: Its container has no height. Give the container a fixed or flex height.
Two chat windows on one page: The script snippet and the React component are both installed. See Using Both.

Prerequisites​

Floating Chat (Script Snippet)​

Embedded Chat (React Component)​

Display Modes​

Using Both​

Verify Installation​

Troubleshooting​