Right now the app has two bubbles in the corner, two bots answering from the same docs, and no road between them. Customers who get stuck with the assistant have to find the other bubble and start over. This plan keeps Chatwoot as the staff inbox and makes the assistant the only thing a customer talks to.
From prod: assistant tables and the Chatwoot database, read on 16 Oct.
Customers are already talking to the assistant. Support is a second door they mostly don't open.
Staff are quick once a chat reaches them: median first human reply ≈ 15 min over the last 60 days (15 chats). The gap is reach. The assistant is where people ask, and it can't pass them on.
Click through the flow. It reuses the real panel's header, composer, choice rows and colors. The only new piece is the team message, which has a person's name and avatar so nobody mistakes staff for the AI.
"My post didn't publish", a problem we see in support often.
It reads the post, explains, but can't fix a missed post or reach anyone.
Desktop only. On a phone, the journey ends here.
The support bot can't see the assistant chat.
Same docs, a second copy of the same read tools.
Staff see the support chat, not what the assistant already tried.
Only seen if they still have that bubble open.
It checks the post and the connection, and explains.
Or the assistant offers it when it's stuck, after asking first.
Transcript, page, recent errors and verified account, plus the team agent's brief.
The badge counts it as unread, on desktop and phone.
Chatwoot stays as the staff inbox, so handoff notes, emails, the team agent, /ask, /ticket and the admin sidebar all keep working. Only the customer side changes.
The assistant needs a project, editor role, a paid plan or trial, and quota left. Everyone it turns away only has the purple bubble today, and only on desktop.
| Who | Today | After |
|---|---|---|
| Paid user on desktop | Two separate chats | Assistant, with a person one tap away |
| Paid user on a phone | Assistant only, no human at all | Same as desktop |
| Out of assistant quota | Assistant refuses, has to find the bubble | Panel switches to support mode, doesn't refuse |
| Unpaid or expired trial | Bubble only (desktop) | Support mode in the same panel, any screen size |
| No project yet (fresh signup) | Bubble only (desktop) | Support mode, the moment they're most likely to be stuck |
| Logged-out visitor on thestacc.com | Chatwoot widget | Unchanged: widget stays on the marketing site |
| Thing | Today | After |
|---|---|---|
| Account reads | Assistant tools + 4 copied support tools | 1 set |
| Docs answers | Docs search + whole docs file in the bot prompt | 1 path |
| Bot prompts | ~790-line assistant prompt + separate support prompt for app users | 1 for app users |
| Launcher layout | Stacking constants in TS + CSS for two bubbles | 1 bubble |
| "Hide in editors" | Two separate mechanisms | 1 |
| Dead code | openChatwoot, SupportModal (unused) | deleted |
Nothing resets Chatwoot on logout, so the next person in the same browser inherits the last user's support contact. Without the widget in the app, that goes away.
Staff see the assistant transcript, not a fresh "hi, my post…".
"9+" today means things needing attention. After, a reply from the team counts too, so a person answering isn't missed.
The assistant already works full screen on phones, so support comes with it.
Each step ships on its own. Step 1 alone gives every assistant user a way to reach a person. Effort is my rough estimate.
About two working weeks end to end. Steps 2 and 3 can overlap once step 1 is live.
| Risk | Guard |
|---|---|
| The assistant hands off too eagerly and floods the inbox | It asks the customer first, at most one open handoff per session, and we watch the volume for a week |
| A staff reply arrives while the panel is closed | Stored server side and counted in the badge, plus the email Chatwoot already sends |
| The team agent's broad read access (SQL, PostHog, GitHub) gets near customer turns | It stays staff-only, triggered from Chatwoot as today. The customer side only reaches the read-only support bot |
| Logged-out visitors lose support | They don't. The widget stays on thestacc.com |
| Handoffs burn assistant quota | Handoffs and support-mode chats don't count toward it |
Charging people for asking a human feels wrong.
Fresh signups are the most likely to be stuck.
Only when asked, or also when it's stuck.