Volto Chatbot

Volto add-on that integrates an AI-powered chatbot with a customizable interface and advanced settings to tailor its behavior and enhance user interactions.

Features

https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/f9b5f813-672f-4e4d-81d0-bf2aec35b587

The Volto Chatbot block allows the integration of an AI-powered chatbot into your Volto project. It offers a customizable interface and advanced settings to tailor the chatbot's behavior to your needs. Below is an overview of its features and configuration options.

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Functionalities

Property	Description	Type	Default
assistant	Choose from the list of available assistants configured in the application.	Dropdown	-
qgenAsistantId	Select an assistant for generating related questions.	Dropdown	-
enableQgen	Toggle the generation of related questions.	Boolean	false
enableFeedback	Enable or disable thumbs up/down feedback for assistant responses.	Boolean	true
enableMatomoTracking	Enable tracking of user interactions via Matomo Analytics.	Boolean	true
enableShowTotalFailMessage	Show total failure message.	Boolean	false
showAssistantTitle	Display or hide the assistant's title in the chat interface.	Boolean	true
showAssistantDescription	Display or hide the assistant's description in the chat interface.	Boolean	true
qualityCheck	Show Halloumi-based automated quality check.	Dropdown	Disabled
onDemandInputToggle	Sets the default state of the fact-check AI toggle.	Boolean	true
scrollToInput	Automatically scroll the page to focus on the chat input when interacting.	Boolean	false
showToolCalls	Show query used in retriever.	Boolean	true
showAssistantPrompts	Show or hide predefined prompts provided by the assistant.	Boolean	true
enableStarterPrompts	Define custom prompts to initiate a chat with the assistant.	Boolean	false
starterPromptsHeading	Heading shown above the prompts.	String	-
starterPromptsPosition	Prompts position.	Dropdown	Top
placeholderPrompt	Set placeholder text for the chat input field.	String	Ask a question
chatTitle	Title assigned to saved chats, visible only in Danswer or analytics.	String	Online public chat
height	Set the height of the chat window using CSS dimensions (e.g., 500px, 70vh).	String	-

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Getting started

Try volto-chatbot with Docker

git clone https://github.com/eea/volto-chatbot.git
cd volto-chatbot
make
make start

Go to http://localhost:3000

make start now defaults to Volto 18. To run the same setup against Volto 17, use:

  VOLTO_VERSION=17 make
  VOLTO_VERSION=17 make start

Add volto-chatbot to your Volto project

1. Make sure you have a Plone backend up-and-running at http://localhost:8080/Plone

   docker compose up backend
   

2. Start Volto frontend

• If you already have a volto project, just update package.json:

  "dependencies": {
      "@eeacms/volto-chatbot": "*"
  }
  

  and volto.config.js:

  const addons = ['@eeacms/volto-chatbot'];
  

• If not, create one with Cookieplone, as recommended by the official Plone documentation for Volto 18+:

  uvx cookieplone project
  cd project-title
  

1. Install or update dependencies, then start the project:

   make install
   

   For a Cookieplone project, start the backend and frontend in separate terminals:

   make backend-start
   make frontend-start
   

   For a legacy Volto 17 project, install the package with yarn and restart the frontend as usual.

Environment Configuration

To properly configure the middleware and authenticate with the Danswer service, ensure that the following environment variables are set:

This document lists the environment variables used in the Volto Chatbot project.

• DANSWER_URL The base URL for the Danswer service. Used for API calls to Danswer.

• DANSWER_USERNAME The username for authenticating with the Danswer service. (Deprecated: Use DANSWER_API_KEY instead)

• DANSWER_PASSWORD The password for authenticating with the Danswer service. (Deprecated: Use DANSWER_API_KEY instead)

• DANSWER_API_KEY The API key for authenticating with the Danswer service. This is the recommended authentication method.

• JEST_USE_SETUP Used in Jest configuration. When set to 'ON', it enables a specific Jest setup.

• LLMGW_URL The URL for the LLM Gateway service.

• LLMGW_TOKEN The token for authenticating with the LLM Gateway service.

Development-specific environment variables

• MOCK_HALLOUMI_FILE_PATH When set, this specifies the absolute path to the JSON file containing the mocked Halloumi response. Setting this variable enables mocking of Halloumi API calls.

• DUMP_HALLOUMI_FILE_PATH When set, the Halloumi response will be dumped to the specified absolute file path for debugging or to create new mock files.

• MOCK_LLM_FILE_PATH When set, this specifies the absolute path to the JSONL file containing the mocked Danswer stream response. Setting this variable enables mocking of Danswer LLM calls.

• DUMP_LLM_FILE_PATH When set, the LLM response will be dumped to the specified absolute file path for debugging or to create new mock files.

• MOCK_STREAM_DELAY Specifies a delay for mock streaming, used in testing or development.

AI-Generated documentation

See volto-chatbot DeepWiki

Release

See RELEASE.md.

How to contribute

See DEVELOP.md.

Copyright and license

The Initial Owner of the Original Code is European Environment Agency (EEA). All Rights Reserved.

See LICENSE.md for details.

Funding

European Environment Agency (EU) de is European Environment Agency (EEA). All Rights Reserved.

See LICENSE.md for details.

Funding

European Environment Agency (EU)