government-frontend: Webchat
How to add a new webchat provider
- Open to
lib/webchat.yaml - Append new entry:
- base_path: /government/contact/my-amazing-service
open_url: https://www.my-amazing-webchat.com/007/open-chat
availability_url: https://www.my-amazing-webchat.com/007/check-availability
csp_connect_src: https://www.my-amazing-webchat.com
- Deploy changes
- Go to https://www.gov.uk/government/contact/my-amazing-service
- Finished
Content Security Policy considerations
For a webchat provider to integrate with GOV.UK it needs permissions from the Content Security Policy.
This will be set-up for a provider by the csp_connect_src option which configures the connect-src directive, however other providers may need additional configuration, such as script-src. This configuration should be done in the same manner as csp_connect_src to only affect resources that embed webchat.
Required configuration
Base path
This is the base path of a contact page, for example, /government/organisations/hm-revenue-customs/contact/child-benefit.
This path should always be a contact page, any other content page type will result in the webchat component not being loaded.
Availability URL
This URL is used to check the availability of agents at regular intervals.
| Function | Required |
|---|---|
| Request Method | GET |
| Response Format | JSON/JSONP (Default to JSONP) |
| Request Example | {"status":"success","response":"BUSY"} |
| Valid statuses | ["BUSY", "UNAVAILABLE", "AVAILABLE","ONLINE", "OFFLINE", "ERROR"] |
Open URL
This url is used to start a webchat session. This url should not include session ids or require anything specific parameters to be generated.
Optional Configuration options
Browser window behaviour
By default the chat session would open in an a separate browser window. An additional value can be added to the yaml entry that will allow the web chat to remain in the current browser window.
open_url_redirect: true
Payload format
The default response from the api as used by HMRC webchat provider is JSONP. To add a provider that responds using JSON the following entry needs to be added.
availability_payload_format: json
CSP connect-src
Updates the Content Security Policy for pages that embed webchat to grant permission to make requests to the host specified. This should be in the form of a hostname, ideally with a scheme. For more information see, connect-src.
csp_connect_src: https://webchat.host