Add CometChat UI Kit Builder Widget to Shopify

Learn how to embed the CometChat UI Kit Builder widget into your Shopify store using Liquid templates, theme settings, or Online Store 2.0 app blocks.

You can integrate the CometChat UI Kit Builder widget directly into your Shopify store to enable real-time chat. Once installed, it will:

• Load the UI Kit Builder bundle on page load
• Initialize CometChat with your App ID, Region & Auth Key
• Automatically log in each visitor (using their Shopify customer.id or “guest”)
• Launch a docked chat UI on every page

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What You’ll Build

A persistent, docked chat widget in your Shopify theme—fully configurable via Theme Settings or a snippet/app block.

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Quick Steps to Embed CometChat Widget

1. Register on CometChat & Gather Your Keys

   Before you start, sign up at the CometChat Dashboard and create an app. Copy:

   • App ID
   • Region
   • Auth Key
2. Paste the CometChat Embed Block

   1. In Shopify Admin, go to Online Store → Themes → … → Edit code.
   2. Open layout/theme.liquid (or the snippet/section where you want the widget).
   3. Near </body>, paste the full block below. It loads the SDK, injects Shopify customer data, and initializes the widget:

   <div id="cometChatMount"></div>
   
   <!-- Load CometChat Embed SDK -->
   <script defer src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/@cometchat/chat-embed@1.x.x/dist/main.js"></script>
   
   <!-- Shopify Customer Info (auto-filled when accounts are enabled) -->
   <script>
     window.CURRENT_USER_ID = {{ customer.id | default: '' | json }};
     window.CURRENT_USER_NAME = {{ customer.first_name | default: '' | json }};
   </script>
   
   <!-- CometChat Initialization -->
   <script>
     const COMETCHAT_CREDENTIALS = {
       appID: "YOUR_APP_ID",
       appRegion: "YOUR_APP_REGION",
       authKey: "YOUR_APP_AUTH_KEY", // Must be App Auth Key
     };
   
     // Detect or fallback to guest user
     const currentUserId =
       window.CURRENT_USER_ID !== null && window.CURRENT_USER_ID !== undefined
         ? window.CURRENT_USER_ID.toString().trim()
         : "";
     const currentUserName =
       window.CURRENT_USER_NAME !== null && window.CURRENT_USER_NAME !== undefined
         ? window.CURRENT_USER_NAME.toString().trim()
         : "";
   
     const uid = currentUserId.length
       ? currentUserId.replace(/\W+/g, "-")
       : "guest_" + Date.now();
     const name = currentUserName.length ? currentUserName : "Guest User";
   
     const COMETCHAT_LAUNCH_OPTIONS = {
       targetElementID: "cometChatMount",
       isDocked: true,
       width: "700px",
       height: "500px",
     };
   
     window.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", () => {
       CometChatApp.init(COMETCHAT_CREDENTIALS)
         .then(() => {
           const user = new CometChatApp.CometChat.User(uid);
           user.setName(name);
           return CometChatApp.createOrUpdateUser(user);
         })
         .then(() => CometChatApp.login({ uid }))
         .then(() => CometChatApp.launch(COMETCHAT_LAUNCH_OPTIONS))
         .catch(() => {});
     });
   </script>
   
3. Turn on Customer Accounts (recommended)

   {{ customer.id }} and {{ customer.first_name }} only populate when Shopify customer accounts are enabled and the visitor is logged in.

   1. In Shopify Admin, go to Settings → Customer accounts.
   2. Choose Classic customer accounts → Optional (or Required) and save.
   3. Log in as a test customer, reload your storefront, and confirm the widget now shows the real shopper name. If no one is logged in, the script safely falls back to guest_<timestamp>.
4. (Optional) Expose Credentials in Theme Settings

   To let non-developers manage credentials from the Shopify Theme Editor, add this section in config/settings_schema.json (just before the final ]):

   ,
   {
     "name": "CometChat Settings",
     "settings": [
       {
         "type": "text",
         "id": "cometchat_app_id",
         "label": "CometChat App ID",
         "default": "YOUR_APP_ID"
       },
       {
         "type": "text",
         "id": "cometchat_app_region",
         "label": "CometChat App Region",
         "default": "YOUR_REGION"
       },
       {
         "type": "text",
         "id": "cometchat_auth_key",
         "label": "CometChat Auth Key",
         "default": "YOUR_AUTH_KEY"
       }
     ]
   }
   
5. (Advanced) Use an Online Store 2.0 App Block

   If your theme supports Shopify 2.0 app blocks, you can make a reusable section:

   1. Online Store → Themes → Edit code
   2. Under Sections, click Add a new section → cometchat-widget.liquid
   3. Paste the snippet from the previous step into that file.
   4. Save, then add it in Customize theme under App embeds or as a section on any template:
      {% section 'cometchat-widget' %}
      

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Advanced JavaScript Controls

The embed works out of the box. Use the helpers below only if you need to open a specific chat, listen for widget events, or change settings on the fly.

Before you follow advanced setup steps

1. Keep the standard widget snippet (from the Integration guide) on your page.
2. Add another <script type="module"> right after it or inside your site builder’s “custom code” area.
3. Wrap your code in window.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", () => { ... }) so it runs after the widget loads.
4. Replace placeholder text such as UID, GUID, and LANGUAGE_CODE with your real values.

When the widget is ready, it exposes a global helper named CometChatApp. Every example below shows a tiny recipe you can paste inside the script mentioned above.

Open a chat or start a call

Use these helpers when you want the widget to jump straight to a person/group or begin a call. Drop the snippet inside your custom script and replace UID/GUID with real IDs from your CometChat app.

// Open chat with a specific person
CometChatApp.chatWithUser("UID");

// Open chat with a specific group
CometChatApp.chatWithGroup("GUID");

// Start a call with a person or a group
CometChatApp.callUser("UID");
CometChatApp.callGroup("GUID");

// Toggle extra UI bits
CometChatApp.showGroupActionMessages(true); // Show join/leave messages
CometChatApp.showDockedUnreadCount(true);   // Show unread badge on docked bubble

Listen for widget events

Run your own code when something happens inside the widget—new message, docked bubble opened, or someone switching chats. Keep the event names as shown; just change what happens inside each arrow function.

// Fire when a new message arrives
CometChatApp.uiEvent("onMessageReceived", (message) => {
  console.log("New message:", message);
});

// Fire when the docked bubble opens or closes
CometChatApp.uiEvent("onOpenChat", () => console.log("Chat opened"));
CometChatApp.uiEvent("onCloseChat", () => console.log("Chat closed"));

// Fire when the user switches between conversations
CometChatApp.uiEvent("onActiveChatChanged", (chat) => {
  console.log("Now viewing:", chat);
});

Create/Update users on the fly

• This will only work with authKey

If you collect names, avatars, or profile links on your site, you can push them straight into CometChat. Replace the placeholders and run the snippet after the widget loads.

// Create or update a user
const user = new CometChatApp.CometChat.User("UID");
user.setName("User Name");
user.setAvatar("https://example.com/avatar.png");
user.setLink("https://example.com/profile");

CometChatApp.createOrUpdateUser(user).then((result) => {
  console.log("User saved:", result);
});

Create/Update groups on the fly

If you want to create groups directly from your page, use this snippet. Replace the placeholders and run the snippet after the widget loads.

// Create or update a group
const group = new CometChatApp.CometChat.Group("GUID", "GROUP_NAME", "public");

CometChatApp.createOrUpdateGroup(group).then((result) => {
  console.log("Group saved:", result);
});

Log users in or out with code

Use an auth token if you have a backend, or fall back to a plain UID for quick tests. Run these helpers after the widget loads.

// Sign in with a secure auth token from your server
CometChatApp.login({ authToken: "USER_AUTH_TOKEN" });

// ...or sign in directly with a UID (less secure, but fast for demos)
CometChatApp.login({ uid: "UID" });

// Sign the current user out
CometChatApp.logout();

// Listen for logout so you can clean up your UI
CometChatApp.uiEvent("onLogout", () => {
  console.log("User logged out");
});

Control where data is stored

Pick whether the widget should remember login info in the browser tab only (SESSION) or across visits (LOCAL). Update the placeholders, then drop this script right after the default widget embed.

const COMETCHAT_DATA = {
  appID: "<YOUR_APP_ID>",
  appRegion: "<YOUR_APP_REGION>",
  authKey: "<YOUR_AUTH_KEY>",
  storageMode: "SESSION", // or "LOCAL" (default)
};

const COMETCHAT_USER_UID = "UID"; // The person who should log in

const COMETCHAT_LAUNCH_OPTIONS = {
  targetElementID: "cometChatMount",
  isDocked: true,
  width: "700px",
  height: "500px",
};

window.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", () => {
  CometChatApp.init(COMETCHAT_DATA)
    .then(() => CometChatApp.login({ uid: COMETCHAT_USER_UID }))
    .then(() => CometChatApp.launch(COMETCHAT_LAUNCH_OPTIONS))
    .catch(console.error);
});

// Optional extras:
// COMETCHAT_LAUNCH_OPTIONS.variantID = "YOUR_VARIANT_ID";
// COMETCHAT_LAUNCH_OPTIONS.chatType = "user" | "group";
// COMETCHAT_LAUNCH_OPTIONS.defaultChatID = "uid_or_guid";
// COMETCHAT_LAUNCH_OPTIONS.dockedAlignment = "left" | "right";

Change the widget language

The widget auto-detects the browser language, but you can force it to any supported locale. Run the helper once after the widget loads and swap in the language code you need.

CometChatApp.localize("en-US"); // Example: force English (United States)

Popular codes

Language	Code
English (United States)	en-US
English (United Kingdom)	en-GB
Dutch	nl
French	fr
German	de
Hindi	hi
Italian	it
Japanese	ja
Korean	ko
Portuguese	pt
Russian	ru
Spanish	es
Turkish	tr
Chinese (Simplified)	zh
Chinese (Traditional)	zh-TW
Malay	ms
Swedish	sv
Lithuanian	lt
Hungarian	hu

Need another locale? Use the same pattern with its code (for example CometChatApp.localize("ko") for Korean).

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Troubleshooting

• Widget not appearing?
  • Confirm the embed script loads (check Network tab for chat-embed@1.x.x)
  • Ensure the <div id="cometChatMount"></div> exists once per page and is not hidden by theme CSS
• Only guest IDs show up?
  • Customer accounts must be enabled, and you need to preview as a logged-in shopper—not inside the Theme Editor preview
  • Inspect window.CURRENT_USER_ID / window.CURRENT_USER_NAME in the console to confirm Shopify is populating them
• Login or user-creation errors?
  • Use an App Auth Key (not REST API key) so CometChatApp.createOrUpdateUser can run
  • Check the Users tab in your CometChat Dashboard to ensure the UID being generated does not violate UID rules

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Need Help?

Reach out to CometChat Support or visit our docs site for more examples.