Troubleshooting Chat

Common chat problems and how to fix them. When the messenger has a problem it stays invisible rather than breaking your page, so start with your browser's developer console and look for a [HelpGuides Messenger] message.

The chat button doesn't appear

Console message	Fix
Unknown app_id	The snippet's `app_id` is wrong. Copy the snippet again from Messenger settings.
Chat isn't turned on for this account	Contact HelpGuides support to turn chat on for your account
This messenger is switched off	Switch on Turn the messenger on in Messenger settings and save
The messenger is not allowed on this website	Add your domain under Allowed websites, or leave that list empty
Identity verification failed	Require verification is on and the `user_hash` is missing or wrong. See Chat Identity Verification.

If there's no message at all, check the snippet is on the page, and before </body>. See Installing the Chat Messenger on Your Website.

I don't see Inbox in my project

Chat isn't turned on for your account yet. Contact HelpGuides support.

The AI always says it couldn't find an answer

Make sure the relevant articles are published. The AI never uses drafts.
Check the project is ticked under Knowledge sources, and that its description matches the questions people ask.
Use the unanswered questions list in Chat Reports to see what's missing, then write those articles.

The AI answers from the wrong project

Make each knowledge source's description more specific about what it covers and when to use it.

Nobody on the team was told about a conversation

Check the conversation's team, shown in the inbox details panel, has a Slack channel or email addresses. Use the Test buttons in Notifications.
For Slack, make sure Slack is connected in your project's Settings. For a private channel, invite the HelpGuides app to it.
"Alert when a visitor writes to the team" is skipped while a teammate is Available in the inbox, if Only when nobody is online is on.

A visitor never received our reply by email

Follow-up emails are only sent if the visitor gave an email, and hadn't already read the reply in the messenger. They go out a few minutes after your reply.

A visitor lost their conversation when moving to another subdomain

Browsers keep chat sessions separate for each domain. Set Share visitors across subdomains of in Messenger settings. See Installing the Chat Messenger on Your Website.

Messages only appear after refreshing

Live updates may be blocked by a firewall or proxy. The messenger falls back to checking for new messages every few seconds, so conversations still work, just with a short delay.

Still stuck? Start from HelpGuides Chat Overview, or contact HelpGuides support.