Answer conversations

Live Chat is where every conversation from your chat widget lands. You see messages as they arrive, reply in real time, step in when the AI hands a visitor over, and close conversations when they're done.

The Live Chat screen

Click Live Chat in the menu. A number next to it means new messages are waiting.

1. Open / AI / Closed — the tabs that sort your conversations (see below).
2. Conversations — newest first, with the visitor's name or email, the last message and a count of unread messages.
3. The conversation — who it is, which widget they used, whether the AI or you are answering, and the page they wrote from.
4. Close — marks the conversation as done. The ⋯ menu next to it holds the other actions.
5. Your reply — type and press Enter to send (Shift + Enter for a new line).
6. Visitor details — what you know about the visitor: their pages, device, country and where they came from, plus notes and custom attributes. View full profile opens their contact.

Which tab is a conversation in?

Reply to a visitor

1. Click a conversation in the list.
2. Type your answer in Type your message... and click Send.

The visitor sees your reply in the widget straight away. Sending a message also takes the conversation over from the AI, so the two of you don't answer at the same time. If the conversation was closed, replying reopens it.

Take over from the AI, or hand back

Open the ⋯ menu in the conversation header. It shows Take over from AI while the AI is answering, and Transfer to AI while you are:

• Take over from AI — the AI stops answering this conversation and it moves to Open.
• Transfer to AI — hand a conversation back so the AI answers the visitor's next messages.
• Delete conversation — removes the conversation and all its messages for good.

When the AI hands a visitor over on its own, the conversation shows Transferred to human with the reason, and it moves to the Open tab. The AI only does this when Transfer to Human is on in your widget's AI settings — see Set up your AI assistant.

Close and reopen

When a question is answered, click Close. The dialog explains what happens: "This marks the conversation as done. If the visitor writes again, it reopens." Confirm with Close conversation and it moves to Closed. Closing doesn't stop the visitor from writing — a new message reopens it on its own. To reopen it yourself, open it from Closed and click Reopen.

Keep notes on a visitor

In the visitor details, write in Write a note... and click Save. Notes belong to the contact, so you see them in every future conversation with that person and in Contacts. See Manage contacts.

Get notified about new messages

On the right edge of the Live Chat page there's a small toolbar with a bell and a gear. Click the bell (not the notifications bell next to your name) to choose how you're alerted:

• Favicon badge — a red dot on the ProjectHQ browser tab when there are new messages.
• Sound — a short tone when a message arrives.
• System notifications — a desktop notification even when the tab is in the background. Your browser asks for permission the first time; if you blocked it, allow notifications for ProjectHQ in your browser's site settings and switch it on again.

These settings apply to every project you have access to. On your phone, the ProjectHQ mobile app sends push notifications for new messages and hand-overs. The gear in the same toolbar opens your chat widget settings.

When your conversation allowance is used

Your plan includes a number of AI chat conversations. Going over it never locks Live Chat — every conversation stays listed and you can open and answer all of them. A notice above the list tells you where you stand:

See Plans, trial and limits.

On the free plan

If your project is on the free plan, the chat keeps collecting conversations, but Live Chat shows Free plan: leads are hidden: you see how many are waiting, not who they are or what they wrote. Click Unlock your leads to subscribe — you can read and answer them, and the AI starts answering again. See Plans, trial and limits.