Chat API

This memo describes how to exchange events between servers through the Chat API channel when integrating with JivoChat. Chat API channel is asynchronous and bidirectional, a custom server is required capable of receiving and sending events.

Channel protocol#

Transport protocol for the event transmission is HTTPS (at the development stage it is allowed to use HTTP). An event is contained in a body of a POST-request in JSON format (note: text encoding in JSON format is UTF-8), requests must have an appropriate header Content-Type: application/json; charset=utf-8. Event structure is described further. Response options are divided into 3 groups according to the HTTP-response code.

Code	Description	Action
2xx	Success. Event is accepted for processing	Inform the user about successfull delivery
4xx	Request failed. Event rejected	There may be a description of the error (type of content Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8) in the body of the response. This event should not be resubmitted. It is necessary to find and correct the error of the program or channel settings that led to the error. Inform the user about the event delivery failure
Any other HTTP code or connection error	The request cannot be accepted at this time. Event is not accepted	In case of an HTTP code 5xx or if connection fails it is recommended to resend the request up to 3 times with an interval of 3-60 seconds. Inform the user that the event is temporarily undeliverable. Contact server support

Creation of a channel#

To create a Chat API channel in JivoChat, use the JivoChat app. Once created, a URL, that you can use to send events to JivoChat, will be available to you in the settings of the channel, for example: https://wh.jivosite.com/foo/bar. To receive messages from JivoChat, set up a custom server and add the URL to receive events in the channel settings in the app.

Channel status#

If you add a segment /status at the end of the URL for sending events to JivoChat (for example, https://wh.jivosite.com/foo/bar/status), then in the body of a response to a GET-request you will get a status of the channel, where 0 means the absence of online agents, and 1 or any other means the presence of agents online. This only works if it's a successful response with the code 2xx.

Event structure#

Protocol is symmetric, and protocol structure is the same for events from JivoChat to a client server and back.

Field	Type	Description
sender	User	Message sender
recipient	User	Message recipient
message	Message	Message text

User#

Field	Type	Description	Max size
id	string	Client identificator, required parameter when sending events to JivoChat sender.id and when receiving events from JivoChat recipient.id	255 symbols
name	string	Username	255 symbols
photo	string	User avatar URL, valid https or http schemes	2048 symbols
url	string	User page URL, valid https or http schemes	2048 символов
email	string	User email	255 symbols
phone	string	User phone number	2-15 symbols
invite	string	Client invitation text	1000 symbols
group	string	Department a client applies to	10 digits
intent	string	Subject of a customer's request	255 characters
crm_link	string	Client URL in a CRM system	2048 characters

Message#

Field	Type	Description	Max size
id	string	Message identificator, required if you want to change the status of a message after it has been sent	500 characters
date	number	Message creation/sending time, integer	Limited to reasonable UNIX time
file	string	Media URL	2048 characters, valid scheme https or http
thumb	string	Media preview image URL	2048 characters, valid https or http scheme
file_size	number	Size of media data in octets (bytes)	Positive integer, limited by client applications
width	number	Image or video width in pixels	Positive integer, limited by client applications
height	number	Image or video height in pixels	Positive integer, limited by client applications
file_name	string	Media data file name	255 characters, may not be compatible with legacy file systems!
mime_type	string	MIME type of media data	Limited to the list of allowed values
text	string	Message text	It is recommended to limit the length to 1000 characters - if it is exceeded, the rest of the text will be sent in separate text messages
title	string	Message title	255 characters
latitude	number	Location latitude, real number	from -90.0000 to +90.0000
longitude	number	Location longitude, real number	-180.0000 to +180.0000
value	number	Number, usually used in the chat evaluation	any number
keyboard	[]Key	Array of Key structures	7 keys
multiple	boolean	Allows multiple selection on the keyboard, boolean	true or false

Key#

It is mandatory for a key to have one structure field, both in the keyboard request and response. See example for details. Priority of fields for display to the user is shown in the table in descending order.

Field	Type	Description	Max size
text	string	Key text	100 characters
image	string	Image URL (https or http scheme)	2048 characters
title	string	Title or tooltip key	100 characters
id	string	Key ID	500 characters

Message types#

Type	Description	Required fields
text	Text message	text
photo	Image	file
sticker	Sticker	file
video	[Video message](#video message)	file
audio	Audio message	file
document	Document or file, in a message of this type, you can send any files that are allowed to be transferred to JivoChat app	file
location	Location	latitude longitude
rate	[Chat rating](#Chat rating)	value
that was read	id
keyboard	Keyboard with options, details in the example	keyboard
typein	typing event, in the text field of this message you can send the typed text so that it is visible to the JivoChat app user. Send this event no more than once every 5 seconds from one client	-
start	Start chat, it's intended to start a chat without sending a message by the client	-
stop	End chat, a signal that events for this chat are no longer accepted	-

Event Examples#

JivoChat Event Examples#

If at least one sender property is defined for the JivoChat user, a sender field with this information is added to the event. The recipient of the message is identified by the recipient.id field.

{
	"sender": {
		"id": "XXX",
		"name": "Consultant",
		"photo": "https://example.com/avatar.png",
		"email": "info@jivosite.com"
	},
	"recipient": {
		"id": "001"
	},
	"message": {
		"type": "text",
		"id": "0000",
		"date": 946684800,
		"text": "Hello!"
	}
}

Keyboard with answer options#

The keyboard can only be sent from a JivoChat app user to a client:

{
	"recipient": {
		"id": "001"
	},
	"message": {
		"type": "keyboard",
		"id": "0009",
		"title": "Questionnaire",
		"text": "To be or not to be?",
		"multiple": false,
		"keyboard": [
			{
				"id": "1",
				"text": "yes"
			},
			{
				"id": "2",
				"text": "no"
			},
			{
				"id": "X",
				"text": "need to think..."
			}
		]
	}
}

It is expected that the client's response to such a message will be one element from the keyboard array, if multiple != true:

{
	"sender": {
		"id": "001"
	},
	"message": {
		"type": "keyboard",
		"id": "0009",
		"multiple": false,
		"keyboard": [
			{
				"id": "X",
				"text": "need to think..."
			}
		]
	}
}

or more than one, if multiple = true.

If client’s app does not support a keyboard with answer options, it is recommended to convert this type of message to a text list to display to the client, for example:

 Survey

 To be or not to be?
   1) yes
   2) no
   X) need to think...

The response to the keyboard message can be a text message, for example:

{
	"sender": {
		"id": "001"
	},
	"message": {
		"type": "text",
		"text": "need to think..."
	}
}

The following are examples of events to send to JivoChat.

Chat start#

Upon the first event from the client, it is recommended to fill the sender structure. Then the sender.id field will be enough, and the remaining fields of this structure can be filled only when they change.

{
	"sender": {
		"id": "001",
		"name": "John Doe",
		"photo": "https://example.com/me.jpg",
		"url": "https://example.com/",
		"phone": "+1 234 568 890",
		"email": "me@example.com",
		"invite": "Hello! May I help you?"
	},
	"message": {
		"type": "start"
	}
}

Text message#

{
	"sender": {
		"id": "001"
	},
	"message": {
		"type": "text",
		"id": "0001",
		"date": 946684800,
		"text": "Hello!"
	}
}

Image#

{
	"sender": {
		"id": "001"
	},
	"message": {
		"type": "photo",
		"id": "0002",
		"date": 946684800,
		"file": "https://example.com/image.png",
		"mime_type": "image/png",
		"file_name": "image.png",
		"file_size": 1024,
		"thumb": "https://example.com/image_thumb.png",
		"width": 800,
		"height": 600,
		"title": "Title",
		"text": "Image comment."
	}
}

Sticker#

{
	"sender": {
		"id": "001"
	},
	"message": {
		"type": "sticker",
		"id": "0003",
		"date": 946684800,
		"file": "https://example.com/sticker.gif",
		"mime_type": "image/gif",
		"file_name": "sticker.gif",
		"file_size": 1024,
		"width": 256,
		"height": 256
	}
}

Video message#

{
	"sender": {
		"id": "001"
	},
	"message": {
		"type": "video",
		"id": "0004",
		"date": 946684800,
		"file": "https://example.com/video.mp4",
		"mime_type": "video/mp4",
		"file_name": "video.mp4",
		"file_size": 1048576,
		"thumb": "https://example.com/video_thumb.png",
		"width": 640,
		"height": 480,
		"title": "Title",
		"text": "Video comment."
	}
}

Audio message#

{
	"sender": {
		"id": "001"
	},
	"message": {
		"type": "audio",
		"id": "0005",
		"date": 946684800,
		"file": "https://example.com/audio.mp3",
		"mime_type": "audio/mpeg",
		"file_name": "audio.mp3",
		"file_size": 2048,
		"title": "Title",
		"text": "Audio message comment."
	}
}

Document or file#

{
	"sender": {
		"id": "001"
	},
	"message": {
		"type": "document",
		"id": "0006",
		"date": 946684800,
		"file": "https://example.com/document.pdf",
		"mime_type": "application/pdf",
		"file_name": "document.pdf",
		"file_size": 512,
		"title": "Title",
		"text": "Document comment."
	}
}

Location#

{
	"sender": {
		"id": "001"
	},
	"message": {
		"type": "location",
		"id": "0007",
		"date": 946684800,
		"text": "It's here.",
		"latitude": 53.3416484,
		"longitude": -6.2868531
	}
}

Chat rating#

At the moment, 3 options for the value field are used: 0 is interpreted as a refuse to rate, a positive number - a positive rating, a negative number - a negative chat rating.

{
	"sender": {
		"id": "001"
	},
	"message": {
		"type": "rate",
		"id": "0008",
		"value": 1
	}
}

Typing event#

{
	"sender": {
		"id": "001"
	},
	"message": {
		"type": "typein",
		"text": "Wait a minute"
	}
}

Message read event#

{
	"sender": {
		"id": "001"
	},
	"message": {
		"type": "seen",
		"id": "0001"
	}
}

Chat end#

{
	"sender": {
		"id": "001"
	},
	"message": {
		"type": "stop"
	}
}

Problem solving#

If you find inaccuracies in this memo, please report them to us in chat JivoChat or to email.