Skip to main content

Documentation Index

Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.illumichat.com/llms.txt

Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

Connect your WooCommerce store to IllumiChat and transform your AI assistant into an e-commerce agent that helps customers browse products, track orders, manage carts, and update their account — all through natural conversation.
No manual coding required. Install the free IllumiChat WordPress plugin and the chat widget appears on your storefront automatically.

​
What Your Customers Can Do

Once connected, your assistant can handle real shopping conversations:

Browse Products

“Do you have any running shoes under $100?”Your assistant searches your WooCommerce catalog and returns real products with names, prices, and links.

Track Orders

“Where’s my order #1042?”Customers can check order status by order number or the email address they used at checkout.

Manage Carts

“Add the blue hoodie in size M to my cart”Your assistant can create a cart, add or remove items, and share a checkout link.

Update Account Info

“Can you update my shipping address?”Look up customer records and update contact details and addresses.

​
Prerequisites

  • An IllumiChat workspace with Admin access
  • A WooCommerce store (WordPress self-hosted or managed)
  • WooCommerce 7.0+ and WordPress 6.0+
  • WordPress admin access

​
Setup: Two Paths

There are two ways to connect, depending on where you start. Both end up in the same place. Use this if you’re creating a new assistant or connecting via the Channels settings page.

​
Step 1: Connect your store

  1. Click New Assistant and choose WooCommerce as your platform in the type step
  2. Configure your assistant’s name and system prompt
  3. In the Share step, enter your full store URL — e.g. https://yourstore.com — and click Connect Store
IllumiChat redirects your browser to a WooCommerce consent screen:
“Would you like to grant [IllumiChat] read_write access to your store?”
Click Approve. WooCommerce sends your store credentials directly to IllumiChat’s server — you never handle API keys. You’ll be redirected back to IllumiChat automatically.

​
Step 2: Download and install the WordPress plugin

The WordPress plugin is what puts the chat widget on your storefront.
  1. After connecting, IllumiChat shows a Download Plugin button — click it to download illumichat-wordpress.zip
  2. In your WordPress admin, go to Plugins → Add New Plugin → Upload Plugin
  3. Click Choose File, select the downloaded .zip, and click Install Now
  4. Click Activate Plugin
Critical: flush your permalink cache after activating. Go to Settings → Permalinks in WordPress and click Save Changes — without changing anything. WordPress must register the plugin’s REST API endpoint before IllumiChat can call it. Skipping this step causes a “Plugin endpoint returned 404” error.

​
Step 3: Push the widget to your storefront

Back in IllumiChat, click Install widget via plugin. IllumiChat calls your store’s plugin endpoint, which stores your assistant ID and enables the widget. The chat widget will now appear on every page of your storefront. That’s it. Your assistant is live.

​
Path B — Start from WordPress (Plugin-first)

Use this if you’ve already installed the plugin and want to connect from within WordPress.

​
Step 1: Install and activate the plugin

Download illumichat-wordpress.zip from your IllumiChat dashboard or the channels page. Then:
  1. In WordPress admin → Plugins → Add New Plugin → Upload Plugin, upload the zip and activate it
  2. Go to Settings → Permalinks and click Save Changes (required to register the plugin’s REST API endpoint)

​
Step 2: Configure the plugin

Go to WooCommerce → IllumiChat in your WordPress admin. You’ll see a settings form with:
FieldWhat to enter
Assistant IDThe UUID of your IllumiChat assistant (found in your assistant’s Settings page)
IllumiChat URLLeave as the default (https://app.illumichat.com) unless you’re on a custom domain
Cookie consentCheck this to gate widget load on visitor cookie consent (CookieYes / Complianz / WPConsent)
Enter your Assistant ID and click Save settings.

​
Step 3: Connect to WooCommerce

After saving your Assistant ID, a Connect IllumiChat button appears. Click it. You’ll be redirected to WooCommerce’s consent screen:
“Would you like to grant [IllumiChat] read_write access to your store?”
Click Approve. WooCommerce sends credentials to IllumiChat and redirects you back to the WordPress plugin settings page, which now shows:
Connected. Assistant ID: [your-uuid]. Widget on storefront: Enabled.
The widget is live on your storefront immediately.

​
Widget on Storefront

Once the widget is enabled, the WordPress plugin uses WordPress’s wp_enqueue_scripts hook to inject a loader script into every storefront page footer — no theme edits required. The script is automatically excluded from WP Rocket’s JS delay and combine lists. For other caching plugins (LiteSpeed Cache, W3 Total Cache), exclude the widget loader URL from any “Delay JS” or “Combine JS” rules, then flush your cache.

​
Manual Snippet (no plugin)

If you prefer not to use the plugin, copy the embed snippet from your WooCommerce channel settings page and paste it before the </body> tag in your theme’s footer.php or via a snippet plugin like WPCode.

​
AI Actions

Each action can be enabled or disabled independently from Settings → Channels → WooCommerce.
ActionDefaultDescription
Product SearchOnSearches your catalog; returns product name, price, and link
Order TrackingOnLooks up order status by order number or email
Cart ManagementOffCreates carts, adds/removes items, shares checkout link
Customer UpdatesOffLooks up and updates customer billing/shipping/contact info
Cart Management requires the CartFlows or Cart Abandonment Recovery plugin on your WooCommerce store. WooCommerce does not natively expose abandoned cart data via its REST API.
Example conversations — Product Search:
  • “What laptops do you have?”
  • “Show me dresses under $50”
Example conversations — Order Tracking:
  • “Where’s my order #1042?”
  • “Can you check my recent order? My email is jane@example.com”
Example conversations — Cart Management:
  • “Add the blue hoodie in medium to my cart”
  • “What’s in my cart right now?”
Example conversations — Customer Updates:
  • “Update my shipping address to 123 Main St, New York, NY 10001”
  • “What email do you have on file for me?”

​
Analytics

Track usage from the Channels → WooCommerce analytics dashboard.
MetricWhat it counts
Product SearchesTimes the assistant searched your catalog
Order LookupsOrder status inquiries
Cart ActionsCart creates, additions, and removals
Customer UpdatesCustomer data lookups and modifications
Webhooks ReceivedStore events delivered by WooCommerce
Filter by 7 days, 30 days, or 90 days.

​
Managing Your Integration

Enable / Disable — Toggle the integration on or off without losing your configuration. When disabled, AI actions and the widget stop, but the store stays connected. Disconnect Store — Removes stored credentials. Reconnect at any time via the OAuth flow. Test Connection — Verifies your credentials are valid and the store is reachable.

​
Troubleshooting

The plugin’s REST endpoint wasn’t found. Work through this checklist in order:
  1. Flush permalinks — In WordPress, go to Settings → Permalinks and click Save Changes. This is required after activating any plugin that adds REST routes. It’s the most common cause of this error.
  2. Confirm the plugin is active — In WordPress admin, go to Plugins and verify IllumiChat shows as “Active”.
  3. Check WooCommerce is active — The plugin’s REST endpoint authenticates via WooCommerce’s API middleware. WooCommerce must be installed and active.
  4. Check for REST API security plugins — Wordfence, “Disable REST API”, and similar plugins can block all REST endpoints. Temporarily disable them to test.
  5. Check permalink structure — “Plain” permalinks (?p=123) disable the REST API entirely. Choose any other option under Settings → Permalinks.
  • Verify the plugin is active and you clicked Install widget via plugin successfully (check for a green success message in IllumiChat)
  • Caching plugins: flush your cache and exclude the widget loader URL from JS delay/combine rules. WP Rocket is handled automatically; for other plugins (LiteSpeed, W3TC), add the exclusion manually.
  • Cookie consent: if cookie consent is enabled in the plugin settings, the widget waits for visitor consent. Test in an incognito window or disable the consent toggle temporarily.
  • Hosting CSP / firewall: some managed hosts block external scripts. Whitelist app.illumichat.com (or your IllumiChat URL) in your hosting firewall or CSP header.
  • Confirm the store status is Connected (green) on the Channels overview
  • Check that the specific action toggle is on — e.g., Product Search defaults to On but Cart Management defaults to Off
  • Click Test Connection to verify credentials are still valid
  • If the test fails, disconnect and reconnect to issue fresh credentials
You need to save an Assistant ID first. Enter your assistant’s UUID in the Assistant ID field on the WooCommerce → IllumiChat settings page and click Save settings — the Connect button will then become active.

​
Next Steps

Widget Customization

Customize the look and feel of the chat widget on your storefront.

Effective Prompts

Write better system prompts to get the most out of your WooCommerce assistant.