Convostack
ConvoStack is a comprehensive full-stack framework specifically designed for the creation and integration of AI chatbots. The tool is developer-friendly, enabli...
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What is Convostack?
ConvoStack is a free and open-source full-stack framework that allows developers to easily embed a customizable AI ChatBot widget into a website with just a few lines of code. It is designed specifically for developers who want to add cutting-edge AI chatbot capabilities to their websites completely for free, without expensive monthly fees based on message volume. The framework offers plain English support conversations powered by the LangChain framework, giving users the option to add their own AI models.
Key features include an embeddable AI ChatBot widget that is customizable via React components, seamless integration with popular frameworks like Pinecone DB, Express, React, Redis, and GraphQL, and full TypeScript support providing full-stack type-safety. The backend uses Express.js for flexible backend logic, Redis for caching and pub/sub systems ensuring seamless messaging, and ReactJS for a component-based UI architecture. ConvoStack supports multiple AI agent implementations including OpenAI Chat, Echo Agent, OpenAI Conversational QA, and a ConvoStack Docs Agent powered by Pinecone.
ConvoStack is ideal for developers building customer support chatbots, conversational interfaces for applications, and anyone who wants production-ready AI chatbot functionality rather than just a chat-starter project. It supports database options including SQLite for development and Postgres/MySQL for production, offers authentication middleware via JWT, and deploys seamlessly to Fly.io with free and easy hosting options. The framework is community-driven with Discord and GitHub support for collaboration.
Convostack pricing
Pricing model: Free
ConvoStack is completely free and open-source with no pricing tiers, monthly fees, or charges based on message volume. Unlike other chat UI kits that charge expensive monthly fees, ConvoStack follows the AI open-source ethos and returns power to developers. There are no paid plans - the entire framework including the embeddable AI ChatBot widget, backend deployment framework, and all integrations are available free. Developers only need to pay for their own AI service API keys (OpenAI, Pinecone) if they choose to use advanced features.
Convostack pros
- Completely free and open-source with no monthly fees
- Embed customizable chatbot widgets with just a few lines of code
- Powered by LangChain framework for AI agent capabilities
- Full TypeScript support with full-stack type-safety
- Sleek and customizable React component UI
- Seamless integration with Express, React, Redis, GraphQL
- Supports Pinecone DB for document-based QA
- Multiple AI agent implementations pre-built
- Production-ready full-stack framework, not just a starter project
- SQLite support for easy development and local testing
- Redis caching and pub/sub for production scalability
- Authentication middleware via JWT included
- Deploys seamlessly to Fly.io with free hosting
- Optional Docker configuration for local development
- Active community with Discord server and GitHub repository
- Full control over AI models with fine-tuning capabilities
- No dependency on third-party providers for updates
- Vite bundler for fast build performance
- Simplified hosting with frontend exported to backend
Convostack cons
- Requires developer knowledge to implement and customize
- OpenAI API key required for most advanced agent features
- Pinecone API keys needed for documentation QA agent
- Self-hosting required rather than managed service
- Database migrations needed for setup
- Environment variables must be configured manually
- No built-in user login persistence by default
- Conversations cleared upon page reload without customization
- Limited to JavaScript/TypeScript web applications
Frequently asked questions about Convostack
What is ConvoStack and what does it do?
ConvoStack is a plug-and-play embeddable AI chatbot widget and backend deployment framework for websites. It allows developers to easily embed a customizable AI ChatBot widget into a website with as little as a few lines of code, completely for free. The framework supports plain English conversations powered by the LangChain framework and integrates with popular frameworks like Pinecone DB, Express, React, and Redis.
Is ConvoStack really free?
Yes, ConvoStack is completely free and open-source. Unlike other chat UI kits that charge expensive monthly fees based on message volume, ConvoStack follows the ethos of AI open-source and has no pricing tiers or monthly fees. The entire framework is available free with no paid plans.
What AI models does ConvoStack support?
ConvoStack is powered by the LangChain framework and gives you the option to add your own AI models. It includes multiple pre-built agent implementations: OpenAI Chat (like ChatGPT), Echo Agent (no API keys required), OpenAI Conversational QA for question answering, and ConvoStack Docs Agent for documentation chat powered by Pinecone, OpenAI, and LangChain. You have full control to create, train, and fine-tune your own AI models.
How do I install ConvoStack?
To add ConvoStack to an existing project, run: npm install --save convostack. For the playground demo, clone the repo with git clone https://github.com/ConvoStack/playground convostack-playground, then run npm install, set up your .env file from .env.example, run npm run migrate-sqlite for database setup, and finally npm run dev to start the demo on localhost:5173.
What databases does ConvoStack support?
ConvoStack supports multiple database options. For development, it supports SQLite for convenient setup and local testing without running separate databases. For production, you can choose between Postgres and MySQL. ConvoStack comes with pre-built implementations of IStorageEngine for SQLite, Postgres, and MySQL, so you don't need to write boilerplate database code.
Can I customize the chatbot widget's appearance?
Yes, ConvoStack offers a sleek and customizable React component for the AI ChatBot widget interface. The Widget component is customizable via the CustomStyling prop, and the Embeddable Chat component is customizable via the CustomEmbedStyling prop. Being open-source, you can also customize, extend, and modify the entire codebase to meet your unique requirements.
How do I deploy ConvoStack to production?
ConvoStack deploys seamlessly to Fly.io, providing free and easy hosting options. The included fly.toml file simplifies deployment configuration. For production, use Redis for caching and pub/sub, and choose Postgres or MySQL for your database. The frontend build script exports to the backend server, eliminating the need for separate static site hosting, so you only need one hosting solution.
What is the ConvoStack Docs Agent?
The ConvoStack Docs Agent is a web crawler and chat QA chain based on Pinecone, OpenAI, and LangChain that is production-ready for powering chat with your documentation or help center. It powers chat on convostack.ai and the docs site. It requires OPENAI_API_KEY, PINECONE_API_KEY, PINECONE_ENVIRONMENT, and PINECONE_INDEX to be set, and you need to run npm run pinecone-load-convostack-docs to crawl docs and load embeddings into Pinecone.
Does ConvoStack support user authentication?
Yes, ConvoStack provides an easy-to-use authentication middleware module (convostack/auth-jwt) since it's built to get you into production. While most chat kits don't implement authentication, ConvoStack is a full-stack platform that solves tricky problems like connecting user data and authentication before going live. You can also build your own auth by implementing the public auth interface.
How do I get help or contribute to ConvoStack?
ConvoStack has an active community where you can join the Discord server to chat with other developers and get help with projects. You can contribute by submitting issues and pull requests on the GitHub repository at github.com/ConvoStack/convostack. The project also has a Twitter account for community updates. The documentation at docs.convostack.ai provides comprehensive guides for getting started.