> For clean Markdown of any page, append .md to the page URL.
> For a complete documentation index, see https://docs.ada.cx/docs/channels/third-party/sunshine-web-messenger/llms.txt.
> For AI client integration (Claude Code, Cursor, etc.), connect to the MCP server at https://docs.ada.cx/_mcp/server.

# Sunshine Conversations Web Messenger

## Overview

You can set up your AI Agent to work through the Sunshine Conversations
Web Messenger interface instead of Ada's usual web interface. This
approach can work differently from Ada's usual behavior and has both
benefits and limitations you should be aware of, but it can be a good
alternative if you want to use more of Zendesk's features.

## Use cases

Sunshine Conversations Web Messenger enables the following scenarios:

* **Leverage Zendesk's ecosystem**: Use Zendesk's branding, persistence, and conversation features instead of Ada's settings.
* **Unified conversation experience**: Enable seamless [Handoffs](/docs/handoffs) between your AI Agent and human agents.
* **Multi-conversation support**: Allow end users to create multiple conversations at once.

## Capabilities & configuration\[#understand-customer-experience-on-scwm]

The customer experience in Sunshine Conversations Web Messenger is very
similar to Ada's default web experience in a lot of ways. Here are some
basics:

* Customers can use the same conversation window to exchange messages
  with both your AI Agent and with your human agents, with seamless handoffs to Zendesk
  Messaging in between.

  You can also enable multi-conversation functionality, so customers can create more than one conversation at a time, with Sunshine Conversations's [Conversation List](https://docs.smooch.io/guide/web-messenger/#conversation-list) feature.

* Customers and agents can send files to each other. For information on
  how Sunshine Conversations validates files, see [File Validation](https://docs.smooch.io/guide/validating-files/#file-validation)
  at Sunshine Conversations docs.

* After the customer has been handed off to an agent, the chat window is
  reserved for their conversation with the agent. Only the agent can
  disengage the conversation by marking the ticket as "solved." After
  this, depending on your organization's [trigger settings](https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408824482586#topic_ux4_cqq_5pb),
  Zendesk automatically marks the ticket as "closed."

  Until the ticket is marked as "closed," any messages the customer sends
  go to the human agent, not the AI Agent. The customer has to wait until the ticket
  is closed to be able to send messages to your AI Agent again.

* You can use Ada's multi-bot routing feature. For more information,
  see [Connect Zendesk social channels to multiple AI Agents using Sunshine Conversations](/docs/channels/social/zendesk-social-integration).

### AI Agent behavior with Web Messenger\[#understand-how-ada-features-work-in-sunshine-conversations-web-messenger]

There are some features that you may have built into your AI Agent that
won't translate to Sunshine Conversations Web Messenger.

> **Note**
>
> There are several blocks and features that work differently from Ada's
> default chat in Sunshine Conversations Web Messenger. For additional
> information, see [Feature compatibility](/docs/channels/social/social-channel-onboarding#feature-compatibility).

* **Metavariables**: You can't set metavariables in Sunshine
  Conversations Web Messenger. If your Answer flows require access to
  metadata, you can contact your Ada team for assistance, or use a
  [Request block](/docs/handoffs/handoff-management/blocks/request-block)
  to request data from Sunshine Conversations' API. For more
  information, see [Sunshine Conversations' API documentation](https://docs.smooch.io/rest/).

* **Customer persistence**: Instead of using Ada's settings, use Sunshine
  Conversations' SDK settings to adjust how you want to retain users or
  conversations. For more information, see [Browser storage](https://docs.smooch.io/guide/web-messenger/#browser-storage)
  at Sunshine Conversations' documentation.

* **Branding**: Instead of using Ada's settings, use Sunshine
  Conversations' SDK settings to adjust how you want the chat window to
  appear. For more information, see [Display Style](https://docs.smooch.io/guide/web-messenger/#display-style) at
  Sunshine Conversations' documentation.

## Quick start

Deploy your AI Agent with Sunshine Conversations Web Messenger in a few steps. For detailed instructions, see [Implementation & usage](#set-up-sunco-web-messenger-with-your-ai-agent).

Complete the Sunshine Conversations integration with your AI Agent.

Get your Zendesk API details and create a new Web Messenger integration.

Embed the integration scripts on your website.

Set up [Handoffs](/docs/handoffs) using HTTP Request blocks.

Connect your AI Agent with Zendesk Admin Center.

## Implementation & usage\[#set-up-sunco-web-messenger-with-your-ai-agent]

Setting up your AI Agent to work with Sunshine Conversations Web Messenger
requires some work with your AI Agent, in Sunshine Conversations, in Zendesk,
and finally in your own website. If you have any trouble with any
portion of these procedures, don't hesitate to contact your Ada team for
assistance.

### Prerequisites\[#before-you-begin]

Before proceeding, do a quick check to see that you have the following:

* Access to Zendesk Agent Workspace

* A subscription to Zendesk Suite Professional, Enterprise, Enterprise
  Plus, **or** a standalone Sunshine Conversations license add-on

* Access to the Zendesk Conversations API through Zendesk Admin Center,
  so you can create API keys

* A completed Sunshine Conversations integration with your AI Agent. For
  more information, see [Configure and use Sunshine Conversations](/docs/channels/social/sunshine-conversations-setup).

Additionally, contact your Ada team to make sure your AI Agent is ready for
the next steps. There are some features you may need Ada staff to enable
on your behalf that you can't proceed without.

### Zendesk API setup and channel creation\[#get-zendesk-api-details]

After you've verified that you have everything you need, you can use the
Sunshine Conversations API to create a new channel.

To use the API, you should have an API client program, like
[Postman](https://www.postman.com/downloads/), installed on your
computer. You may find it helpful to download the [API collection](https://docs.smooch.io/guide/postman-collection/) so you can
see those calls pre-formatted in your client program.

**To set up the Zendesk API and create a channel:**

1. In Zendesk Admin Center, go to **Apps and integrations** >
   **APIs** > **Conversations API**. On this page, find the following
   API attributes and copy them:

   * `appID`

   * `key`

   > **Note**
   >
   > This should be the same key you used to set up your Sunshine
   > Conversations integration. To generate an API key, see [Conversations API authentication](https://developer.zendesk.com/documentation/zendesk-web-widget-sdks/sdks/web/getting_started/#authentication) in Zendesk's documentation.

   * `secret`

2. In your API client, set up your authentication. Depending on your
   setup, you can choose to use these settings for all of your Zendesk
   API calls, or just this one call.

   * Set the authentication type to **Basic Auth**.

   * For your **Username**, use the `key` from your API details.

   * For your **Password**, use the `secret` from your API details.

3. Make the following API call, replacing the `appID` placeholder with
   the value you got in your API details. In the API collection, it's
   called **Create Integration**. With this call, you're creating a new
   integration for your Sunshine Conversations account:

   ```
   POST https://api.smooch.io/v2/apps/{appID}/integrations
   {
     "type": "web",
     "displayName": "Channel Name",
     "canUserSeeConversationList": false,
     "canUserCreateMoreConversations": false
   }
   ```

4. Depending on the integrations you have set up, you might have
   multiple integrations come back in your response; each one will look
   like the below. Look for the integration that has the following two
   attributes:

   * `"status": "active"`

   * `"type": "web"`

   For that integration, copy the `id` attribute.

   ```
   {
     "integration": {
       "id": "645032477d43a37749e94ef6",
       "status": "active",
       "type": "web",
       "displayName": "Channel Name",
       "brandColor": "65758e",
       "conversationColor": "0099ff",
       "actionColor": "0099ff",
       "displayStyle": "button",
       "canUserCreateMoreConversations": false,
       "canUserSeeConversationList": false
     }
   }
   ```

### Website embedding\[#embed-integration-on-website]

Now that you have your integration ID, you can embed your AI Agent on your
website. To do that, you'll need to insert two scripts into your
website.

> **Tip**
>
> As with all website integrations, we recommend testing this code in a
> staging environment before making it available publicly. That way, if
> you want to troubleshoot or test out improvements, you can do so without
> impacting your customer experience.

1. In your website's `<head>` tag, towards the end, insert the
   following script. Replace the `ADD-INTEGRATION-ID-HERE` portion at
   the end with the ID you got from Zendesk:

   ```js
   <script>
     !function(o,p,s,e,c){
         var i,a,h,u=[],d=[];function t(){var t="You must provide a supported major version.";try{if(!c)throw new Error(t);var e,n="https://cdn.smooch.io/",r="smooch";if((e="string"==typeof this.response?JSON.parse(this.response):this.response).url){var o=p.getElementsByTagName("script")[0],s=p.createElement("script");s.async=!0;var i=c.match(/([0-9]+)\.?([0-9]+)?\.?([0-9]+)?/),a=i&&i[1];if(i&&i[3])s.src=n+r+"."+c+".min.js";else{if(!(4<=a&&e["v"+a]))throw new Error(t);s.src=e["v"+a]}o.parentNode.insertBefore(s,o)}}catch(e){e.message===t&&console.error(e)}}o[s]={init:function(){i=arguments;var t={then:function(e){return d.push({type:"t",next:e}),t},catch:function(e){return d.push({type:"c",next:e}),t}};return t},on:function(){u.push(arguments)},render:function(){a=arguments},destroy:function(){h=arguments}},o.__onWebMessengerHostReady__=function(e){if(delete o.__onWebMessengerHostReady__,o[s]=e,i)for(var t=e.init.apply(e,i),n=0;n<d.length;n++){var r=d[n];t="t"===r.type?t.then(r.next):t.catch(r.next)}a&&e.render.apply(e,a),h&&e.destroy.apply(e,h);for(n=0;n<u.length;n++)e.on.apply(e,u[n])};var n=new XMLHttpRequest;n.addEventListener("load",t),n.open("GET","https://"+e+".webloader.smooch.io/",!0),n.responseType="json",n.send()
     }(window,document,"Smooch","ADD-INTEGRATION-ID-HERE","5");
   </script>
   ```

2. Use the following script to initialize your AI Agent, again replacing the
   `ADD-INTEGRATION-ID-HERE` portion at the beginning with your
   integration's ID. You can use it in a different script, or you can
   put it in your website's `<body>` tag, inside a `<script>` tag, to
   load every time your website does:

   ```js
   Smooch.init({
     integrationId: 'ADD-INTEGRATION-ID-HERE',
     integrationOrder: [],
     notificationChannelPromptEnabled: false,
     canUserSeeConversationList: false
     }).then( function() {
       // Your code after init is complete
     }, function(err) {
       // Something went wrong during initialization
     }
   );
   ```

   > **Note**
   >
   > Make sure you don't change the `integrationOrder`,
   > `notificationChannelPromptEnabled`, or `canUserSeeConversationList`
   > attribute values. These are required to disable Sunshine
   > Conversations features that Ada doesn't support.

3. With both of these pieces of code in your webpage, you can test your
   AI Agent. If it worked correctly, when you load your webpage, you should
   see the chat bubble appear on the page.

If you followed these instructions and are still having problems, or if
your AI Agent is loading but not responding to your messages, feel free to
contact your Ada team for assistance.

#### Appearance customization\[#customize-your-ai-agent's-appearance]

After making sure your AI Agent is working, you can customize how it looks,
by modifying the second code snippet above. You can see a full list of
customizations you can make at the [Smooch Web Messenger](https://github.com/zendesk/sunshine-conversations-web#individual-functions)
documentation, but the most common ones you may be interested in are:

* `businessName` - The AI Agent's name that appears at the top of the chat
  window

* `businessIconUrl` - A link to the image you want to display at the top
  of the chat window

  > **Note**
  >
  > This image only appears at the top of the chat window. It's not the
  > AI Agent avatar, which you can change in your Ada settings. For more
  > information, see [Customize the chat window](/docs/channels/chat/chat-configuration/appearance-settings#window).

* `customColors` - Branding colors that you can apply to your AI Agent. All
  of these values must be 3- or 6-character hexadecimal color codes,
  without the hex sign at the beginning

  * `brandColor` - The color of the chat button when the window is
    collapsed, and the header of the window when the window is open

  * `conversationColor` - The color of the customer's chat bubbles, and
    quick reply bubbles that they can select

  * `actionColor` - The color that highlights actions that customers can
    take, like the outline of the field where the customers can type in
    messages to the AI Agent

All of the above customizations go into the [initializing code snippet](#embed-integration-on-website)
above. Here's an example of a completed snippet with all of the above
attributes populated:

```js
Smooch.init({
  // Default bot settings
  integrationId: 'ADD-INTEGRATION-ID-HERE',
  integrationOrder: [],
  notificationChannelPromptEnabled: false,
  canUserSeeConversationList: false,
  // Bot customizations
  businessName: 'My AI Agent',
  businessIconUrl: 'https://media.smooch.io/5f19b4c836ced4000c3a7dc3/icons/8f539f6284ca2f79cda7b0bda0b98cc3.jpg',
  customColors: {
    brandColor: '944dff', // Purple
    conversationColor: '4ddbff', // Cyan
    actionColor: 'ff4da6', // Hot pink
  },
  }).then( function() {
    // Your code after init is complete
  }, function(err) {
    // Something went wrong during initialization
  }
);
```

> **Tip**
>
> The more attributes you have for your AI Agent, the more difficult it can get
> to remember which is which. In the above sample, we have
> `// commented-out content`, where the script ignores everything between
> the double slashes and the end of the line. Using these comments can be
> really helpful for troubleshooting and maintaining your AI Agent over time.

### Handoff configuration\[#set-up-handoffs-via-the-http-request-block]

Rather than the usual platform-specific handoff blocks used elsewhere in
Ada, if you're using Sunshine Conversations Web Messenger, you need to
create handoffs using API calls.

**To configure a handoff:**

1. On the Ada dashboard, go to **Config > AI AGENT > Handoffs**, then create or select a handoff to edit. For more information, see [Manage how your AI Agent hands customers off to live agents](/docs/handoffs/handoff-management).

2. Click and drag a [Request block](/docs/handoffs/handoff-management/blocks/request-block) into the end of the handoff content.

3. Create a POST call with a URL in this format:

   ```
   https://api.smooch.io/v2/apps/{appID}/conversations/{conversationID}/passControl
   ```

   1. Replace `{appID}` with the same appID you found when you were
      [finding your Zendesk API key](#get-zendesk-api-details).
   2. Replace `{conversationID}` with the automatic
      **sunshine\_conversation\_id** variable.

4. Under **Headers**, add your authorization token.

   1. In the field on the left, enter `Authorization`.
   2. In the field on the right, enter `Basic`, then enter the
      automatic **sunshine\_basic\_token** variable.

5. Under **Body Content**, add a `switchboardintegration` attribute.

   1. In the field on the left, enter `switchboardintegration`, and in
      the dropdown list, select **String** as the data type.
   2. In the field on the right, enter `next`.
   * Alternatively, if you have a specific switchboard integration
     ID, you can enter that ID instead.

6. Under **Body Content**, create a `metadata` attribute, in which you
   can add additional information.

   In the field on the left, enter `metadata`, and in the dropdown
   list, select **Dictionary** as the data type. With this data type,
   there is on field on the right to add a single corresponding value;
   instead, you can nest other attributes within it.

7. Beside the `metadata` attribute, click **Add** ![](/_fern-img/870c03074294e150ef7a4a24aac3d6015af4a9ef6897ae0a5983407873484ce5.webp)
   to add a row under the metadata attribute.

   This attribute tells Sunshine Conversations which was the first
   message in the customer's most recent interaction with your AI Agent. That
   way, the agent can see the whole conversation for context, instead
   of the default behavior of only the last 10 messages in the
   conversation.

   1. In the field on the left, enter `first_message_id`, and in the
      dropdown list, select **String** as the data type.
   2. In the field on the right, enter the
      **sunshine\_first\_message\_id** variable.

8. Optionally, add additional metadata, using Zendesk's [metadata fields](https://docs.smooch.io/guide/switchboard/#metadata-sent-to-zendesk).
   For example, if you want to attach tags to the tickets you create
   through your AI Agent:

   1. In the field on the left, enter `dataCapture.systemField.tags`.
   2. In the field on the right, enter the tags you want to attach,
      separated by commas (e.g., `ada_agent, automatic_handoff`).

9. Edit the **Error fallback** dialog that displays if there's an issue completing the API
   call.

10. Turn on the **Count as Handoff** toggle.

With this flow, you can hand customers off to Zendesk for escalations,
and you'll be able to see these handoffs in your analytics.

Here's an example of a completed Request block handoff:

![](/_fern-img/360c3725b7574fc8aa86fa4a44186bc95c46ffa219b9434d659511db9a467a77.webp)

### Zendesk connection\[#connect-your-ai-agent-with-zendesk]

Lastly, to allow your AI Agent to start interacting with customers, you have
to connect your AI Agent with Zendesk. For more information, see [Connect your AI Agent with Zendesk Admin Center](/docs/handoffs/zendesk/zendesk-messaging#connect-your-ai-agent-with-zendesk-admin-center).

---

Have any questions? Contact your Ada team, or email us at [](mailto:help@ada.cx?subject=Help%20Docs%20inquiry).