conferbot_flutter 2.0.0

Official Flutter SDK for Conferbot - Beautiful native chat widget for iOS and Android

Changelog

All notable changes to this project will be documented in this file.

The format is based on Keep a Changelog, and this project adheres to Semantic Versioning.

[Unreleased]

2.0.0 - 2026-10-16

Everything since 1.0.0: the SDK now does what the web widget does, from the flow builder's 82 step types to the launcher, the home screen, live chat, the help centre and push. The status per feature is in docs/PARITY.md.

Breaking changes & migration

• Node handlers rewritten. The 1.0.0 handler classes are gone, together with the files they lived in (ask_question_handlers.dart and the old integration, Google, CRM, GPT and webhook handlers): AskNameNodeHandler, AskEmailNodeHandler, AskPhoneNodeHandler, AskNumberNodeHandler, AskUrlNodeHandler, AskFileNodeHandler, AskLocationNodeHandler, AskCustomNodeHandler, AskMultipleQuestionsNodeHandler, BaseAskNodeHandler, MessageNodeHandler, ImageNodeHandler, VideoNodeHandler, AudioNodeHandler, FileNodeHandler, HtmlNodeHandler, NavigateNodeHandler, UserRedirectNodeHandler, CalendarNodeHandler, ConditionNodeHandler, BooleanLogicNodeHandler, MathOperationNodeHandler, RandomFlowNodeHandler, JumpToNodeHandler, BusinessHoursNodeHandler, VariableNodeHandler, DelayNodeHandler, LogicNodeHandlers, ChatStateInterface, and the old states MessageState, ImageState, VideoState, AudioState, FileState, HtmlState, RedirectState, PaymentState, TextInputState, FileUploadState, CalendarState, RangeState, QuizState, TimeSlot. One handler per node type now comes from allHandlers() / registerAllHandlers(registry).
  • NodeHandler changed shape: process(Map nodeData, String nodeId) is now handle(FlowNode node, ChatState state), and handleResponse(response, nodeData, nodeId) is now handleResponse(response, FlowNode node, ChatState state), which returns null when the step takes no answer. A custom handler has to be ported to the new signatures; FlowNode carries the saved node and its ctx (the bot API, the socket, timers).
  • NodeHandlerRegistry.validateHandlers() is removed; NodeHandlerRegistry.withAll() builds a registry with every handler, and NodeHandlerRegistry.instance still exists.
  • Waiting steps answer with submitResponse in the shapes listed in the README ("How bot flows run"), for example {'buttonId': id} for a choice.
• ChatWidget.showKnowledgeBase is now bool? and defaults to null. In 1.0.0 it was bool with a default of true, so the help button always showed. Now null follows the owner's Help articles (enableKnowledgeBase) switch and needs at least one published article. Pass showKnowledgeBase: true to keep the old behaviour.
• The chat can open on a home screen. When the owner turns on the home screen (enableInitialPage), ChatWidget and the floating bubble open on it instead of on the conversation. To go straight to the conversation, turn it off in the dashboard, or call provider.home.showChat().
• The post-chat redirect is followed by default. A URL set in Customize > Conversations > Post-chat redirect now opens in the system browser after a 10 s countdown with Cancel, once the conversation ends. Use ConferBotConfig(disablePostChatRedirect: true) to turn it off, or onPostChatRedirect: (url) { ...; return true; } to handle it yourself.
• The SDK's own words follow the visitor's language. They were English only. Now they are in English, Dutch, French, German or Spanish (the owner's widgetLanguage, else the phone's language). Use ConferBotConfig(widgetLanguage: 'en') to keep English.
• Owner settings that were ignored now apply: the widget theme (and its dark mode, which follows the phone's when the appearance is auto), the font (downloaded from Google Fonts at run time), message sounds (played through audioplayers, with Sound on / off in the chat menu), auto-open, the greeting card (it replaces the plain call-to-action tooltip), the launcher shape, style, icon and motion, and the human touches (tapbacks, confetti, "Edit", the waiting nudge). Each one is controlled from the dashboard.
• Push registration changed. ConferBotProvider.registerPushToken(token) is now an alias of setPushToken(token) and no longer waits for an open chat. Use setPushToken(token, PushTokenType.fcm | .apns). The token is registered per conversation (POST /push/register with chatSessionId and tokenType, through ApiClient.registerPush), and unregistered on identify(null), clearAllPersistedData(), clearCurrentSession() and unregisterPush(). This needs an embed-server with mobile push on (see the README).
• The provider's user comes from identify. ConferBotProvider.user is still readable, but it is now a getter that identify(user) and identify(null) change. The user, metadata included, is now sent with every response record as the visitor context.
• ChatState.setAnswerVariable returns bool (it returned void): whether a variable was registered for that node. Code that overrides it needs the new return type.
• New dependency: timezone: ^0.11.2, for business hours and calendars in the bot's IANA time zone.

Added

• AI agent bots (Agent Studio): the greeting with starter questions, streamed replies, sources, answer buttons, cards, action confirmation, follow-up chips, edited and deleted messages, and Helpful? with reasons, a comment, "Talk to a person" and "Ask another way". There is a notice after 45 s with no reply, and the phone's language goes with each record so the AI answers in it.
• Live chat as on the web: the handover lifecycle ("Connecting you with the team…" and how the wait ended), the queue and its position, the usual wait and a max-wait countdown, Leave queue, leave a message, receipts, locks, file requests, the lead card, the rating, translation with "See original", requeue and transfer lines, a blocked visitor, Start a new chat, and a live chat picked back up after a restart (live-chat-state).
• The waiting signals WidgetSignals.waitingForHuman, humanJoined and waitOver through provider.onWidgetSignal.
• While you wait: help articles for the visitor's question after 6 s, the server's queue-help pick with That solved it, and seven waiting games (WaitHelpCard, GamesCardView).
• Email me this chat in the chat menu (provider.emailTranscript).
• Your requests: the visitor's conversations with the team, their status, new replies and a reply box (RequestsPortal, RequestsPortalView, provider.openRequests, provider.requestsUnread).
• The home screen (HomeScreenView, ViewSwitch, provider.home, provider.homeModel) and greet by name ({{first_name|there}}, personalize).
• identify(ConferBotUser?) to sign a user in or out after start-up, and ConferBotUser.hash for identity verification.
• Push notifications: setPushToken, handlePushNotification, unregisterPush, ConferbotPush.parse / isConferbot, PushTokenType, pushChannelId. The SDK adds no Firebase dependency.
• Customization resolved as the web widget does: the 27 widget themes, the chat background (gradients, image masks, 13 patterns), bubble and option colours and corners, the header, the typing styles (dots, wave, shimmer, pencil, mascot).
• The launcher as on the web: 56 icons, shapes, styles, motion, and the opt-in entrance, attention and idle call effects. The greeting card has 11 styles and the web's greeting rules and frequency.
• The owner's mascot, 27 characters with their moods (Mascot, TypingMascot, LauncherMascot, ChatWidget.homeMascotBuilder).
• Every step type the web runs (82), with native step cards: consent, OTP, address (with "Use my location" through ConferBotConfig.locationProvider, ConferBotLatLng, ConferBotLocationDenied), signature, ranking, matrix, payment, slider, date / time, carousel and product cards, picture choices. The flow is checked against 156 shared cases from the web widget's own code.
• Calendar slots that are already booked are shown as taken, and fully booked days are not offered.
• Sounds (messageSound, soundPack, the launcher sound), auto-open, the typing preview for agents, the human touches, the owner's font.
• The help centre: the owner's switch, Recent articles, article bodies as HTML, search inside bodies over the chat's socket, "Was this helpful?", reading analytics, and AI-cited articles opened in the app.
• ConferBotConfig.widgetLanguage, onPostChatRedirect, disablePostChatRedirect, locationProvider.

Changed

• Flow answers and records carry the full payload the web widget sends, on the mobile channel.
• Each SocketClient has its own connection, so a second client connects with its own visitor and a reset opens a new connection.
• ChatWidget's header keeps the bot's name and shows the team's reply time, or "Online" once a person joins.
• Bot texts are filled from answers ({x}, ${x}, {{x}}), and an unknown variable shows nothing. Typing dots last as long as the web's.

Fixed

• Messages were only kept in memory and were lost on a restart. They are now stored on the device.
• session/init parses without a botId.
• Keyboard types come from Flutter's services. The SDK's own text input type had shadowed them.
• Steps read the fields the builder saves (question text, answer variables, media, links, options) and leave by the web's handles.
• A restored session resumes at its step instead of running the flow again.
• Question bubbles show plain text, not the builder's HTML.
• A mailto: link's subject and body are percent-encoded.
• The full test suite is green (2265 pass, 72 skipped).
• The example's widget test pumps the example with no connection instead of the stock counter test, and flutter analyze in example/ is clean (#92).
• SocketClient.onReconnect fires on each reconnect. socket_io_client tells reconnect on the Manager, not the Socket, so it never fired; the reconnect attempts and the failure are heard on the Manager too (#93).

Security

• The GPT step no longer calls OpenAI from the device with a key from the flow. GPT, AI route and extract, knowledge-base answers, OTP, address search and payments go through the bot's server (/api/v1/bot/:botId/...).
• Card numbers, bank accounts, government ids and passwords are masked in stored and sent answers, as the web does (unless the owner turns off redactSensitive).
• Identity verification: pass a server-made HMAC-SHA256 as ConferBotUser.hash so that a chat is filed under a verified user.
• The typing preview is never sent for a secret field (obscured text, password autofill), and the owner can turn it off (visitorDraftPreview).
• The post-chat redirect follows only http(s) URLs.
• A visitor the workspace blocked can't type or start a new chat.

1.0.0 - 2026-04-23

Added

• Initial release of the Conferbot Flutter SDK
• Real-time messaging via Socket.IO
• Node flow engine with 50+ node types
• Live agent handover support
• Message reactions and read receipts
• File and image uploads
• Knowledge base integration
• Session persistence
• Push notification support
• Full theming and customization
• Offline message queuing
• Analytics and event tracking