Laravel Chatbot

A Laravel package that adds a configurable rule-based chatbot to a Laravel application.

It includes:

• separate chatbot admin authentication
• questionnaire CRUD
• category CRUD
• unanswered-question review
• CSV questionnaire import/export
• analytics page
• embeddable frontend widget
• public chatbot API endpoints

Requirements

• PHP 8.2+
• Laravel 11 or 12

Installation

Install the package in a Laravel app:

composer require sakibulrasel/laravel-chatbot

Run the package installer:

php artisan chatbot:install

The install command will:

• publish the config file
• publish package migrations
• publish widget assets
• run migrations
• ask for chatbot admin credentials
• seed default settings
• optionally seed demo questions

Quick Start

After installation:

1. Open the admin login:

/chatbot-admin/login

1. Log in with the credentials you created during chatbot:install.

2. Add or edit chatbot questions in:

/chatbot-admin/questionnaires

1. Render the widget in any Blade view:

<x-chatbot-widget />

Package Routes

Admin Routes

Default admin prefix:

/chatbot-admin

Main admin pages:

• /chatbot-admin/login
• /chatbot-admin/dashboard
• /chatbot-admin/analytics
• /chatbot-admin/categories
• /chatbot-admin/questionnaires
• /chatbot-admin/unanswered-questions
• /chatbot-admin/settings

Public Routes

Default public prefix:

/chatbot

Public endpoints:

• GET /chatbot/widget
• GET /chatbot/config
• POST /chatbot/message

Widget Usage

Add the widget to any Blade template:

<x-chatbot-widget />

The widget uses published static assets:

public/vendor/chatbot/chatbot-widget.css
public/vendor/chatbot/chatbot-widget.js

If you need to republish them:

php artisan chatbot:publish-assets

Configuration

The package config file is published to:

config/chatbot.php

Important options:

• admin route prefix
• public route prefix
• fallback message
• welcome message
• widget position
• primary color
• enable/disable widget
• conversation logging

To republish config manually:

php artisan vendor:publish --tag=chatbot-config

Admin Authentication

This package does not depend on the host app's users table.

It uses its own chatbot_admins table and a session-based package login flow.

That keeps the chatbot admin isolated from the main application authentication layer.

Questionnaire Management

The questionnaire section supports:

• create, edit, and delete question/answer pairs
• category assignment
• active/inactive status
• keyword matching
• sort order
• search and filtering
• CSV import/export

CSV Import/Export

Questionnaire import expects this CSV header:

question,answer,keywords,category,status,sort_order

Example:

"What are your hours?","We are open 9 AM to 6 PM.","hours,time,open","General","active","1"

Behavior:

• existing questions are updated by question
• missing categories can be created automatically
• status can use values like active, inactive, true, false, 1, 0

Unanswered Questions

If the chatbot cannot match a question strongly enough:

• it returns the fallback message
• it logs the user prompt to chatbot_unanswered_questions

The admin can review those prompts at:

/chatbot-admin/unanswered-questions

From there, the admin can:

• convert a failed prompt into a questionnaire entry
• assign a category
• add keywords
• dismiss it

Analytics

Analytics are available at:

/chatbot-admin/analytics

Current analytics include:

• total conversations in a period
• resolved failures
• pending failures
• daily conversation counts
• top matched questions
• top failed questions

Available Artisan Commands

php artisan chatbot:install
php artisan chatbot:create-admin {username}
php artisan chatbot:reset-password {username}
php artisan chatbot:publish-assets

Manual Publish Commands

If you need manual publish steps instead of chatbot:install:

php artisan vendor:publish --tag=chatbot-config
php artisan vendor:publish --tag=chatbot-migrations
php artisan chatbot:publish-assets
php artisan migrate

Using In Another Laravel App Before Packagist

If the package is not yet published on Packagist, you can still use it through a local path repository.

In the target Laravel app's composer.json:

{
  "repositories": [
    {
      "type": "path",
      "url": "/absolute/path/to/laravel_chatbot"
    }
  ]
}

Then install:

composer require sakibulrasel/laravel-chatbot:*
php artisan chatbot:install

Publishing To Packagist

Typical release flow:

git add .
git commit -m "Initial package release"
git push origin main
git tag v0.1.0
git push origin v0.1.0

Then submit the GitHub repository to Packagist.

After Packagist indexes the package, users can install it with:

composer require sakibulrasel/laravel-chatbot

Local Workbench

This repository includes a local Testbench workbench app for package verification.

Build it:

composer build

Serve it:

composer serve

Open:

• http://127.0.0.1:8000
• http://127.0.0.1:8000/chatbot-admin/login

Default workbench admin credentials:

username: admin
password: password

Testing

Run the package tests with:

composer test

Current Scope

This package currently provides a stable first version of:

• admin auth
• widget
• questionnaires and categories
• unanswered review
• analytics
• CSV import/export

Still reasonable future additions:

• AI drivers
• richer dashboard charts
• multi-tenant support
• improved widget customization
• more extensive test coverage