Self-hosted Chatwoot AI: options and setup

Choose how to add AI to self-hosted Chatwoot

Chatwoot’s self-hosted pricing page, checked on 15 October 2026, lists Captain AI in Premium Support and Enterprise, but not Community Edition. Check the official page for current plans before deciding.

• Captain: choose Chatwoot’s native AI if its features and paid self-hosted plan suit your team. Read the current plan and data-handling details before enabling it.
• External AI service: connect an Agent Bot to a hosted service such as GPT KeFu while keeping your Chatwoot inbox. Your Chatwoot instance remains self-hosted, but the AI service is external; this is not a fully local deployment.
• Custom Agent Bot: build the reply logic yourself or connect an automation workflow. Chatwoot provides webhooks and messaging APIs; you maintain the bot, its knowledge sources and the rules for handing conversations to humans.

• Chatwoot self-hosted plans and Captain availability
• Chatwoot’s Agent Bot integration guide

1. Collect the instance and inbox details

Create a Chatwoot project in GPT KeFu. Open your inbox settings in Chatwoot and copy the browser URL. The setup screen can extract the base URL, Account ID and Inbox ID from that URL, or you can enter them manually.

The base URL is your Chatwoot HTTPS origin without the /app path. The Account ID follows /app/accounts/; the Inbox ID follows /settings/inboxes/. In Chatwoot Profile Settings, copy an administrator’s personal Access Token. Do not use the Bot Access Token in this field.

2. Create the bot and save its signing secret

In Chatwoot Settings → Bots, create or edit an Agent Bot and copy its Webhook Secret. The secret signs callbacks and is different from an API access token. Paste it into the Agent Bot signing secret field in GPT KeFu.

If a new bot requires a URL before you have saved the GPT KeFu connection, use a public HTTPS URL you control temporarily and do not bind an inbox yet. Copy the generated secret, then save the connection in GPT KeFu to obtain the dedicated callback URL. Saving the connection does not turn on AI replies.

3. Set the final callback and bind the inbox

Copy the Agent Bot webhook URL displayed in GPT KeFu. Replace the temporary outgoing URL in Chatwoot with this exact URL, then bind that bot in the target inbox’s Bot Configuration and save.

Use the Agent Bot secret associated with that bot. Leave the optional account webhook disabled for this setup: Agent Bot already reports conversation status events. An account webhook, if needed later, has a separate URL and secret.

4. Verify both directions, then enable AI

1. Run Check connection to verify that GPT KeFu can reach the Chatwoot API with the saved credentials.
2. Send a new visitor message to the linked inbox. Return to the setup page and check for a verified signed callback; run the connection check again if needed.
3. Once API connectivity and the callback are verified, enable AI replies.
4. Send another new visitor message. The earlier verification message does not trigger an automatic reply. Confirm the new reply in Chatwoot.

Troubleshoot the failed step

• API check fails: verify the HTTPS origin, administrator token, Account ID and Inbox ID. Check whether your proxy or firewall blocks service access.
• Callback stays pending: confirm the bot is bound to the correct inbox and uses the final callback URL. Send a new visitor message, not an agent reply.
• Signature verification fails: copy the Webhook Secret from the same Agent Bot and confirm your instance supports signed callbacks. Do not disable signature checks to work around it.
• Connection works but replies do not: verify that AI is enabled, check project entitlements and model settings, and inspect any active pause after a human reply.