Helpdesk / FAQ

Open the Crisp Helpdesk search screen or a specific helpdesk article directly — without showing live chat first. This is useful for apps that want to direct users to self-service content before escalating to a live agent.

Platform support

Platform	openHelpdesk	openHelpdeskArticle
Android	Native SDK: Crisp.searchHelpdesk()	Native SDK: Crisp.openHelpdeskArticle()
iOS	Native SDK: CrispSDK.searchHelpdesk()	Native SDK: CrispSDK.openHelpdeskArticle()
Web	$crisp.push(["do", "helpdesk:search"])	$crisp.push(["do", "helpdesk:article:open", [...]])
Desktop	Same $crisp command in the embedded WebView	Same $crisp command in the embedded WebView

Open the helpdesk search screen

await FlutterCrispChat.openHelpdesk(websiteId: 'YOUR_WEBSITE_ID');

Opens the Crisp Helpdesk search interface where users can browse and search FAQ articles.

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
websiteId	String	Yes	Your Crisp website ID

Throws: ArgumentError if websiteId is empty or whitespace-only.

Open a specific article

await FlutterCrispChat.openHelpdeskArticle(
  websiteId: 'YOUR_WEBSITE_ID',
  locale: 'en',
  slug: 'getting-started',
  title: 'Getting Started',    // optional
  category: 'General',         // optional
);

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
websiteId	String	Yes	Your Crisp website ID
locale	String	Yes	Language code (e.g. 'en', 'fr', 'de')
slug	String	Yes	Article slug from the Crisp Helpdesk dashboard
title	String?	No	Optional display title override
category	String?	No	Optional category name

Throws: ArgumentError if websiteId, locale, or slug is empty.

Finding the article slug

Go to your Crisp Dashboard → Helpdesk → open an article. The slug appears in the article URL and in the article settings panel.

Platform implementation

Web

openHelpdesk: Calls CrispWebSdk.ensureLoaded(websiteId) (loads client.crisp.chat/l.js if not already loaded), then executes $crisp.push(["do", "helpdesk:search"]). The chatbox opens to the Helpdesk search panel.

openHelpdeskArticle: Same setup, then executes $crisp.push(["do", "helpdesk:article:open", [locale, slug, title?, category?]]). The chatbox opens directly to the specified article.

Desktop (macOS / Windows / Linux)

openHelpdesk: If the WebView is not already open, calls openCrispChat(config: CrispConfig(websiteID: websiteId)) to initialise the embedded window. Then executes $crisp.push(["do", "helpdesk:search"]) via evaluateJavaScript. Falls back gracefully if no WebView is available (browser fallback opens the Crisp app page).

openHelpdeskArticle: Same — opens the WebView if needed, then executes $crisp.push(["do", "helpdesk:article:open", [...]]).

Android

openHelpdesk:

1. Calls Crisp.configure(context, websiteId) to initialise the SDK for this website.
2. Calls Crisp.searchHelpdesk(context) — sets an internal pending flag inside the Crisp SDK.
3. Starts ChatActivity — once the WebSocket connects and the server settings arrive, the pending flag triggers the helpdesk search screen.

openHelpdeskArticle:

1. Calls Crisp.configure(context, websiteId).
2. Calls the appropriate Crisp.openHelpdeskArticle() overload based on which optional parameters (title, category) are provided, passing locale and slug.

iOS

openHelpdesk:

1. Calls CrispSDK.configure(websiteID:).
2. Calls CrispSDK.searchHelpdesk().
3. Presents ChatViewController via a dedicated UIWindow at .alert level (same mechanism as openCrispChat).

openHelpdeskArticle:

1. Calls CrispSDK.configure(websiteID:).
2. Calls CrispSDK.openHelpdeskArticle(locale:slug:title:category:) with the provided parameters.
3. Presents ChatViewController in the same way.

Full example

import 'package:flutter/material.dart';
import 'package:crisp_chat/crisp_chat.dart';

class SupportPage extends StatelessWidget {
  final String websiteId = 'YOUR_WEBSITE_ID';

  const SupportPage({super.key});

  @override
  Widget build(BuildContext context) {
    return Scaffold(
      appBar: AppBar(title: const Text('Support')),
      body: Center(
        child: Column(
          mainAxisAlignment: MainAxisAlignment.center,
          children: [
            ElevatedButton(
              onPressed: () async {
                await FlutterCrispChat.openHelpdesk(websiteId: websiteId);
              },
              child: const Text('Browse FAQ'),
            ),
            const SizedBox(height: 16),
            ElevatedButton(
              onPressed: () async {
                await FlutterCrispChat.openHelpdeskArticle(
                  websiteId: websiteId,
                  locale: 'en',
                  slug: 'getting-started',
                );
              },
              child: const Text('Getting Started Article'),
            ),
          ],
        ),
      ),
    );
  }
}

Troubleshooting

The helpdesk screen doesn't appear (Android)

The helpdesk is loaded after the Crisp WebSocket connects. If your website has domain lock enabled, the connection is rejected before the helpdesk can load. Disable Lock the chatbox to website domain under Settings → Website Settings → Chatbox & Email Settings → Chatbox Security. See Configuration — Chatbox Security.

The helpdesk panel doesn't open on Web or desktop

Make sure the Crisp chatbox is allowed to load on your domain (Web) or from file:// origins (desktop). On Web, check your Content-Security-Policy allows https://client.crisp.chat. On desktop, make sure the WebView runtime is installed (WebView2 on Windows, WebKitGTK on Linux) and that the macOS sandbox has Outgoing Connections (Client) enabled.

If the WebView opens but then shows an error, check that domain lock is disabled in the Crisp dashboard (see above).

Next Steps

• API Reference — Full method signatures
• Configuration — Set up CrispConfig
• Session Management — Manage sessions alongside helpdesk