05 · Welcome message

Pre-seed the first assistant bubble for visitors who land on an empty chat. Typing dots appear for a moment, then your message lands like the agent typed it. One-shot per session — closing and reopening does not re-trigger; existing transcripts skip it entirely.

Snippet

<script
  src="https://bridle.cleanslice.org/sdk/latest.js"
  data-agent-id="agent-abc-123"
  data-token="<jwt>"
  data-greeting="Hi! 👋 I can help you compare plans, schedule a demo, or open a support ticket. What are you here for?"
  data-greeting-delay="2500"
></script>

Programmatic form:

Bridle.init({
  apiUrl, agentId, token,
  greeting: 'Hi! 👋 What brings you here?',
  greetingDelay: 2500,
})

Live demo

The chat above is mounted on every page load with a fresh transcript — refresh to see the greeting fire again.

Behavior

Condition	Result
Panel open + connected + messages.length === 0	Typing indicator for greetingDelay ms, then bubble appears
Returning visitor — transcript replay brought history	Greeting is suppressed (transcript wins)
User types and sends a message during the delay	Greeting cancelled, their turn is first
Close → open → close → open	Fires once per session; reopening doesn't re-trigger
Reconnect (apiUrl / agentId / token / prompt change)	Flag resets along with the transcript — greeting is available again
greetingDelay: 0	No typing indicator — bubble appears immediately

Markdown is rendered the same as any assistant message — use **bold**, links, lists.

Combine with data-prompt

Tune the greeting per page by pairing it with Page Context:

<!-- /pricing -->
<script ...
  data-prompt="Section: pricing. Visitor is comparing plans."
  data-greeting="Looking at plans? I can walk you through what's different between Pro and Team."
></script>

<!-- /docs/embed -->
<script ...
  data-prompt="Section: docs/embed. Reading integration guides."
  data-greeting="Reading the embed docs? Ask me about CSP, theming, or auth — I'll link the right page."
></script>

When NOT to use it

• Persistent greeting — already handled. The flag only fires on an empty transcript, so returning users with history never see it. No extra config needed.
• Multi-step onboarding — greeting is one bubble. For an interactive flow, let the agent runtime react to a synthetic "user opened the chat" event you fire from onReady.
• As a substitute for the agent's actual system prompt — keep instructions on the agent side, where they don't leak through data-*.

Related

• Page Context — data-prompt for handshake-time visitor context.
• Script Tag → Welcome message — full reference and behavior notes.