Conversations with context: tags and fields from the widget

The most expensive question in support is the first one: “So, what’s this about?” Meanwhile the site already knows where the customer is: which page, which product, which language. The widget hands that context over before the conversation starts.

Tags: the fastest context

zE('messenger:set', 'conversationTags', ['shop', 'produkt-werkbank-3']);

The tags land on the ticket that grows out of the conversation. No configuration needed, no IDs. Tags are free text. So this works right away:

• Origin: kontaktseite, hilfe-center, checkout – every place you embed the widget marks itself.
• Routing: triggers and views react to the tags (“checkout → high priority”).
• Reporting: which entry point produces how many requests? It’s right there on the ticket.

One thing to get right: set tags before the conversation starts, ideally right after load. They apply to the next conversation that gets created.

Fields: structured context

For anything that needs more structure than a tag, there are conversation fields, filled from the widget, read by triggers, bots, and agents:

zE('messenger:set', 'conversationFields', [
  { id: '1234567890', value: 'WB3-2026-0815' }, // e.g. order number
]);

The id is the ID of a ticket field from the Admin Center (Objects and rules → Fields); the field has to be editable for end users and assigned to messaging. That way the value isn’t free text in the transcript, but a clean field that filters, automations, and reports can work with.

Rule of thumb

• Tags for origin and category: cheap, instant, no configuration.
• Fields for values you want automation to act on: order number, customer segment, contract type.
• Both belong at every place you embed the widget. That one line of context saves the first follow-up question over in the Agent Workspace.

Every demo here fires these commands. Each demo’s source carries its scenario as a tag. (Their widget stand-in only receives the calls; with the real widget they’d land on the ticket.)