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HIL Chat Window

A chat-style way to respond to a Human-in-the-Loop (HIL) request — message bubbles, quick-reply chips, action buttons, and forms rendered right inside the conversation, instead of a single pop-up form.

What It Does When a running workflow pauses and needs a person to respond — approve something, answer a question, or fill in details — HIL Chat Window presents that request as a chat conversation instead of a plain form popup. It reads and writes through the same HIL suspend/resume mechanism as every other HIL presentation (see HIL Overview), so nothing about how workflows pause or resume changes — only how the request looks and feels to the person answering it.

Who This Guide Is For

People Responding to a HIL Request

What you see in the chat window, how to reply, use quick-reply chips, fill an inline form, and retry a failed send.

App Developers

How to add @bizfirst/hil-ui-chat-window to your app, mount it, and wire it up in a few lines.

The Two Message Types

Every turn in the conversation is one of two kinds, and the window renders each one appropriately:

KindWhat it looks like
TextA normal chat bubble — the workflow's prompt, or the person's typed reply.
FormAn actual form (fields, dropdowns, etc.) rendered inline as its own bubble, in the same conversation — no separate popup.

What's Working Today vs. What's Planned

Available now — a single HIL request, chat-style Message bubbles for text and inline forms, quick-reply preset chips, action buttons (Approve/Reject/Escalate/etc.), retry on a failed send, an empty state before content loads, and a settings object an app can use to configure endpoints, visibility, theming, and where the window mounts.
Not yet available An open-ended back-and-forth conversation that spans multiple separate pause/resume cycles (e.g. the workflow re-asks a follow-up question after your first answer) is not supported yet — that requires a backend confirmation that hasn't landed. Also not yet built: markdown/rich text, file attachments, typing indicators, read receipts, and multi-person group chat. See FAQ & Limitations for the full list.

What's in This Guide

Using the Chat Window

Message bubbles, the composer, quick-reply chips, action buttons, inline forms, retry, and the countdown timer.

Quick Start (Developers)

Install the package, import both stylesheets, mount the window, and choose between chat and the classic overlay.

Settings Reference

Every field on HilChatWindowSettings — filtering, endpoints, visibility toggles, theming, mount, and window controls.

Custom Renderers

Two ways to override how a message kind renders — a settings prop, or a React context provider.

Mount Modes & Theming

Floating overlay, docked into your own layout, or inline — plus the CSS variables that control its look.

FAQ & Limitations

Common questions, common setup mistakes, and an explicit list of what isn't built yet.
Next: Using the Chat Window →