I have integrated HubSpot’s chat widget into my application and I’m wondering if there’s a method to automatically fill in visitor information without making them type it manually.
Right now my chatbot asks users for their email and name when they begin chatting, but this creates extra steps. Since my application already knows who the logged-in user is, I want to pass this data directly to the HubSpot chat system.
Is it possible to programmatically send user details like email address and display name from my backend to pre-populate the chat session? I’m looking for any API endpoints or JavaScript methods that would allow this kind of integration.
The Contact Properties API gives you way more control over data flow. Skip the frontend JavaScript stuff and make server-side calls to HubSpot’s Contacts API instead. Create or update contact records before users start chatting. When someone logs in, just POST to /contacts/v1/contact/createOrUpdate/email/{email} with their info. The chat widget will recognize returning contacts and auto-fill everything. You get better data consistency since there’s no race between widget loading and ID calls. Yeah, it’s a bit more work to set up, but user data sticks around across chat sessions and plays nice with your existing auth system.
Utilizing HubSpot’s JavaScript API can streamline the process of populating user details in the chat widget. Once the chat widget is successfully loaded using window.HubSpotConversations.widget.load(), you can invoke window.hsConversationsAPI.identifyContact() to send the user data from your backend. Ensure this occurs after the widget has loaded to avoid any issues. I recommend putting the code right after user login, with your data structured to include essential fields such as email and names. Also, manage the timing to prevent calling identify too early, which could result in errors; implementing a slight delay or waiting for the widget to signal readiness is beneficial.
yeah, hubspot’s tracking code works for this too. just add _hsq.push(['identify', {email: '[email protected]', firstname: 'john'}]); before the chat loads and it’ll auto-fill everything. way easier than using the api.
Had this same problem a few months ago with a customer portal integration. The window.hsConversationsSettings object saved me - just pre-configure it before the widget loads. Set it up in your page JavaScript like window.hsConversationsSettings = {identificationEmail: userEmail, identificationToken: userToken}; before the HubSpot script runs. No more timing issues since the widget grabs user context during initialization instead of after. Best part? It skips the initial chat flow completely - users won’t see those annoying input prompts. Just make sure your backend generates proper identification tokens since HubSpot validates them for security.