Olark

Promptfree, for everyone, and the only version there is

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Build me the live chat widget that replaces Olark.

This is genuinely small. The details below are the ones that decide whether it is pleasant or awful to use, on both sides.

STACK
- Node 20+ with Fastify, server-rendered HTML
- SQLite through better-sqlite3, WAL mode, FTS5 over transcripts
- Server-sent events from server to browser, plain POST the other way — **no WebSocket needed**, and this survives proxies that break them
- Caddy in front

THE DATA MODEL
- conversations: id, visitor_hash, page, referrer, started_at, ended_at, agent_id, status, rating
- messages: id, conversation_id, author_kind, author_id, body, at, read_at
- agents: id, name, is_online, last_seen_at
- canned: id, shortcut, body
- offline_messages: id, email, body, page, at

THE WIDGET
- Under 20KB, loaded after the page, never blocking. Inside a shadow root
- Reconnect with backoff when the connection drops, and keep unsent messages in local storage so a reload does not lose what somebody typed
- **Accessible: reachable by keyboard, a labelled region, focus managed, and new messages announced to a screen reader.** Almost no commercial chat widget does this properly, and it is the cheapest way to be better than the thing you are replacing
- prefers-reduced-motion respected, and no sound by default

THE VISITOR EXPERIENCE
- Show whether anybody is actually there. If nobody is, say so and take an email instead — **a chat box that looks live and answers in six hours is worse than a contact form**
- Show the queue position or an honest expected wait
- Email the transcript at the end if they want it
- Never open by itself more than once per visit, and remember the dismissal

THE AGENT EXPERIENCE
- A keyboard-first list, unread first, with the visitor's current page and their history beside the conversation
- Canned replies by shortcut, expanded inline and editable before sending
- A claim so two agents do not answer one person, and a transfer with a note
- A visible typing indicator both ways, which costs nothing and changes how the conversation feels

WHAT TO RECORD AND WHAT NOT TO
- Transcripts, page, referrer, and a hashed visitor identity. **Do not record what the visitor types before they send it** — some products do, and it is indefensible
- Retention with a sweeper, stated in the widget, and deletion on request
- Say clearly whether transcripts are stored and for how long

MEASUREMENT
- First response time, resolution time, and the share of conversations that got no answer at all. That last one is the number that matters and the one nobody displays

WHAT MATTERS MOST
Honest availability and a genuinely accessible widget. One respects the visitor's time; the other lets everybody use it.