Constructor.io AI Product Insights Agent UI Library

A UI library that provides React components to manage the fetching and rendering logic for Constructor.io's AI Product Insights Agent. TypeScript support is available.

Table of Contents

• Overview
• Installation
• Usage
• Customization
• Troubleshooting
• Local Development
• Publishing New Versions
• Supporting Docs
• Related Libraries
• License

Overview

Constructor.io's AI Product Insights Agent is an NLP chatbot embedded in product detail pages, designed to answer key technical product questions essential for final purchase decisions. This UI library simplifies the integration process by providing React components that handle the fetching and rendering logic for the AI Product Insights Agent.

Our Storybook Docs are the best place to explore the behavior and the available configuration options for this UI library.

Installation

npm i @constructor-io/constructorio-ui-pia

Prerequisites

• Node.js >= 20
• React >= 16.12.0
• React DOM >= 16.12.0

Usage

Using the React Component

The CioPia component handles state management, data fetching, and rendering logic for the AI Product Insights Agent.

import CioPia from '@constructor-io/constructorio-ui-pia';
import '@constructor-io/constructorio-ui-pia/styles.css';

function YourComponent() {
  return <CioPia apiKey='YOUR_API_KEY' itemId='PRODUCT_ITEM_ID' />;
}

Display Modes

The component supports multiple display modes via the displayConfigs prop:

// Default inline mode
<CioPia apiKey='YOUR_API_KEY' itemId='PRODUCT_ITEM_ID' />

// Conversation mode with chat history
<CioPia
  apiKey='YOUR_API_KEY'
  itemId='PRODUCT_ITEM_ID'
  displayConfigs={{ mode: 'conversation' }}
/>

// Modal mode
<CioPia
  apiKey='YOUR_API_KEY'
  itemId='PRODUCT_ITEM_ID'
  displayConfigs={{ type: 'modal' }}
/>

A/B Testing

Attach test cells to PIA tracking events, and track the control group without showing the widget:

// Test arm: the widget renders, events carry ef-constructorio=variant_a
<CioPia
  apiKey="key_XXXXXXXX"
  itemId={itemId}
  itemName={itemName}
  abTest={{ testCells: { constructorio: 'variant_a', your_other_test: 'variant_b' }, isControl: false }}
/>

// Control arm: nothing visible renders, but the view event still fires with the control cell
<CioPia
  apiKey="key_XXXXXXXX"
  itemId={itemId}
  itemName={itemName}
  abTest={{ testCells: { constructorio: 'control' }, isControl: true }}
/>

Mount CioPia on every PDP and switch isControl per shopper — no placeholder markup of your own is required.

testCells is { [testName]: cellName }, and both halves are yours: the keys are your own test names, not values Constructor defines. Each entry is sent as its own ef-<testName> parameter, so a shopper in several concurrent tests carries every cell. Empty or non-string values are dropped, so a cell read from a global that resolves to undefined is simply not sent.

Both arms fire the same product_insights_agent.view event through the same viewport tracking, so the control group is measured the same way as the test group.

If you supply your own cioClient, that client owns its own options: set testCells there instead, as a ConstructorIOClient constructor option. abTest.testCells is ignored in that case, and passing both logs a warning rather than dropping the value silently.

isControl is required. Stating the arm per shopper is the one thing only you can know, and omitting it would quietly put everyone in the test arm with no control group to compare against.

Configuration Options

| Prop | Type | Description | | ---------------------------- | ---------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | apiKey | string | Your Constructor.io API key (required) | | itemId | string | The product item ID (required) | | variationId | string | Optional variation ID | | threadId | string | Optional thread ID for conversation context (must be a valid UUID) | | initialConversationHistory | ConversationEntry[] | A conversation you manage, shown before the first question and read once on mount. Conversation and modal modes only (see Restoring a conversation) | | persistConversation | { enabled: boolean } | Off by default. Keeps each product's conversation in the browser across page loads. Conversation and modal modes only (see the Persistent Conversations Guide) | | userId | string \| null | Whose persisted conversations these are: the signed-in shopper's id, or null for a guest. Change it on login and logout | | displayConfigs | object | Display configuration options (see below) | | trackingConfigs | object | Tracking configuration options (see below) | | callbacks | object | Callback handlers for user interactions | | translations | object | UI string translations for internationalization | | componentOverrides | object | Custom component overrides | | abTest | object | A/B test configuration — test cells for tracking, and a control-group placeholder (see below) |

Display Configs:

| Option | Type | Default | Description | | ------------------- | -------------------------------------------------- | ----------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | mode | 'default' \| 'conversation' \| 'recommendations' | 'default' | Display mode. 'recommendations' is accepted by the type but not yet available — it renders nothing. | | type | 'inline' \| 'modal' | 'inline' | Component type | | showFeedback | boolean | false | Show feedback controls on answers | | showPreviousItems | boolean | true | Show product carousels from previous conversation entries | | learnMoreUrl | string | - | URL for the "Learn More" disclaimer link |

Tracking Configs:

| Option | Type | Default | Description | | --------------- | -------- | ------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | | viewThreshold | number | 0.5 | Fraction of the container (0–1) that must be visible before the product_insights_agent.view event fires. Lower it (e.g. 0.01) to have the view event fire on minimal visibility. |

AB Test:

| Option | Type | Default | Description | | ----------- | ------------------------ | -------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | | testCells | Record<string, string> | - | { [testName]: cellName }, each sent as an ef-<testName> tracking parameter. Ignored when you supply your own cioClient. | | isControl | boolean | required | Renders an invisible, tracking-only placeholder instead of the widget, so the control arm still records a view event. Takes precedence over displayConfigs.mode. |

Callbacks:

| Option | Type | Description | | -------------------- | ----------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | onQuestionSubmit | (question: string) => void | Called when a question is submitted (via Enter key, Send button, or suggested question click) | | onProductCardClick | (item: Item) => void | Called when a product card in the carousel is clicked | | onAddToCart | (item: Item, event: React.MouseEvent) => void | Called when the "Add to Cart" button on a product card is clicked. Passing this callback is what renders the button; without it no cart control is shown | | onFeedback | (type: 'up' \| 'down') => void | Called when the user submits positive or negative feedback on an answer |

Restoring a conversation

initialConversationHistory hands the conversation's history to you. Keep it wherever suits you, in the browser or on your own server. In conversation mode onAnswer receives the whole history after every answer, so save it per product along with the thread ID and pass both back to pick the conversation up where it left off:

function ProductQuestions({ itemId }) {
  // Your own loader: from browser storage, your server, or anywhere else.
  const { isLoading, saved } = useSavedConversation(itemId);

  // The history is read once, on mount, so wait for it.
  if (isLoading) return null;

  return (
    <CioPia
      key={itemId}
      apiKey='YOUR_API_KEY'
      itemId={itemId}
      threadId={saved?.threadId}
      initialConversationHistory={saved?.history ?? []}
      displayConfigs={{ mode: 'conversation' }}
      callbacks={{
        onAnswer: (history, context) =>
          saveConversation(context.itemId, { threadId: context.threadId, history }),
      }}
    />
  );
}

• Passing the prop, even as [], means you manage the history. Pass [] when nothing is saved rather than leaving it out.
• The history is read once, on mount: render CioPia after your history has loaded, because a value that arrives later is ignored. Changing itemId clears it, so store it per product and remount with key={itemId} to load the next product's conversation.
• Pass the threadId the entries came from. The agent keeps the thread's context server-side, so history shown under a different thread is a transcript the agent does not remember.
• In type: 'modal' the entries appear in the dialog, which opens when the shopper asks their next question. Closing the modal clears them, as it does a live conversation.
• The suggested questions row shows the product's suggested questions, not the follow-ups from the last restored answer.
• Entries without a string question and answer are skipped with a console warning, and each entry's id is replaced with the widget's own numbering.
• It is ignored in mode: 'default', which shows only the latest answer, in mode: 'recommendations', and for the A/B control group (abTest.isControl).

Using the JavaScript Bundle

This is a framework-agnostic method that can be used in any JavaScript project. The CioPia function provides a simple interface to inject the PIA component into the provided selector.

In addition to PIA component props, this function also accepts selector and includeCSS.

import CioPia from '@constructor-io/constructorio-ui-pia/constructorio-ui-pia-bundled';

CioPia({
  selector: '#pia-container',
  includeCSS: true, // Include the default CSS styles - defaults to true
  apiKey: 'YOUR_API_KEY',
  itemId: 'PRODUCT_ITEM_ID',
  variationId: 'VARIATION_ID',
  // Optional: provide a thread ID to preserve conversation context (must be a valid UUID)
  threadId: '550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440000',
});

Customization

Styling

By default, importing React components from this library does not pull any CSS into your project.

If you wish to use some starter styles from this library, add an import statement similar to the example below:

import '@constructor-io/constructorio-ui-pia/styles.css';

• These starter styles can be used as a foundation to build on top of, or just as a reference for you to replace completely.
• To opt out of all default styling, do not import the styles.css stylesheet.
• All starter styles in this library are scoped within the .cio-pia CSS selector.
• These starter styles are intended to be extended by layering in your own CSS rules.

Note: When using the JavaScript Bundle, CSS is included by default via the includeCSS option (defaults to true).

Translations

All UI strings can be customized via the translations prop for internationalization:

<CioPia
  apiKey='YOUR_API_KEY'
  itemId='PRODUCT_ITEM_ID'
  translations={{
    'Any questions about this product?': 'Have a question about this product?',
    'Ask anything': 'Type your question...',
    Send: 'Submit',
  }}
/>

Component Overrides

You can override individual components using the componentOverrides prop. See our Storybook Docs for available override options.

Troubleshooting

Known Issues

Older JavaScript environments

The library provides two different builds: CommonJS (cjs) and ECMAScript Modules (mjs).

For ECMAScript Modules (mjs) build, the JavaScript version is ESNext which might not be supported by your environment. If that's the case and your environment is using an older JavaScript version like ES6 (ES2015), you may get this error:

Module parse failed: Unexpected token (15:32) You may need an appropriate loader to handle this file type, currently no loaders are configured to process this file

To solve this you can import the CommonJS (cjs) build which supports ES6 (ES2015) syntax:

import CioPia from '@constructor-io/constructorio-ui-pia/cjs'

ESLint

There is a known issue with ESLint where it fails to resolve the paths exposed in the exports statement of NPM packages. If you are receiving the following error, you can safely disable ESLint using // eslint-disable-line for that line.

Unable to resolve path to module '@constructor-io/constructorio-ui-pia/styles.css'

Relevant open issues: Issue 1868, Issue 1810

Local Development

Development Scripts

npm ci                  # Install dependencies for local dev
npm run dev             # Start a local dev server for Storybook
npm run lint            # Run lint
npm run test            # Run tests
npm run check-types     # Run TypeScript type checking

Library Maintenance

npm run compile           # Generate lib folder for publishing to npm
npm run build-storybook   # Generate Storybook static bundle for deploy with GitHub Pages

Publishing New Versions

Dispatch the Publish workflow in GitHub Actions. You're required to provide two arguments:

• Version Strategy: major, minor, or patch.
• Title: A title for the release.

This workflow will automatically:

1. Bump the library version using the provided strategy.
2. Create a new git tag.
3. Create a new GitHub release.
4. Compile the library.
5. Publish the new version to NPM.
6. Deploy the Storybook docs to GitHub Pages.

Note: Please don't manually increase the package.json version or create new git tags.

The library version is tracked by releases and git tags. We intentionally keep the package.json version at 0.0.0 to avoid pushing changes to the main branch. This solves many security concerns by avoiding the need for branch-protection rule exceptions.

New Storybook Version

Dispatch the Deploy Storybook workflow in GitHub Actions.

Note: This is already done automatically when publishing a new version.

Supporting Docs

• Storybook Docs
• Constructor.io API Documentation

Related Libraries

• @constructor-io/constructorio-client-javascript - JavaScript client for Constructor.io API
• @constructor-io/constructorio-ui-autocomplete - Autocomplete UI library
• @constructor-io/constructorio-ui-plp - Product Listing Page UI library
• @constructor-io/constructorio-ui-quizzes - Quizzes UI library

Contributing

1. Fork the repo and create a new branch.
2. Run npm ci to install dependencies.
3. Make your changes.
4. Run npm run lint and npm run test to verify.
5. Submit a PR for review.

License

MIT © Constructor.io Corporation