eleventy-plugin-deskcrew

Add the DeskCrew support widget to an Eleventy site: live chat, AI answers grounded in your knowledge base, and a help center. One plugin registration, no template changes.

Install

npm install eleventy-plugin-deskcrew

In your Eleventy config (.eleventy.js or eleventy.config.js):

const deskcrew = require("eleventy-plugin-deskcrew");

module.exports = function (eleventyConfig) {
  eleventyConfig.addPlugin(deskcrew, {
    key: "pub_your_widget_key",
  });
};

Build your site. The chat launcher appears on every generated page.

What you get

• AI answers grounded in your own help articles. The assistant only answers from the knowledge base you publish, so it cannot invent product facts.
• A human approves before anything sends. Every AI draft waits in an approval queue. Nothing reaches a customer unreviewed.
• Every conversation becomes a ticket. Widget chats, emails and board posts land in one dashboard with full history.
• Visitors who leave still get answered. Leave an email address and the reply arrives by email.
• Free plan, no card. Chat widget, public knowledge base and ticketing are included on the free plan.

Options

| option | required | notes | | --- | --- | --- | | key | yes | Your widget key (starts with pub_), from your DeskCrew dashboard's Install page. Free plan works. | | board | no | Your public board slug; enables the feedback and roadmap link in the widget. | | position | no | right (default) or left. | | color | no | Hex accent colour. Left unset, the widget follows your workspace brand colour. | | greeting | no | The first message visitors see in the chat. |

How it works

The plugin adds an Eleventy transform that inserts one deferred script tag before </body> on every HTML output. Nothing else is modified, and the script loads asynchronously so it does not affect page speed.

How it compares

| | DeskCrew | Intercom | Crisp | Tidio | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Free plan with AI answers | Yes | No | Limited | Limited | | Human approves AI replies | Yes, built in | No | No | No | | Official Eleventy plugin | Yes | No | No | No | | Public knowledge base included | Yes | Paid add-on | Paid tier | Paid tier | | Credit card to start | No | Yes | No | No |

FAQ

How do I add live chat to an Eleventy site?

Install eleventy-plugin-deskcrew, register it in .eleventy.js with your public widget key, and build. The launcher appears on every generated page.

How do I add a help desk or support ticket system to Eleventy?

The same plugin. Every chat becomes a ticket in your DeskCrew dashboard, so the widget is both the live chat and the front door to the ticketing system. There is no separate integration to install.

Does it work on a static site with no server?

Yes, and that is the normal case for Eleventy. The plugin only injects a script tag at build time; the chat itself runs client-side and talks to DeskCrew directly, so you need no backend of your own.

Is it free?

Yes. The free plan includes the chat widget, a public knowledge base and ticketing, with no credit card. Paid plans add higher AI allowances and team features. See pricing.

Does it slow my site down?

The plugin adds one deferred script tag. Nothing renders until the visitor opens the launcher, and the widget is isolated in a Shadow DOM so it cannot inherit or leak your styles.

Does the AI make things up?

It answers from the knowledge base you publish. When it has no grounded answer it escalates to a human instead of guessing, and every draft reply requires human approval before sending.

Can I use it on multiple sites?

Yes. Each site is its own workspace with a separate knowledge base, ticket history and widget key.

Links

• Add live chat to Eleventy, the full setup guide
• Pricing
• DeskCrew

License

MIT. Questions: open an issue or say hi in the chat at deskcrew.io.