=== ChatAxon – AI Sales Assistant & Chatbot for WooCommerce ===
Contributors: chataxon
Tags: woocommerce, ai chatbot, live chat, order tracking, product search
Requires at least: 5.8
Tested up to: 7.1
Requires PHP: 7.4
Stable tag: 1.0.37
License: GPLv2 or later
License URI: https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-2.0.html

AI chat assistant for WooCommerce: semantic product search, in-chat cart, order tracking and 24/7 answers from your own catalog.

== Description ==

**ChatAxon is an AI sales assistant for WooCommerce that answers customer questions, finds the right products, adds them to the cart, and tracks orders — automatically, 24/7, in 50+ languages.**

Most chat plugins give you an empty box and a decision-tree builder to maintain. ChatAxon is different: connect your store and the AI immediately understands your entire product catalog and order data, so it can hold a real conversation about what you sell — no flows to build, no scripts to write.

It's built specifically for e-commerce, with WooCommerce as its deepest integration.

= Included in every plan =

ChatAxon has no feature paywalls — every plan ships with the full AI engine:

* **Semantic product search & discovery** — customers describe what they need in plain language ("a gift for a runner, around €100") and the AI returns the right products from your catalog, even with typos or vague wording. It understands meaning, not just keywords.
* **In-chat add to cart** — the AI adds the right product and variant straight to the WooCommerce cart, so a "yes" doesn't turn into a manual hunt back through the catalog.
* **Order tracking (WIMO)** — "Where is my order?" is answered live from your WooCommerce data, including any custom order statuses, with no human needed.
* **Knowledge base** — reads your FAQ and policy pages with zero setup and answers from them.
* **Multilingual** — replies fluently in 50+ languages, in whatever language the customer writes.
* **Lead capture** — collects customer emails for out-of-stock items and follow-ups.

= Why store owners use it =

* **Recover sales** — answer the pre-purchase question and add the item to the cart at the moment of hesitation, instead of losing the shopper.
* **Cut support time** — order-status and FAQ questions are typically 30–50% of support volume and are handled automatically.
* **Live in minutes** — install the plugin, paste your API key, sync your catalog. No developer required.

= How it works =

1. Create your account at chataxon.com and connect your store.
2. Install this plugin and paste your store API key.
3. Sync your catalog — the AI learns your products and goes live on your storefront.

The chat widget appears on your store automatically. Catalog changes sync in the background, so the AI always knows your current products, prices and stock.

= Plans =

The AI features above are the same on every plan — you upgrade for more conversations, products and stores, never to unlock features:

* **Starter** — up to 5,000 products, 400 AI conversations a month.
* **Pro** — unlimited products, 800 AI conversations a month.
* **Scale** — unlimited products, 2,000 AI conversations a month.
* **Agency** — several stores in one account, 5,000 pooled AI conversations a month, centralized dashboard.

Starter, Pro and Scale come with a 14-day free trial; plans start at $49/month. See https://chataxon.com/pricing for current pricing.

== External services ==

This plugin connects your WordPress site to the ChatAxon service (the AI backend) to power the chat assistant. The plugin does not function without it, because the AI processing, product understanding and conversation handling happen on ChatAxon's servers.

**What is sent, and when:**

* **On widget load:** your site URL and store API key, to load your widget settings.
* **On catalog sync and product changes:** product data (names, descriptions, prices, stock status, categories) so the AI can answer questions about what you sell.
* **During a chat:** the messages a customer types, plus the context needed to answer (e.g. an order number or email the customer provides for order tracking).
* **On a completed order (optional):** order total and reference, used to attribute sales to chat conversations.

Data is sent to the ChatAxon API at https://api.chataxon.com over HTTPS.

This service is provided by ChatAxon. By using the plugin you are connecting to and relying on this third-party service. Please review:

* Terms of Service: https://chataxon.com/terms
* Privacy Policy: https://chataxon.com/privacy
* Data Processing Addendum: https://chataxon.com/dpa

== Frequently Asked Questions ==

= Do I need a ChatAxon account? =

Yes. The plugin connects your WooCommerce store to the ChatAxon AI service. Starter, Pro and Scale come with a 14-day free trial; plans start at $49/month — see https://chataxon.com/pricing.

= Does it require WooCommerce? =

Yes. ChatAxon is built for WooCommerce stores and uses your WooCommerce catalog and order data. It requires WooCommerce 6.0 or higher.

= Will it slow down my store? =

No. The chat widget loads asynchronously and does not block your pages. Product understanding and AI processing happen on ChatAxon's servers, not on your hosting. The widget script is excluded from caching/minification pipelines to guarantee consistent behaviour with no impact on your Core Web Vitals.

= How does order tracking work? =

When a customer asks about an order, the AI asks for the order number and the email used on the order, and looks up the live status in your WooCommerce data. It reveals nothing unless both match, and it translates custom order statuses into plain language.

= Do I have to build chatbot flows? =

No. There are no decision trees or flows to build or maintain. The AI adapts to your catalog automatically, including when you add or change products.

= Is my data secure? =

Data is transmitted over HTTPS and used to power your assistant. The AI answers only from your actual catalog and store pages (retrieval-augmented generation) — it does not invent information. See the External Services section above and the ChatAxon Privacy Policy for details.

= Where is the source code for the compiled JavaScript? =

The plugin ships human-readable source for both bundles: the chat widget (`assets/widget.js`) is built from `frontend/src` with Vite, and the admin screen (`assets/admin-bundle.js`) from `source/admin` (entry `src/wp-admin.tsx`, `vite build --mode wp`).

== Installation ==

1. Create your ChatAxon account at chataxon.com and copy your store API key.
2. In WordPress, go to **Plugins → Add New**, upload the plugin, and click **Activate**.
3. Go to **ChatAxon → Settings**, paste your API key, and save.
4. Click **Sync Products** to let the AI learn your catalog.
5. The chat widget appears on your storefront automatically. Test it in an incognito window.

== Screenshots ==

1. The AI chat widget answering a product question on a WooCommerce storefront.
2. Live order tracking ("Where is my order?") pulled from WooCommerce data.
3. Semantic product search returning relevant products from a plain-language request.
4. The plugin settings screen in WordPress admin.

== Changelog ==

= 1.0.37 =
* First public release on WordPress.org: AI chat assistant for WooCommerce with semantic product search, in-chat add to cart, order tracking, knowledge base, multilingual replies and lead capture.
* Product cards show the original price struck through when a product is on sale.
* "Restricted" visibility mode: show the assistant only to the IP addresses you test from, set in your ChatAxon dashboard.
* Knowledge base reads pages built with Elementor, Bricks, Oxygen, WPBakery and Divi.
* Cart, checkout, account and shop pages are kept out of the knowledge base.
* Works with LiteSpeed Cache and themes that hide empty elements.

== Upgrade Notice ==

= 1.0.37 =
First public release of ChatAxon on WordPress.org.
