Pre-chat form

What it does

Before a visitor sends their first widget message, you can show a small form asking for their name, email, and any custom fields you've configured. They fill it out, then start chatting. From then on, the conversation is linked to that email so you can keep replying even after they close the tab.

When to use it

Turn it on if:

• Most of your widget traffic is anonymous (marketing site, public docs).
• Your AI or human responses can take more than a minute, so you'll need a way to follow up by email.
• You don't want to lose the visitor when they navigate away mid-conversation.

Turn it off (or use the lighter "collect email when needed" mode) if:

• You want zero friction for first-time visitors and accept the trade-off that some won't come back.
• The widget is on pages where you can identify the visitor through other means.

How it looks

When a visitor opens the widget for the first time, they see a small inline form with name, email, and any custom fields you've added. Submitting starts the chat.

If the same visitor returns later (cookie still set), they don't see the form again. They go straight to chat.

You can configure:

• Pre-chat enabled — show the form before the first message.
• Title and subtitle — copy above the form.
• Custom fields — add typed fields (text, dropdown, etc.) tied to your custom-field schema. See Custom fields.
• Allow skip — let visitors bypass the form and chat anonymously.

Collect email when needed

A lighter mode: skip the upfront form, but ask for email the moment the visitor starts chatting (or before the first reply, depending on configuration). Use this when you want the lowest possible friction for casual visitors but still need an email to follow up if the conversation goes async.

What we do with the data

The email is set as the end user's contact address for the conversation. If we get a hit in Stripe context or HubSpot context on that email, we backfill that data automatically.

We don't ship that email anywhere else. Ochre is not a CRM.

What's next

• Embed the widget: Embedding the widget.
• See widget behavior overall in Chat widget.