Standalone Tutorials for EcomAIBridge

Standalone Tutorials for EcomAIBridge

This tutorial guide covers everything you need to know to get the most out of the standalone version

Getting Best Results from EcomAiBridge Standalone Middleware

Welcome to EcomAiBridge Standalone Middleware — the platform-agnostic PHP package that connects any e-commerce store to the world's leading AI models. Unlike the WordPress plugin or OpenCart extension, the standalone version has no dependency on a specific platform. It runs on its own PHP environment alongside your store and connects via REST API, direct MySQL/MariaDB access, or a CSV product feed.

This means it works with WooCommerce, OpenCart, PrestaShop, Magento, custom PHP stores, headless frontends, and any other platform that exposes product data. If you are not on WordPress or OpenCart — or if you need maximum control over your server environment — the standalone middleware is the right installation path for you.

This guide covers every step from uploading the package to reading your analytics dashboard. Follow the steps in order the first time through; return to any section whenever you need a quick reference.

Pro tip: The more completely you fill in every setting, the smarter and more helpful your AI assistant becomes. Skipping fields means your assistant is working with less context — always fill in all fields for best results.

Step 1 — Installation

Installing EcomAiBridge Standalone Middleware is a manual upload process — there is no marketplace installer. You will upload the package to your server and run a one-time setup wizard via your browser. No command line access is required on standard shared hosting; SSH/CLI is optional but supported on VPS and dedicated servers.

Server Prerequisites

  • PHP: 7.4 or later (PHP 8.x strongly recommended)
  • MySQL / MariaDB: 5.7 or later
  • cURL: Enabled (required for AI API communication)
  • PDO PHP Extension: Enabled (for database connectivity)
  • HTTPS: Your server must serve pages over HTTPS
  • Writable directory: The middleware folder must be writable by the web server user (e.g. www-data) for config file generation
  • Hosting type: Works on shared hosting, VPS, Docker containers, and dedicated servers. No Node.js, no Composer, no special runtime required.

Installation — Step by Step

  1. Download the ecomaibridge-standalone.zip package from your purchase confirmation email or your account dashboard on the EcomAiBridge Standalone page.
  2. Extract the zip on your local machine. You will see a folder named ecomaibridge containing the full middleware application.
  3. Upload the entire ecomaibridge folder to your web server using FTP (FileZilla, Cyberduck) or your hosting control panel's File Manager. Choose a location such as:
    • https://yourstore.com/ecomaibridge/ — as a subdirectory of your store
    • https://ai.yourstore.com/ — as a subdomain (recommended for cleaner URLs)
    • A completely separate domain if you are managing multiple stores
  4. In your hosting control panel (cPanel / Plesk), create a new MySQL database and database user for the middleware. Note down the:
    • Database host (usually localhost)
    • Database name
    • Database username
    • Database password
  5. Open a browser and navigate to the URL where you uploaded the middleware, followed by /install/ — for example: https://yourstore.com/ecomaibridge/install/. The setup wizard will launch.
  6. Follow the setup wizard steps:
    1. Database Connection: Enter the database credentials created in step 4. Click Test Connection to verify. Once confirmed, click Install Database — the wizard creates all required tables automatically.
    2. Admin Account: Create your middleware admin username and a strong password. This is separate from your store's admin account.
    3. Store Connection: Choose your store platform and supply the connection details (see Step 2 — Settings & Configuration below for platform-specific guidance).
    4. Complete: The wizard confirms installation is complete and redirects you to the EcomAiBridge admin dashboard.
  7. Delete or rename the /install/ folder after setup is complete — leaving it accessible is a security risk. Most FTP clients allow you to delete the folder directly; on cPanel use File Manager.

Verify the Installation

Navigate to your middleware admin URL (e.g. https://yourstore.com/ecomaibridge/admin/) and log in with the credentials you created in the wizard. You should see the EcomAiBridge dashboard with a setup checklist. If the page returns a blank screen or 500 error, check that the ecomaibridge folder is writable by the web server user and that all PHP prerequisites are met.

Step 2 — Settings & Configuration

The Settings screen is the engine room of EcomAiBridge. This is where you connect the middleware to your chosen AI provider and to your store's product data source.

AI Provider & API Key

  1. Go to EcomAiBridge Admin → Settings → AI Provider.
  2. Select your AI model from the dropdown. Supported providers include Groq (free tier available), OpenAI (GPT-4o, GPT-4o mini), Anthropic (Claude Haiku, Claude Sonnet), Gemini, DeepSeek, Mistral, OpenRouter, and GLM. Any OpenAI-compatible custom endpoint is also supported.
  3. Paste your API key into the API Key field. Your key is stored in your middleware database and in the encrypted config.php file — it is never transmitted to third parties other than your chosen AI provider.
  4. Click Test Connection to confirm the key is valid and the API is reachable from your server. A green Connection Successful badge confirms everything is working.

Which model should I choose? Groq offers a generous free API tier and is the fastest option — a great starting point with no cost. For richer, more nuanced responses, use GPT-4o mini or Claude Haiku. Upgrade to GPT-4o or Claude Sonnet for technically complex product catalogues. The standalone middleware lets you switch providers at any time without changing any store-side code.

Sync Settings

  • Sync Frequency: For database and REST API connections, set how often the middleware refreshes its product cache. Recommended: Every 6 Hours for most stores. Select Every Hour if your inventory changes frequently (flash sales, live stock).
  • Product Limit per AI Request: The number of products included in each AI context window. Default of 50 products covers most stores efficiently.
  • Include Product Attributes: Enable to pass extended product attributes (size, colour, material, compatibility) to the AI — strongly recommended for fashion, electronics, and technical stores.

Chat Widget Embed Code

Unlike the WordPress plugin or OpenCart extension, the standalone middleware does not auto-inject the chat widget into your store's theme. You need to paste a small embed snippet into your store's footer template file. The embed code is shown in Settings → Chat Widget → Embed Code — it is a single <script> tag that loads the widget asynchronously and does not affect your store's page load performance.

Where to paste the embed code: In WooCommerce, add it to your theme's footer.php. In OpenCart, add it to your template's footer.twig or footer.tpl. In PrestaShop, add it via the Custom HTML block module. In custom PHP stores, paste it just before the closing </body> tag.

General Settings Checklist

  • ☑ AI provider selected and API key saved
  • ☑ Connection test passed (green badge)
  • ☑ Store data source connected (database / REST API / CSV)
  • ☑ First product sync completed successfully
  • ☑ Chat widget embed code pasted into store footer

Step 3 — AI Chat Widget

The chat widget is the floating button and conversation panel your customers see and interact with. EcomAiBridge Standalone gives you full control over its appearance, position, and behaviour from the middleware admin dashboard. Changes take effect the next time a customer loads a page with the embed code — no re-pasting of the embed code is needed.

Enabling the Widget

  1. Navigate to EcomAiBridge Admin → Chat Widget.
  2. Toggle Enable Chat Widget to On.
  3. The widget will appear on all pages where the embed code is present. To limit it to specific pages, use the Page Filter option — enter URL path patterns (e.g. /product/, /shop/) to restrict widget display to matching pages only.

Appearance Customisation

  • Widget Position: Bottom-right (default) or Bottom-left. Choose bottom-left if another script (e.g. a cookie notice or live chat tool) already occupies the bottom-right corner.
  • Brand Colour: Set the primary colour of the widget button and the chat header to match your store's brand palette. Enter a hex code (e.g. #6366f1) or use the colour picker.
  • Widget Button Icon: Choose from the built-in icon set (chat bubble, robot, sparkle, headset) or upload a custom SVG icon.
  • Widget Title: The heading shown in the open chat panel (e.g. "Ask Our AI Assistant" or your store name). Keep it short — under 30 characters looks best on mobile.
  • Welcome Message: The first message the assistant sends when a customer opens the chat. Make it friendly and action-oriented, for example: "Hi! I'm here to help you find the perfect product. What are you looking for today?"
  • Placeholder Text: The greyed-out text inside the input box. Use something inviting like "Type a question or describe what you need…"

Preview & Save

Use the Live Preview panel on the right side of the Chat Widget screen to see your changes in real time before saving. Once satisfied, click Save Widget Settings. Changes are applied immediately to all pages carrying the embed code — no code re-paste required.

Step 4 — License Key

EcomAiBridge Standalone Middleware uses a licence key to unlock Pro features and to receive software updates. Without an active licence, the middleware runs in Free mode — the core chat widget, product API, MCP Server, REST API, and AI Discovery Chain are all available in the free tier.

Free Version — What's Included

The free version activates immediately after the setup wizard completes. No registration, no key, no credit card is required for:

  • AI Chat Widget (basic configuration)
  • Product REST API & MCP Server endpoint
  • AI Discovery Chain (llms.txt, ai-plugin.json, openapi.yaml)
  • Direct database, REST API, and CSV product data sources
  • 8 AI Provider integrations including Groq (free)

Activating Your Pro Licence

  1. Locate your licence key in the purchase confirmation email or in the My Licences section of your EcomAiBridge account at ecomaibridge.com.
  2. In the middleware admin, go to Settings → Licence.
  3. Paste your licence key (format: EAIB-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX) into the Licence Key field.
  4. Click Activate Licence. The middleware will contact our licence server to validate the key.
  5. A green Licence Active badge with your plan name and expiry date confirms successful activation. The full Pro admin dashboard — including analytics, AI Personality, extended FAQ Builder, and advanced behaviour controls — unlocks immediately.

Licence Limits & Environments

  • Each licence key covers a specific number of active site activations as defined by your plan (e.g. 1-site, 3-site, or unlimited).
  • If you need to move the middleware to a different server or domain, go to Licence → Deactivate on the old installation first, then activate on the new server using the same key.
  • For local development or staging environments, activations on localhost, 127.0.0.1, or domains containing staging, dev, or test are not counted against your licence limit.

Software Updates

With an active Pro licence, update notifications appear inside the middleware admin dashboard. Click Download Update, upload the new package via the built-in updater at Settings → Updates, and the upgrade runs automatically — your configuration data and analytics history are preserved. We recommend keeping the middleware up to date to receive the latest AI model integrations, security patches, and feature improvements.

Step 5 — Business Info

The Business Info section is one of the most important — and most commonly under-filled — screens in the middleware. The information you enter here is automatically injected into every AI conversation as background context. The more detail you provide, the more accurate, confident, and on-brand your assistant's answers will be.

Core Fields

  • Store Name: Your trading name as it should appear in customer-facing responses. Example: TechZone Store. Enter this exactly as your customers know it.
  • Store Tagline: A one-sentence description of what your store sells and for whom. Example: "Affordable electronics and smart home gadgets — shipped across South Asia." This helps the AI stay on-topic and gives it quick context for ambiguous questions.
  • Store URL: Your live storefront URL — used by the AI when directing customers to product pages or the store homepage.
  • Contact Email: The support email address the assistant should direct customers to when it cannot answer a question.
  • Contact Phone: Optional but recommended for stores with a customer service line.
  • Physical Address: Include this if you have a showroom, physical store, or local pickup options — the AI will use it to answer location-based queries.

Store Policies

These fields are critical. Fill in every one — the AI uses this data to answer the questions customers ask most frequently, without any human involvement.

  • Returns & Refunds Policy: Paste a plain-text summary of your return window, conditions, and process. Even 3–4 sentences is far better than leaving this blank. Example: "We accept returns within 30 days of purchase. Items must be unused and in original packaging. Refunds are processed within 5 business days to the original payment method."
  • Shipping Policy: Delivery timelines, carriers used, free shipping threshold, international shipping availability. Example: "Free standard shipping on all orders over ₹1,500. Express delivery available at checkout. We ship to India and 12 international destinations."
  • Warranty / Guarantee: If you offer any product warranties or satisfaction guarantees, describe them here.
  • Other Store Policies: Any additional policies relevant to your store — exchange guidelines, pre-order terms, age restrictions, custom order lead times, etc.

Why This Matters

Without store policy data, your AI assistant will either refuse to answer policy questions (frustrating customers) or will guess (dangerous and potentially misleading). With complete policies entered, the assistant can confidently answer "What's your return policy?" in a natural, conversational way — saving you support emails and giving customers the confidence to purchase.

Step 6 — AI Personality

The AI Personality settings define how your assistant speaks — its tone, style, language, and the role it plays within your brand. A well-configured personality makes your chatbot feel like a natural extension of your store rather than a generic robot.

Assistant Name

Give your assistant a name that fits your brand. Customers are more likely to engage with a named assistant than one that introduces itself as "the AI." Examples: Luna for a fashion boutique, Max for a tech accessories store, Aria for a wellness brand. The assistant will use this name in its opening greeting and when referring to itself.

Tone of Voice

Select the communication style that best reflects your brand from the preset options, or choose Custom to write your own tone description:

  • Friendly & Casual — Warm, approachable, uses contractions and light humour. Best for lifestyle, fashion, home décor, and gifting stores.
  • Professional & Helpful — Clear, efficient, respectful. Best for B2B, electronics, office supplies, and professional services.
  • Enthusiastic & Energetic — High-energy, motivational, uses exclamations. Best for sports, fitness, and outdoor gear stores.
  • Caring & Empathetic — Gentle, understanding, patient. Best for health, wellness, baby, and pet stores.

Language & Localisation

  • Primary Language: The language your assistant should default to. Supports English, Hindi, Bahasa Indonesia, Arabic, Spanish, French, and all major languages supported by your chosen AI model.
  • Auto-detect Customer Language: When enabled, the assistant detects the language of the customer's first message and responds accordingly — ideal for stores with international traffic.
  • Currency Display: Specify your currency symbol and format (e.g. ₹1,499 vs INR 1499) so the assistant formats prices consistently in chat responses.

Response Length

  • Concise — Under 80 words per response. Good for quick product lookups and simple questions.
  • Balanced — 80–150 words. The default. Strikes the right balance for most queries.
  • Detailed — Up to 300 words. Use for stores with technically complex products (electronics, tools, supplement stacks) where thorough explanations drive conversions.

Custom System Prompt (Advanced)

If you have specific instructions that do not fit the preset options, the Custom System Prompt field lets you add free-form instructions that are prepended to every AI conversation. Use this for things like:

  • "Always mention our current sale (20% off sitewide) when recommending products."
  • "Never recommend competitor products under any circumstances."
  • "If a customer asks for a product we don't carry, suggest the closest alternative we have and explain why it is a good substitute."
  • "Always end responses with a call to action: invite the customer to add to cart or visit the product page."

Keep custom prompt additions focused and concise — overly long system prompts can reduce response quality and increase your API costs.

Step 7 — Behavior & FAQ

The Behavior & FAQ section gives you fine-grained control over what your assistant can and cannot do, and lets you pre-load answers to your most frequently asked questions for instant, reliable responses.

Behaviour Controls

  • Allow Product Recommendations: Toggle on to allow the AI to proactively suggest products based on what the customer describes, even if they haven't asked for a recommendation. Highly recommended — this is one of the biggest conversion drivers.
  • Allow Upsells & Cross-sells: When enabled, the assistant may suggest complementary products during a recommendation conversation. Control the behaviour further by specifying a maximum of 1, 2, or 3 additional suggestions per turn.
  • Out-of-Stock Handling: Choose what the assistant does when a customer asks about an out-of-stock product:
    • Suggest alternatives — recommends in-stock similar products (recommended)
    • Notify and offer back-in-stock alert — collects customer email for follow-up
    • State unavailability only — does not recommend alternatives
  • Scope Boundary: Define what happens when a customer asks a question completely outside your store's scope. Options:
    • Politely redirect to products (default and recommended)
    • Politely decline and offer contact info
    • Answer briefly then redirect

FAQ Builder

The FAQ Builder is one of EcomAiBridge's most powerful tools. Pre-loaded question and answer pairs are given priority over the AI's general reasoning — so for your store's most critical questions, you get guaranteed, word-perfect answers every time.

How to add an FAQ entry:

  1. Click Add FAQ Entry.
  2. In the Question field, write the question as a customer would ask it naturally. Example: "What payment methods do you accept?"
  3. In the Answer field, write the full, customer-facing answer. Example: "We accept Visa, Mastercard, UPI, and net banking. All payments are processed securely through our payment gateway."
  4. Add synonyms or alternate phrasings in the Trigger Phrases field to help the AI recognise variations of the same question: "payment options, how to pay, accepted cards, payment methods".
  5. Click Save Entry.

Recommended FAQ categories to cover:

  • Shipping & delivery timelines
  • Return / exchange process
  • Payment methods accepted
  • Size guides and fit advice
  • Discount codes and loyalty programmes
  • Order tracking
  • Gift wrapping / special packaging
  • Product care and maintenance
  • Wholesale / bulk pricing enquiries
  • Custom or personalised orders

Aim to add at least 10–20 FAQ entries at launch. The more you add, the more reliably your assistant handles real customer questions without falling back on generic AI reasoning.

Step 8 — Analytics

The EcomAiBridge Analytics dashboard gives you insight into how your AI assistant is performing — which questions it handles well, where customers are dropping off, and how chat interactions translate into conversions. Use this data to continuously improve your configuration.

Key Metrics Explained

  • Total Conversations: The total number of chat sessions initiated during the selected period. A growing trend here indicates strong widget discoverability and customer curiosity. If this is low, consider changing your widget button label or welcome message to be more inviting.
  • Messages per Conversation (Depth): The average number of exchanges per chat session. A depth of 3+ is healthy and suggests the assistant is holding customer attention. A depth of 1 (one message in, one out) may indicate the first response is not satisfying or engaging enough.
  • Resolution Rate: The percentage of conversations where the customer's question was successfully answered without escalation. Aim for 70%+ at launch, improving toward 85%+ as you add FAQ entries and refine your prompt.
  • Escalation Rate: Conversations where the assistant referred the customer to human support or contact. A high escalation rate (above 25%) usually means your FAQ library or store policies are incomplete — review the most common escalation trigger phrases to identify gaps.
  • Catalogue Coverage: The percentage of product recommendations that referenced a product found in your synced catalogue. A low score indicates your product descriptions may be too thin or your sync is failing — check the sync log in Settings → Store Connection.
  • Top Searched Products (Pro): The products and categories most frequently mentioned by customers in chat — invaluable for merchandising decisions.
  • Provider Distribution (Pro): A breakdown of which AI provider handled each request, useful if you are running multiple providers or A/B testing response quality.
  • Request Volume & Response Times (Pro): Total API calls made, average response time per provider, and error rate — useful for monitoring API costs and performance.

Using the Conversation Log

Navigate to Analytics → Conversation Log to review individual chat sessions. Each session shows:

  • Timestamp and session duration
  • Full message transcript (customer + AI)
  • Products mentioned or recommended
  • Session outcome: resolved, escalated, or abandoned
  • AI provider used for the session

Review your conversation log weekly for the first month. Look for:

  • Questions answered incorrectly → Add or improve the relevant FAQ entry or update your store policy fields
  • Questions the AI refused to answer → Likely a scope boundary issue; review your Behavior settings or add a FAQ entry for that topic
  • Recurring questions not in your FAQ → Add them to the FAQ Builder immediately
  • Successful recommendation flows → Note which product categories perform best and ensure those descriptions are as detailed as possible

Analytics Filters

Use the date range filter (last 7 days / 30 days / 90 days / custom) to segment performance over time. Pro plans retain up to 90 days of analytics history.

Exporting Data

Click Export CSV on any analytics table to download the full dataset for use in your own spreadsheets or reporting tools. The conversation log export includes anonymised session IDs, timestamps, message counts, outcomes, products referenced, and AI provider — no personally identifiable customer data is included in exports.

Getting the Most from EcomAiBridge — Summary Checklist

Before you consider your setup complete, run through this final checklist:

  • ☑ Middleware uploaded to server and setup wizard completed
  • ☑ /install/ folder deleted after setup
  • ☑ AI provider connected and connection test passed
  • ☑ Store data source connected and first sync completed
  • ☑ Chat widget embed code pasted into store footer
  • ☑ Chat widget enabled, branded, and positioned correctly
  • ☑ Pro licence activated (if applicable)
  • ☑ All Business Info fields completed — store name, contact details, and all policies
  • ☑ AI Personality configured — name, tone, language, and response length set
  • ☑ Behaviour rules reviewed — recommendations, upsells, escalation triggers enabled
  • ☑ At least 10 FAQ entries added and saved
  • ☑ Analytics reviewed after the first 7 days of live operation

If every item on this checklist is ticked, your EcomAiBridge Standalone Middleware is operating at full capacity. From here, your job is to review analytics weekly, keep your FAQ library growing, and ensure your product descriptions are detailed enough for the AI to make precise, confident recommendations.

Need Help?

If you run into any issues during setup or have questions not covered in this guide:

EcomAiBridge is actively developed and updated. New AI model integrations, data source connectors, and analytics features are released regularly — keep your middleware updated to access the latest improvements.

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