Turn AI chatbots on or off in your widget

Updated May 22, 2026

How on/off controls work

Chatbot controls live at two levels: the chatbot itself (in the Automation dashboard) and the widget it's connected to. You'll usually toggle at the chatbot level — the widget link decides which bots are available to that widget, not whether they're active.

Turn Vex AI on or off

  1. Open the dashboard and go to Automation → AI.
  2. Select the Vex chatbot you want to change.
  3. On the General tab, find the enable/disable toggle at the top.
  4. Switch it off to stop Vex from auto-replying. Visitors can still open the widget and reach a human agent.
  5. Save your changes.

When Vex is disabled the widget falls back to normal live chat — no AI replies, just your human team.

Turn a chatbot workflow on or off

  1. Go to Automation → Custom.
  2. Select the workflow you want to change.
  3. Open the Settings tab.
  4. Toggle the Active switch.
  5. Save. The workflow stops firing immediately for new sessions.

Disconnect a chatbot from one widget only

To keep a chatbot active everywhere else but remove it from a single widget:

  1. Open the chatbot in Automation → AI (or Custom).
  2. On the General tab, find the Widgets list.
  3. Remove the specific widget from the linked-widgets list.
  4. Save. The chatbot stays active for any other widgets it's still connected to.

What happens to active conversations

  • Any conversation currently handled by Vex continues until the visitor leaves — the bot won't start new conversations after you disable it.
  • Workflow conversations that are mid-flow finish their current node, then stop.
  • Visitors can still message your team — live agents receive the chat as normal.

Next step

Before going live, preview your chatbot: Test your chatbots before going live.

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