Identity

Bootstrapware does not authenticate chat end users. Your host app asserts the user from your own session:

<Chat
  user={{ id: "opaque-stable-id", name: "Ada" }}
  authorToken={tokenFromYourBackend}
  // ...
/>

Anonymous chat is not supported. There is no guest composer.

User fields

Field	Required	Notes
id	yes	Opaque and stable for the same person across sessions. Used for membership and unread.
name	no	Display only.
email	no	Display / moderation metadata only, not login.
avatarUrl	no	Display only. http(s) URLs render; otherwise initials. Looked up from `people` then `user`. No avatar column on Hosted members.

Optional people is the host-asserted directory for the picker and titles. It does not change who is allowed to send.

Threat model

Publishable keys (bsw_test_pub_ / bsw_live_pub_) are browser-visible by design. Anyone who can call Hosted widget routes with a leaked publishable key can forge author.id unless you require a signed authorToken. Treat that as a trust boundary:

Restrict allowed origins so random sites cannot call your live Chat API from a browser.
Enable requireAuthorToken on the app and mint tokens server-side with your secret key.
Never put secret keys (bsw_*_sec_) in client bundles or NEXT_PUBLIC_ / VITE_ env vars.
On BYO, enforce authz on your API from the signed-in session. Do not trust the browser-supplied author alone.

authorToken

Mint a short-lived assertion with your Chat secret key, then pass it into the embed:

POST https://chat.bootstrapware.co/api/v1/author-tokens
Authorization: Bearer bsw_live_sec_...
{ "authorId": "user_123", "appId": "cha_...", "expiresInSec": 3600 }

When the published app has requireAuthorToken: true, Hosted writes reject requests without a valid token that matches author.id (and optional appId). If a token is present, it is always verified even when the app does not require one.

What we never are

Not an end-user IdP (no passwords, OAuth, or magic links for chat visitors).
Not a substitute for your product login cookie or session.
Not a channel that makes Hosted content private by default. Plain text and files; you moderate.

Related: Origins · Adapter · Security · Identity guide