🥇 Building an AI Agent Chatbot with Invoice Generation Functionality

I. Introduction to the AI Chatbot

Imagine this: You visit a website and instantly encounter a friendly chatbot that greets you with a warm welcome. But this isn’t just any chatbot—it’s one that can schedule meetings, answer complex questions, send invoices, and even follow up on customer queries—all automatically. This level of functionality would typically require advanced coding skills, right? Well, not anymore. With n8n, you can build a fully automated AI chatbot for your website in no time, with zero coding experience required.

In this session, we’ll walk you through creating an intelligent chatbot that acts as your 24/7 digital assistant. Whether you’re looking to streamline customer service, enhance your lead generation process, or send personalized invoices directly to customers, this chatbot will handle it all.

We’ll cover everything step-by-step, from setting up the chatbot on your website to integrating powerful tools like OpenAI for conversation handling, and even how to connect the chatbot to workflows that can automate invoicing or appointment booking.

By the end of this lesson, you’ll have a powerful AI assistant up and running on your site, capable of handling customer interactions without needing constant attention. Get ready to take your website’s user experience to the next level with n8n’s easy-to-use automation platform. Let’s dive in and start building your very own AI-powered chatbot!

In this tutorial, we will be building a chatbot that can interact with website visitors, collect information (like their name and email), and trigger actions like sending invoices or scheduling meetings. This chatbot will be powered by n8n.

What You’ll Build:

• A basic chatbot: It will ask users for their name and email.

• Dynamic functions: For example, it can send an invoice upon request or schedule a call with your team.

• Embedding on your website: The chatbot will be placed on your website to interact with users directly.

II. Setting Up Your Workflow in n8n

1. Create a New Workflow

Open n8n and create a new workflow. We’re going to start by setting up a trigger. In this case, we will use the “On Chat Message” trigger. This trigger will listen for new messages from users on your website.

2. Embed the Chat Widget

To make the chatbot appear on your website, you’ll need to embed the chat widget into your site. This can be done using a simple script from n8n. If you’re using a website builder like WordPress, Wix, or Go HighLevel, you can simply paste the script into a custom code block on your site.

You can find the script by selecting the “Embed” mode in n8n. This will give you the JavaScript code to embed in your website’s code editor.

import '@n8n/chat/style.css';
import { createChat } from '@n8n/chat';

createChat({
	webhookUrl: 'YOUR_PRODUCTION_WEBHOOK_URL'
});

3. Activating the Chat Widget

Once the script is added to your website, go back to your n8n chatbot builder. Save the configuration and mark it as Active. Refresh the page on your website to see the chatbot in action.

III. Setting Up the AI Agent

To respond to users, the chatbot needs an AI agent. In this part, we will set up an AI agent that will communicate with visitors and understand their requests.

1. Add an AI Agent to the Workflow

In your n8n workflow, add an AI agent. This AI will have a chat model, memory, and tools to interact with the user. You will use OpenAI for the model, and the Window Buffer Memory for storing conversation context.

2. Create a System Message

The system message helps the AI understand its role. You can define it like this:

You are an AI chatbot assisting users on a website. Follow these instructions carefully.

###Tools

I

Call the invoice_generator tool to create an invoice. You must have the user's name and email before generating an invoice. Only call this tool if the user asks for you to send it.

###Rules

1. After generating an invoice, make sure to send the invoice back to the user. The invoice_generator tool should provide the link. Here's an example of what the invoice URL looks like:

"https://link.automatable.co/l/030LUQ5CTF"

2. If this is a new conversation, start by asking for the user's name and email, then how you can help them today.

3. Ask for these details separately (i.e., in two different questions).

Appointment Booking

4. If the user wants to book a call or meeting, direct them to:

https://abccompany.com/booking.

5. Only call the invoice_generator tool if the user asks to generate an invoice

3. User Input and Response

Once the user enters a message, the chatbot should respond with a greeting.

For example, after receiving a message, it should say, “Hello! How can I assist you today?” This is the first step in the conversation.

4. Set Expectations for the AI

Tell the AI how to respond. For example, you can say, “Ask for the user’s name and email before proceeding with any actions like sending an invoice.” This will ensure the AI follows the correct flow.

IV. Adding Additional Functionality: Invoice Generator

Now, let’s add a feature that lets users request invoices directly from the chatbot.

1. Invoice Request Handling

When a user asks for an invoice (e.g., “Please send me an invoice”), the AI needs to gather the user’s information (name and email) and trigger an invoice generation process.

2. Creating the Invoice Workflow

This step involves another workflow. This second workflow will handle the invoice generation. Here’s how it works:

• Call the Invoice Workflow: Once the AI collects the user’s name and email, it triggers the second workflow that generates an invoice.

• Pass Information to the Sub-Workflow: The AI will pass the user’s details to this workflow (e.g., name and email) so the invoice can be properly sent to the user.

Name

{{ $fromAI("name", "This is the users name") }}

Email

{{ $fromAI("email", "This is the users email") }}

3. Use Webhooks for Communication

To ensure everything flows smoothly, we use Webhooks. A webhook is a way for n8n to send a signal that one process is complete, which triggers the next step. When the invoice is generated, the webhook sends the data back to the chatbot.

4. Send the Invoice

Once the invoice has been generated, the chatbot sends it directly to the user via email. The user will get an email with a link to view or download the invoice.

V. Final Steps

1. Test the Workflow

After setting everything up, test the chatbot to ensure it responds correctly. For example, type “Hey” to initiate the conversation and then ask it to send an invoice. Make sure it asks for your name and email, and then triggers the invoice process.

2. Review the Process

When the invoice is generated, check your inbox. You should receive an email with the invoice, ready for payment. You can also test other functionalities like booking meetings or answering queries.

VI. Conclusion

In this lesson, we built a fully functional AI chatbot that can interact with website visitors, collect their information, and perform actions like sending invoices. We used n8n to create the workflow, and OpenAI to power the AI interactions. This is just the beginning, as you can easily extend the chatbot to handle other tasks like scheduling calls, generating reports, or handling customer service inquiries.

Key Takeaways:

• You can easily build an AI chatbot using n8n without needing any coding experience.

• The chatbot can perform various tasks, such as generating invoices or scheduling calls.

• Webhooks are a crucial part of ensuring different workflows communicate with each other seamlessly.

• By embedding the chatbot into your website, you can provide automated support to your customers 24/7.

If you are interested in other topics and how AI is transforming different aspects of our lives, or even in making money using AI with more detailed, step-by-step guidance, you can find our other articles here:

• Must-Know Essential AI Agent Functions in n8n for Streamlined Workflows*

• Introduction to n8n: Your All-In-One Automation Solution

• Make vs. n8n – Which One Actually Saves You Time & Money?*

• The Era of AI Agents Has Arrived – What It Means for Jobs and Tech

• AI Agents Are the Future—Here’s How to Build Yours!

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