FAQ Bot Development for Bitrix24 Open Lines

Developing a bot for automatic FAQ responses in Bitrix24

Half of incoming support chat messages are the same questions: 'How do I return an item?', 'Where is my order?', 'What are the delivery terms?'. Operators waste time on routine, and business loses money on unhandled complex requests. An online store with 500 orders per day received 200 inquiries, 80% of which were typical. After implementing a bot, response time dropped from 5 minutes to instant, and operators focused on complex cases. Support cost savings reached 40% in the first month — without loss of quality.

We develop a bot that automatically answers common questions and transfers non-standard ones to a live operator. The solution works directly in Bitrix24 Open Lines — no third-party services. The core is either fast keyword search or semantic RAG on embeddings.

How does the bot connect to Open Lines?

Bitrix24 Open Lines are the main entry point. The bot registers as the first operator of the line. When a client writes to online chat, Telegram, or VK, the message goes to the bot. If the bot answers, the operator is not disturbed. If not, it hands over to a human.

Registration of the bot in Open Lines is done via Bitrix24 REST API:

POST /rest/imopenlines.bot.register
{
  "CODE": "faq_bot",
  "EVENT_HANDLER": "https://your-server.com/openline/event",
  "OPENLINE": "Y"
}

— source: REST API documentation

How does the bot determine what to answer? Two approaches to matching questions

Approach 1: Keyword search

Questions and keywords are stored in a database; the bot looks for matches in the message text. Simple to implement, easy to maintain. Ideal for 50–200 common questions.

CREATE TABLE custom_faq_entries (
    id          SERIAL PRIMARY KEY,
    question    TEXT NOT NULL,
    answer      TEXT NOT NULL,
    keywords    TEXT NOT NULL,
    category    VARCHAR(100),
    hits        INT DEFAULT 0,
    is_active   TINYINT DEFAULT 1
);

function findFaqAnswer(string $userMessage): ?array {
    $words = array_filter(explode(' ', mb_strtolower($userMessage)));
    $results = [];

    $faqs = getFaqEntries();
    foreach ($faqs as $faq) {
        $keywords = explode(',', mb_strtolower($faq['keywords']));
        $score = 0;
        foreach ($keywords as $kw) {
            $kw = trim($kw);
            if ($kw && (mb_stripos($userMessage, $kw) !== false)) {
                $score += mb_strlen($kw);
            }
        }
        if ($score > 0) {
            $results[] = ['faq' => $faq, 'score' => $score];
        }
    }

    if (empty($results)) return null;
    usort($results, fn($a, $b) => $b['score'] <=> $a['score']);
    return $results[0]['faq'];
}

Approach 2: Vector search (RAG)

Questions are indexed as embeddings (OpenAI text-embedding-3-small, Yandex GPT Embeddings). When a new question arrives, nearest neighbors are searched in a vector DB (pgvector, Qdrant). Works on semantically similar phrasings without exact word match.

Choice: For 50–200 FAQs keyword search suffices. For a large knowledge base with varied phrasings — RAG. RAG handles synonyms and typos better but requires model setup.

Examples of typical questions and bot answers

Real scenarios from an online store:

The bot successfully closes 60–70% of inquiries without operator involvement.

Requirements for integration and preliminary setup

For successful launch of the FAQ bot:

• Access to Bitrix24 REST API — requires Admin account and OAuth token generation.
• HTTPS server to receive webhooks from Open Lines (critical, B24 only works over secure protocol).
• FAQ storage — SQL database (PostgreSQL, MySQL) or CMS-specific (e.g., module in 1C-Bitrix).
• For RAG — subscription to OpenAI API, Yandex GPT Embeddings, or local model (e.g., nomic-embed-text).
• Monitoring system — logging of message processing errors, tracking missed questions.

Handling an event in Open Line

$event = json_decode(file_get_contents('php://input'), true);

if ($event['event'] === 'ONIMBOTMESSAGEADD') {
    $sessionId = $event['data']['PARAMS']['SESSION_ID'];
    $dialogId  = $event['data']['PARAMS']['DIALOG_ID'];
    $text      = $event['data']['PARAMS']['MESSAGE'];
    $chatId    = $event['data']['PARAMS']['CHAT_ID'];

    $faq = findFaqAnswer($text);

    if ($faq) {
        $b24->callMethod('imopenlines.session.message.send', [
            'SESSION_ID' => $sessionId,
            'MESSAGE'    => $faq['answer'],
        ]);
        incrementFaqHits($faq['id']);
        $b24->callMethod('imopenlines.session.close', ['SESSION_ID' => $sessionId]);
    } else {
        $b24->callMethod('imopenlines.session.transfer', [
            'SESSION_ID' => $sessionId,
            'QUEUE_ID'   => 1,
        ]);
        $b24->callMethod('imopenlines.session.message.send', [
            'SESSION_ID' => $sessionId,
            'MESSAGE'    => 'Connecting you with a manager, please wait...',
        ]);
    }
}

Escalation logic and transfer to operator

The bot transfers the conversation to an operator based on several criteria:

• Low confidence — match score below threshold (e.g., <0.7 for RAG or <5 for keyword).
• Explicit complaint request — if the client uses words like 'complaint', 'claim', 'didn't work'.
• Complex question — the message contains multiple topics simultaneously.
• Personal data — request for password, bank details (bot should decline and transfer to operator).
• Timeout — if conversation with client lasts >3 turns, bot offers a manager.

Clarifying questions

If multiple matches exist, the bot shows options:

if (count($topResults) > 1 && $topResults[0]['score'] < 10) {
    $options = array_slice($topResults, 0, 3);
    $message = "Please clarify what interests you:\n";
    foreach ($options as $i => $r) {
        $message .= ($i + 1) . ". {$r['faq']['question']}\n";
    }
    $message .= "0. Other (connect manager)";
    $redis->set("faq_choice:{$sessionId}", json_encode($options), 300);
}

Administrative interface for FAQ database management

Content managers must manage FAQ without editing code. We develop an admin section in /bitrix/admin/ or as a Bitrix24 app:

• CRUD for questions and answers.
• Categories (Delivery, Payment, Returns, Technical questions).
• Statistics: how many times a question was closed by bot (hits), how many transferred to operators.
• View sessions where the bot didn't find an answer — priority for database expansion.

Want to reduce support load? Get a consultation for your project — we'll assess the architecture and suggest the optimal approach.

Why analytics matters?

Analytics shows the bot's real impact. Without it, you can't know which questions the bot handles well and which need improvement.

To evaluate effectiveness, we calculate the percentage of automatically closed sessions. Target auto-close rate for a mature FAQ database is 60–70%. Our clients achieve this within 2–3 weeks after launch.

Monitoring and continuous improvement

After launch, the bot requires regular maintenance:

• Weekly analysis of missed questions — review sessions transferred to operator, identify gaps in FAQ database.
• Update keywords (for keyword search) or retrain embeddings (for RAG) based on new questions.
• A/B testing of answers — which phrasings lead to fewer follow-up questions from clients.
• Response time monitoring — analyze delays in message forwarding and identify bottlenecks.

The tool automatically suggests entries to add to FAQ if the same unrecognized word appears more than 10 times per week.

What's included

• Registration and configuration of the bot in Bitrix24 Open Lines.
• Design of FAQ database structure (keywords or embeddings).
• Development of logic: answer search, transfer to operator, clarifying questions.
• Creation of administrative interface for database management.
• Implementation of analytics and reports (auto-close rate, popular questions).
• Populating database with typical questions (up to 100 entries) and testing.
• Operations documentation and training for content manager.

Timeline and experience

We have over 5 years of hands-on experience and have delivered 50+ projects on Bitrix24. We work with 1C-Bitrix and Bitrix24 from the start.

Total: 1.5–2.5 weeks excluding database population. Population is a separate task depending on documentation volume.

Order development now

We'll assess your project in one day. Tell us about your typical questions — we'll choose the optimal approach. Contact us via the form on the website or write to Telegram. Get a consultation right now.

1C-Bitrix Module Development and Setup

The main trap of Bitrix is init.php. You add an OnBeforeIBlockElementUpdate handler there, then another one — a year later the file is 2000 lines, and on every hit all that code executes. We move business logic into full-fledged modules with D7 ORM, custom tables, and administrative interface. The module can be disabled, transferred to another project, covered with tests — none of that is possible with init.php. Our team has 10+ years of Bitrix experience, certified specialists, and a 6-month code guarantee. Request a consultation — we'll explain how to migrate legacy code to a modular architecture.

Why is init.php the worst place for business logic?

Init.php does not support class autoloading, lacks an isolated namespace, cannot be unit tested, and cannot be disabled without editing the file itself. Every handler written there runs on every request, even if not needed. In a module, you register handlers through EventManager, and they only execute when the event occurs. Performance difference: up to 3x with 10+ handlers.

Standard Modules: Typical Problems and Solutions

Information blocks. IBlock architecture is the first thing we review on any project. A classic mistake: one catalog infoblock with 80 properties, 30 of which are multiple. The b_iblock_element_property table swells to millions of rows, and CIBlockElement::GetList with filtering on three properties does a full scan. We move reference data to Highload-blocks, eliminate multiple properties where possible, and design the structure for 5x growth.

e-Store (sale). Cart business rules are a separate story. We set discount priorities to prevent two campaigns from giving 60% instead of 30%, connect payment handlers, and write custom validation via OnSaleOrderBeforeSaved.

Search. The built-in search module with morphology works up to 10–15 thousand elements. Beyond that — Elasticsearch. We configure it via the Bitrix search module API, indexing through CSearchFullText or custom indexers.

Highload-blocks for dictionaries, logs, user data — instead of bloated IBlocks. Direct queries via Bitrix\Highloadblock\HighloadBlockTable, custom tables instead of the EAV structure of standard infoblocks. A million records — no degradation.

Mail events. Configuration is not just templates in b_event_message. The key is SPF, DKIM, DMARC on the DNS, otherwise transactional emails go to spam. We check deliverability and set up bounce handling.

How to Design Infoblocks for Performance?

We use Highload-blocks for reference data (colors, sizes, manufacturers) that are not involved in complex queries. For SKUs — a separate infoblock with linking via IBLOCK_ELEMENT_PROPERTY. Enable INDEX_PROPERTY for frequently filtered properties. Tagged caching: when an element changes, only the related cache is cleared. Highload-blocks process up to 10x faster than infoblocks with multiple properties on volumes of 100,000 records.

Custom Module Development

Each module follows the structure /local/modules/vendor.modulename/:

• install/index.php — setup class, create tables via $DB->RunSQLBatch()
• lib/ — D7 ORM classes, extending Bitrix\Main\ORM\Data\DataManager
• admin/ — administrative pages using CAdminList, CAdminForm
• include.php — autoloading, event handler registration via EventManager::getInstance()->registerEventHandler()
• REST API endpoints via \Bitrix\Rest\RestManager

The module registers in the system, appears in the "Installed Solutions" list, and has its own settings at /bitrix/admin/settings.php?mid=vendor.modulename. It can be enabled, disabled, and updated through UpdateSystem or custom migration mechanics.

Examples of implemented tasks:

• Campaign management — visual condition builder via CAdminCalendar, timers via agents (CAgent::AddAgent), analytics linked to the sale module
• Cost calculator — React widget on the frontend, REST API in the module, formulas stored in a Highload-block
• Booking system — real-time calendar, locking via $DB->StartTransaction() / $DB->Commit() on concurrent requests, integration with channel manager via webhook

Components and Composite Cache

Component customization via result_modifier.php and component_epilog.php, not by editing template.php of the standard template. This way core updates are painless.

Composite cache ("Composite Site" technology) — the server sends ready HTML, bypassing PHP routing. Dynamic areas (cart, authorization) are loaded via CBitrixComponent::setFrameMode(true) and AJAX. TTFB drops to 30–50 ms. But there are caveats: not all components are compatible, $APPLICATION->ShowPanel() breaks composite, and careful markup of <div id="bx-composite-..."> is required.

What to Check Before Installing a Marketplace Module?

Before installing a module from the marketplace, an audit is mandatory. We check: SQL queries without prepared statements (hello SQL injection), direct use of $_REQUEST without filtering, use of outdated kernel API instead of D7, conflicts with the composite cache module. A module with no updates for over a year and a few dozen installations is likely a problem on the next PHP update. A typical case: a module calls CIBlockElement::GetList with no cache reset — the site crashes with 5000 elements.

Migration to D7

When upgrading PHP or switching to a new edition — refactor outdated calls:

• CIBlockElement::GetList() → Bitrix\Iblock\Elements\ElementTable::getList()
• CSaleOrder::GetList() → Bitrix\Sale\Order::getList()
• CModule::IncludeModule() → Bitrix\Main\Loader::includeModule() Testing on staging, rollback via git on issues.

According to official 1C-Bitrix documentation, D7 ORM is the recommended tool for working with data, providing type safety and automatic query generation.

Comparison: Init.php vs Module

Module Development Scope and Cost

What is included in module development?

• Technical specification and architectural plan
• Code following PSR-4 and Bitrix code style
• Unit tests (PHPUnit) for business logic
• Integration tests for events and REST API
• Installation, configuration, and API documentation
• Repository and documentation access
• Administrator training for module usage
• 6-month warranty support

Estimated timelines and complexity:

Cost is calculated individually — contact us for a project estimate.

Module Testing

Unit tests via PHPUnit cover business logic: discount calculation, validation, document generation. Mocks for Bitrix\Main\Application::getConnection() allow tests to be DB-independent. Integration tests verify event handlers on a real database — OnAfterIBlockElementAdd, OnSaleOrderSaved, etc. REST API endpoints are tested via curl or PHPUnit HTTP client. Critical for modules working with b_sale_order, b_catalog_price — where errors cost money.

Compatibility is checked on PHP 7.4, 8.0, 8.1, 8.2 and editions: Standard, Small Business, Business. We check conflicts with popular marketplace modules — they often intercept the same events. Load testing: measurements on 10K, 100K, 1M records, profiling via Xdebug for memory leaks and N+1 queries.

Practical Examples

Campaign module for an electronics chain. The built-in sale module discounts did not cover scenarios like "2+1", a gift with purchase over a certain amount, or combined conditions. We built a visual builder: marketers create rules via drag-and-drop without development tickets. Campaign calendar, auto-deactivation via agents, analytics linked to b_sale_order — conversion, average check, usage count. Time to launch a new campaign dropped from two days to half an hour.

Calculator for builders. Parameters (area, materials, number of floors) → formula → preliminary estimate → lead to CRM via CRest::call('crm.lead.add'). Regional coefficients and seasonal markups from a Highload-block, material prices from 1C exchange. The number of target leads increased by a third: clients see a breakdown before calling a manager.

Booking for a hotel chain. Real-time availability via AJAX requests to a custom table vendor_booking_slots, seasonal tariff calculation, synchronization with Booking.com via channel manager API. Room locking on concurrent booking via SELECT ... FOR UPDATE in transactions. Timezones handled via \DateTimeZone — a guest from Vladivostok and a manager from Moscow see the same picture.

We will evaluate your project within one day. Write to us — we'll tell you what is included in turnkey development. Contact us for a consultation on your project. Order a custom module development — get a ready solution with documentation and support.