Getting started
Canopi adds a community sidebar to the web. Users sign in once, join auth communities, and see presence, messages, and anchored discussions on pages they visit — either through the Chrome extension or a web embed on your site.
Core concepts
| Concept | Description |
|---|---|
| Canopi | A configured sidebar instance tied to a community and visibility rules. |
| Auth community | A group keyed to an OAuth provider or wallet (Google, Twitter, MetaMask, etc.). |
| Presence | Who is on a page right now, with optional hover profiles. |
| Context anchor | A message or thread tied to a specific page region or URL. |
| Embed instance | A server-managed configuration for embedding Canopi on third-party sites. |
Three ways to use Canopi
1. Browser extension (end users)
Install the Canopi extension from the Chrome Web Store. Sign in, pick communities, and the sidebar appears on supported sites.
2. Web embed (site owners)
Add one script tag to your site. Canopi loads a trigger (corner tab or icon) and opens the sidebar when clicked.
3. Sidebar Tab SDK (developers)
Build custom tabs (archive tools, dashboards, integrations) that run inside the Canopi sidebar with scoped permissions.
Create your first Canopi
- Open app.canopi.live and sign in.
- Go to My Canopis and create a new instance.
- Choose a community and configure visibility.
- For web embeds, copy the generated embed code from the dashboard.
API base URL
All integrations use:
https://api.canopi.liveAuthenticated requests require a Bearer JWT from the Canopi auth flow. Public embed config is available without auth:
GET https://api.canopi.live/api/embeds/config/:canopiIdNext steps
- Using Canopi — tabs, smart tags, widget modal, context anchors
- Domains & architecture — how production services fit together
- Web Embed quick start — add Canopi to your website
- Authentication reference — sign-in modes and token flow