# How to Vibe Code Your Own Gorgias (and Stop Paying for It) > The Conversational AI platform for ecommerce - Site: https://gorgias.com - Category: SaaS - Platforms: Web app - Verdict: **Serious undertaking** (45/100 vibecodeable) - Estimated effort: 4-6 weeks of focused building ## Verdict Build a scaled-down single-channel helpdesk subset for personal use, but pay for the real platform if you need production multi-channel e-commerce automation. Gorgias combines a standard ticketing helpdesk with complex e-commerce mutating actions and real-time omnichannel ingestion. Vibecoding a personal version is feasible for a single-channel ticketing system backed by a mock store API, but wrestling with production webhooks from Shopify, Meta, and Twilio while orchestrating secure AI tool-use calls introduces heavy integration debt and debugging friction. ### What you can't replicate - Official Shopify Premium CX Partnership status and embedded store installations - Over 300 turnkey third-party app integrations (Klaviyo, Recharge, Yotpo) - Production-grade uptime and zero-downtime handling during peak holiday traffic surges ## What it does An ecommerce-focused helpdesk and conversational AI platform that unifies multi-channel support and integrates directly with online stores to execute actions like order tracking and refunds. ### Core features - Unified omnichannel inbox (email, chat, social DMs, SMS) - Native e-commerce platform integration (Shopify webhooks/API) - Autonomous AI Agent for pre/post-sale support and FAQ answering - In-conversation mutating actions (cancels, refunds, discounts) - Ticketing helpdesk with routing, prioritization, and macros - Customer sidebar showing order history and timeline - Revenue attribution and performance analytics dashboards ## The business ### Pricing - Starter: $40/mo — For smaller brands getting started on one platform. - Basic: $90/mo — For growing brands whose support volume is outpacing their team. - Pro: $550/mo — For scaling brands that let AI resolve and sell, with revenue analytics. - Advanced: $1,430/mo — For high-volume brands: peak-ready automation, dedicated support. ### Funding $104M raised. - Seed - Series A ($3.8M, 2019) - Series B ($14M, 2020) - Series C ($30M, 2022) - Series C-2 ($29M, 2024) Investors: Shopify, Sapphire Ventures, Alven, CRV, SaaStr Fund, Amplify Partners, Flex Capital Founded 2015. Team size: 300-400+. ## The hard parts - Handling transactional side-effects and rollbacks against external e-commerce APIs safely - Maintaining event-driven, real-time message synchronization across disparate webhook sources - Orchestrating RAG pipelines with strict guardrails to prevent AI hallucinations on store policies ## How to vibe code Gorgias ### Prerequisites - Node.js (free): Runtime environment for Next.js full-stack development - GitHub (free): Version control and deployment pipeline integration - Supabase Account (free): Managed Postgres database with realtime capabilities and vector support ### Recommended AI tools - Claude Code: Best-in-class multi-file agentic coding tool for scaffolding full-stack features and fixing complex webhook handlers - Cursor: Ideal for fine-tuning UI components, chat interfaces, and reviewing code diffs interactively ### Stack - Frontend: Next.js with Tailwind CSS and shadcn/ui - Backend: Next.js App Router API Routes - Database: Supabase (PostgreSQL with pgvector) - Auth: better-auth - Payments: Stripe - Other: Anthropic API, Resend ### Hosting - Vercel (Hosting the Next.js web application and serverless API endpoints): $0-20/mo - Supabase (Postgres database, real-time channels, and vector storage): $0-25/mo ### Build guide 1. **Project Scaffolding and Database Schema** — Initialize the Next.js project with Tailwind CSS, shadcn/ui, and configure Supabase with tables for tickets, messages, customers, and store orders. ``` Initialize a Next.js project with TypeScript, Tailwind CSS, and App Router. Set up Supabase client connections and create a robust database schema using SQL migrations for: 'tickets' (id, customer_id, status, channel, assignee, created_at), 'messages' (id, ticket_id, sender_type, body, raw_payload), 'customers' (id, email, name, external_store_id), and 'orders' (id, customer_id, total_price, fulfillment_status, line_items). Ensure proper foreign key constraints, indexes on ticket status and customer email, and configure better-auth for secure user authentication. ``` 2. **Unified Helpdesk Inbox UI** — Build a multi-pane agent workspace interface featuring a ticket list view, active conversation thread, and a context sidebar. ``` Create a responsive multi-pane dashboard layout mimicking a customer support helpdesk. Build a left sidebar for filtering tickets by status (open, pending, closed) and channel (email, chat, widget). Build a central conversation thread view that renders chronological messages with avatars, formatting, and a rich text reply box. Build a right-hand collapsible customer sidebar that displays live customer details, order history, and past support tickets fetched from the Supabase database. Use Tailwind CSS and shadcn/ui components. ``` 3. **Webhook Ingestion Pipeline** — Implement API route endpoints to receive incoming messages from external channels and webhooks. ``` Implement secure API webhook route handlers in Next.js to ingest incoming customer interactions. Create an endpoint '/api/webhooks/messages' that parses incoming payloads, matches sender emails to existing customer records in Supabase (or creates a new customer), automatically generates a new ticket if none is active, and stores the message. Implement Supabase Realtime subscriptions on the frontend so the inbox updates instantly when new webhook events arrive without manual page refreshes. ``` 4. **Store API Integration and Mutating Actions** — Build backend integrations to fetch store data and execute side-effect actions like order cancellation and discounting directly from the UI. ``` Build a service layer that communicates with an e-commerce platform REST API (or a mock store API simulating Shopify). Implement functions to fetch order details, issue refunds, cancel orders, and apply discount codes. Expose these as backend API routes secured by agent authentication. Build UI action buttons directly into the agent workspace ticket sidebar that trigger these server actions, handle loading states, display success/error toasts, and append an internal note to the ticket timeline documenting the mutation. ``` 5. **Autonomous AI Agent & RAG Pipeline** — Integrate the Anthropic API with vector search to power an autonomous assistant that answers customer questions using store data and policies. ``` Implement an AI Agent pipeline using the Anthropic API and Supabase pgvector for Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG). Create an ingestion script that chunks and embeds store policy documents and product catalogs into a vector table. When an incoming customer chat message arrives, query the vector database for relevant context, construct a strict system prompt enforcing brand guardrails and policy constraints, and call the Claude model. If the query requires an automated action (like order status lookup), use tool-calling definitions to securely fetch order data and return the resolution automatically or escalate to a human agent. ``` 6. **Analytics Dashboard and Polish** — Add performance reporting dashboards, ticket tagging, macros, and final styling refinements. ``` Build a reporting dashboard view that calculates key support metrics from database records: total ticket volume, average first response time, resolution rate, and revenue attribution generated via support interactions. Implement canned response macros that insert predefined text and automatically trigger order updates. Add error boundaries, toast notifications, loading skeletons, and write comprehensive test suites for core ticket routing and AI tool-calling workflows. ``` ### Cost vs paying **Starting costs (one-time):** - Domain name registration: $12 one-time - AI coding tool subscriptions: $20 one-time - Total: ~$32 one-time **Ongoing costs (monthly):** - Vercel Hobby/Pro Hosting: $0-20/mo - Supabase Pro DB: $25/mo - Anthropic API Usage: ~$10/mo - Total: ~$35-55/mo - Paying for the SaaS instead: $550/mo (Pro Plan) - Build time: 60-80 hours - AI tool credits: $20 (Claude Pro / Cursor Pro) - Break-even: Immediate if replacing Pro tier ## Sources - [Gorgias Official Website](https://www.gorgias.com) - [Gorgias Pricing Page](https://www.gorgias.com/pricing)