Guides System - SAMMY Labs Docs

The Guides System provides a composable hook architecture that integrates directly into the SammyAgentProvider for seamless walkthrough experiences.

Performance Update: Guides now use lazy loading to reduce API calls. User guides are only fetched when components call refreshUserGuides(), not automatically on initialization. This prevents unnecessary API load from users who never interact with guides. Always call refreshUserGuides() in components that display guides.

Architecture Overview

Clean Architecture

The guides system uses a hook-based composition pattern that integrates directly into the main provider:

No nested contexts - Integrated directly into main provider
Hook composition - Clean separation of concerns
Zero overhead - Returns null when disabled
Type-safe - Full TypeScript support

Data Flow

Quick Start

Basic Setup

import { SammyAgentProvider } from '@sammy-labs/sammy-three';

function App() {
  return (
    <SammyAgentProvider
      config={{
        auth: authConfig,
        captureMethod: 'render',
        debugLogs: true,
        model: 'models/gemini-2.5-flash-preview-native-audio-dialog',
      }}
      guides={true} // Enable guides functionality
      autoStartFromURL={true} // Auto-start from ?walkthrough= URLs
      onError={(error) => console.error('Agent error:', error)}
      onTokenExpired={handleTokenExpired}
      onWalkthroughStart={(guideId) => {
        console.log('Starting walkthrough:', guideId);
      }}
    >
      <YourApp />
    </SammyAgentProvider>
  );
}

URL-Based Activation

Guides can be automatically triggered via URL parameters, perfect for sharing specific walkthroughs or onboarding flows:

# Trigger a guide directly from URL
https://yourapp.com?walkthrough=onboarding-guide-v1

# Custom parameter name
https://yourapp.com?guide=quick-tour

When autoStartFromURL is enabled, the guide will automatically start when the page loads with the appropriate query parameter.

Guide Lifecycle

Manage the complete lifecycle of guides from initialization to completion:

Initialization

// Guides automatically initialize when provider mounts
// Fetches user guides and checks for URL parameters

Manual Start

// Start a guide programmatically
const success = await guides.startWalkthrough('guide-id');
if (success) {
  console.log('Guide started successfully');
}

URL Detection

// Check for guide in URL
const hasGuide = await guides.checkForGuideInUrl();
if (hasGuide) {
  console.log('Guide found in URL and started');
}

Progress Tracking

// Guides are automatically marked as completed when conversation starts
// Manual completion is also possible
guides.markGuideAsCompleted('guide-id');

Data Refresh

// Refresh guide data at any time
guides.refreshGuide();        // Current guide
guides.refreshUserGuides();   // All user guides

Cleanup

// Clean up URL params after use
guides.cleanupUrlParams();

Core Components

GuidesService

The service layer handles all API communication and transforms snake_case responses to camelCase.

Interface
Implementation

export interface GuidesService {
  fetchGuide: (guideId: string) => Promise<SammyGuide | null>;
  getUserGuides: () => Promise<SammyGuide[]>;
}

export interface SammyGuide {
  guideId: string;
  title: string;
  prompt: string;
  organisationId: string;
  isCompleted: boolean;
}

export const fetchGuide = (apiCaller: SammyApiClient) =>
  async (guideId: string): Promise<SammyGuide | null> => {
    try {
      const response = await apiCaller.get<KeysToSnakeCase<SammyGuide>>(
        `/api/v1/sammy-three/guides/${guideId}`
      );
      
      return {
        guideId: response.guide_id,
        title: response.title,
        prompt: response.prompt,
        organisationId: response.organisation_id,
        isCompleted: response.is_completed,
      };
    } catch (error) {
      console.error('[GuidesService] Failed to validate guide:', error);
      return null;
    }
  };

useGuides Hook

Provides always-on guide data with automatic fetching:

interface UseGuidesReturn {
  // Data
  currentGuide: SammyGuide | null;
  userGuides: SammyGuide[];
  
  // Loading states
  isLoadingGuide: boolean;
  isLoadingUserGuides: boolean;
  
  // Error states
  guideError: Error | null;
  userGuidesError: Error | null;
  
  // Actions
  refreshGuide: () => void;
  refreshUserGuides: () => void;
  markGuideAsCompleted: (guideId: string) => void;
}

Features

URL-Based Walkthrough Activation

User Visits URL

User visits: https://app.com?walkthrough=guide-123

Parameter Detection

GuidesProvider detects the parameter

Guide Fetching

Guide is fetched automatically

Auto-Start

If autoStartFromURL=true, agent starts with guide context

URL Cleanup

URL parameter is cleaned up

Completion Tracking

Guide marked as completed on conversation start

Guide Discovery & Listing

const { guides } = useSammyAgentContext();

// List all guides with completion status
guides?.userGuides.map(guide => ({
  id: guide.guideId,
  title: guide.title,
  completed: guide.isCompleted
}));

Manual Walkthrough Triggering

guides?.startWalkthrough('guide-123');
// This will:
// 1. Call onWalkthroughStart callback
// 2. Start agent with guide context
// 3. Mark guide as completed

Progress Tracking

Automatic Completion

Guides automatically track completion:

Marked complete when conversation starts with guide
Optimistic UI updates (immediate visual feedback)
Persistent across sessions (backend storage)

Query Parameter Detection

Configuration Options

Basic Setup
Configuration Table

<SammyAgentProvider
  config={authConfig}
  guides={true}                    // Enable guides
  autoStartFromURL={true}          // Auto-start from URL
  guidesQueryParam="walkthrough"   // Query param name (default)
  guidesDebug={true}               // Enable debug logging
>
  <YourApp />
</SammyAgentProvider>

Prop	Type	Default	Description
`guides`	`boolean`	`false`	Enable guides functionality
`autoStartFromURL`	`boolean`	`false`	Auto-start agent when guide detected in URL
`guidesQueryParam`	`string`	`"walkthrough"`	Name of the query parameter to detect
`guidesDebug`	`boolean`	`false`	Enable debug console logging

Usage Examples

Share Walkthrough

function ShareWalkthroughButton({ guideId }) {
  const shareUrl = 
    `${window.location.origin}?walkthrough=${guideId}`;
  
  return (
    <button onClick={() => 
      navigator.clipboard.writeText(shareUrl)
    }>
      Copy Walkthrough Link
    </button>
  );
}

Email Campaign

<a href="https://app.com?walkthrough=new-user-onboarding">
  Start Your Guided Tour
</a>

Programmatic Navigation

function navigateWithWalkthrough(guideId: string) {
  window.location.href = 
    `/dashboard?walkthrough=${guideId}`;
}

Manual URL Check

const { guides } = useSammyAgentContext();

const handleCheckUrl = async () => {
  if (guides) {
    const found = await guides.checkForGuideInUrl();
    if (found) {
      console.log('Guide found and started!');
    }
  }
};

Advanced Features

Custom Query Parameter Names
Conditional Auto-Start
Debug Mode

<SammyAgentProvider
  guides={true}
  guidesQueryParam="tutorial"  // Now use ?tutorial=guide-id
>

function App() {
  const [userReady, setUserReady] = useState(false);
  
  return (
    <SammyAgentProvider
      guides={true}
      autoStartFromURL={userReady}  // Only auto-start when ready
    >
      <YourApp />
    </SammyAgentProvider>
  );
}

Enable detailed console logging:

<SammyAgentProvider
  guides={true}
  guidesDebug={true}  // Logs all detection and cleanup
>

Example debug output:

[useGuidesQueryParams] Guide detected in URL: onboarding-guide
[useGuidesQueryParams] Starting guide: onboarding-guide
[GuidesProvider] Guide detected from URL: onboarding-guide
[GuidesProvider] 🚀 Auto-starting walkthrough: onboarding-guide
[useGuidesQueryParams] Guide started successfully: onboarding-guide
[useGuidesQueryParams] Cleaned up 'walkthrough' parameter from URL

Implementation Details

Conditional Provider Wrapping

The system uses a clever pattern to conditionally wrap providers without nesting:

// When guides={true}, wrap with GuidesProvider
if (guides) {
  return (
    <GuidesProvider>
      <InternalProvider>
        {children}
      </InternalProvider>
    </GuidesProvider>
  );
}

// When guides={false}, skip the wrapper
return <InternalProvider>{children}</InternalProvider>;

Dependency Injection for Agent Start

// Extract startAgent function from inner context
const StartAgentExtractor = ({ onStartAgentReady }) => {
  const context = useContext(SammyAgentContext);
  
  useEffect(() => {
    if (context?.startAgent) {
      onStartAgentReady(context.startAgent);
    }
  }, [context?.startAgent, onStartAgentReady]);
  
  return null;
};

Optimistic Updates

Immediate UI Feedback

Guide completion is updated optimistically for better UX:

const markGuideAsCompleted = useCallback((guideId: string) => {
  // Update current guide immediately
  if (currentGuide?.guideId === guideId) {
    setCurrentGuide(prev => 
      prev ? { ...prev, isCompleted: true } : null
    );
  }
  
  // Update user guides list immediately
  setUserGuides(prev => 
    prev.map(guide => 
      guide.guideId === guideId 
        ? { ...guide, isCompleted: true }
        : guide
    )
  );
}, [currentGuide]);

API Reference

Provider Props

interface SammyAgentProviderProps {
  guides?: boolean;           // Enable guides functionality
  autoStartFromURL?: boolean; // Auto-start from URL params
  onWalkthroughStart?: (guideId: string) => void;
  // ... other props
}

Context API

const { guides } = useSammyAgentContext();

if (guides) {
  // All guides functionality available
  guides.currentGuide;        // Current active guide
  guides.userGuides;          // All user's guides
  guides.isLoadingGuide;      // Loading state
  guides.guideError;          // Error state
  guides.refreshGuide();      // Refresh current
  guides.refreshUserGuides(); // Refresh list
  guides.markGuideAsCompleted(id); // Mark complete
  guides.startWalkthrough(id); // Start walkthrough
}

Service Endpoints

GET /api/v1/sammy-three/guides/{id}

Complete Example

Provider Setup
Dashboard Component

import { SammyAgentProvider, useSammyAgentContext } from '@sammy-three/react';

function App() {
  return (
    <SammyAgentProvider
      config={{
        auth: { token: 'xxx', baseUrl: 'https://api.sammy.ai' },
        model: 'gemini-2.0-flash-exp',
      }}
      guides={true}
      autoStartFromURL={true}
      guidesQueryParam="walkthrough"
      guidesDebug={process.env.NODE_ENV === 'development'}
      onWalkthroughStart={(guideId) => {
        console.log(`Walkthrough started: ${guideId}`);
        // Track analytics event
        analytics.track('walkthrough_started', { guideId });
      }}
    >
      <Dashboard />
    </SammyAgentProvider>
  );
}

function Dashboard() {
  const { guides } = useSammyAgentContext();
  
  // Share current page with a walkthrough
  const shareWithGuide = (guideId: string) => {
    const url = new URL(window.location.href);
    url.searchParams.set('walkthrough', guideId);
    navigator.clipboard.writeText(url.toString());
  };
  
  return (
    <div>
      {guides?.currentGuide && (
        <div>Active Guide: {guides.currentGuide.title}</div>
      )}
      
      <button onClick={() => shareWithGuide('dashboard-tour')}>
        Share Dashboard Tour
      </button>
    </div>
  );
}

Performance & Best Practices

Zero-Cost When Disabled

When guides={false}:

No GuidesProvider rendered
No API calls made
No state management overhead
No event listeners attached

Memoization

All expensive operations are memoized:

const sammyApiClient = useMemo(() => 
  authConfig ? new SammyApiClient(authConfig) : null, 
  [authConfig]
);

Automatic Cleanup

Resources are properly cleaned up:

// URL parameter cleaned after detection
window.history.replaceState({}, '', newUrl.toString());

TypeScript Best Practices

Use null checks for type safety:

// Good - null safe
if (guides) {
  guides.userGuides.map(...);
}

// Bad - assumes guides exists
guides!.userGuides.map(...);

Security Considerations

Always validate guide IDs on the backend:

Check if guide exists
Verify user permissions
Validate organization access

URL Parameter Sanitization

The system automatically:

Sanitizes guide IDs before use
Prevents XSS through parameter injection
Cleans up parameters after processing

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

Guide Not Starting
URL Not Cleaning Up
Multiple Triggers

Troubleshooting Steps:

Check if guides={true} is set
Verify autoStartFromURL={true} for automatic start
Ensure guide ID exists and user has access
Enable debug mode to see detailed logs

Troubleshooting Steps:

Check browser console for errors
Ensure window.history.replaceState is available
Verify no other code is modifying the URL

Troubleshooting Steps:

Parameters are cleaned after first detection
Check for duplicate provider instances
Ensure checkQueryOnMount isn’t called multiple times

Summary

The Sammy-Three Guides System provides a robust, performant, and developer-friendly solution for implementing guided experiences. Its clean architecture, type safety, and zero-overhead design make it an excellent choice for applications requiring tutorial or walkthrough functionality.

Key takeaways:

Clean Architecture: Separated concerns with proper layering
Performance First: Zero cost when disabled
Developer Experience: Full TypeScript support and simple API
User Experience: Seamless URL-based activation and progress tracking
Extensible: Easy to add new features without breaking existing functionality

Get Started

Features

Integrations

​Architecture Overview

Clean Architecture

​Data Flow

​Quick Start

​Basic Setup

​URL-Based Activation

​Guide Lifecycle

​Core Components

​GuidesService

​useGuides Hook

​Features

​URL-Based Walkthrough Activation

​Guide Discovery & Listing

​Manual Walkthrough Triggering

​Progress Tracking

Automatic Completion

​Query Parameter Detection

​Configuration Options

​Usage Examples

Share Walkthrough

Email Campaign

Programmatic Navigation

Manual URL Check

​Advanced Features

​Implementation Details

​Conditional Provider Wrapping

​Dependency Injection for Agent Start

​Optimistic Updates

Immediate UI Feedback

​API Reference

​Provider Props

​Context API

​Service Endpoints

​Complete Example

​Performance & Best Practices

Zero-Cost When Disabled

Memoization

Automatic Cleanup

TypeScript Best Practices

​Security Considerations

​URL Parameter Sanitization

​Troubleshooting

​Common Issues

​Summary

Architecture Overview

Data Flow

Quick Start

Basic Setup

URL-Based Activation

Guide Lifecycle

Core Components

GuidesService

useGuides Hook

Features

URL-Based Walkthrough Activation

Guide Discovery & Listing

Manual Walkthrough Triggering

Progress Tracking

Query Parameter Detection

Configuration Options

Usage Examples

Advanced Features

Implementation Details

Conditional Provider Wrapping

Dependency Injection for Agent Start

Optimistic Updates

API Reference

Provider Props

Context API

Service Endpoints

Complete Example

Performance & Best Practices

Security Considerations

URL Parameter Sanitization

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

Summary