Thulani

A conversational virtual assistant prototype for Matla Life. It answers general product questions, offers a human handoff, and avoids collecting sensitive personal details.

Run

Node.js 18+ is required. From this folder, run npm start and open http://localhost:3000.

For AI responses, put ANTHROPIC_API_KEY and ANTHROPIC_WORKSPACE_ID in a local .env file or server environment. The default model is claude-haiku-4-5-20251001. Without both values, Thulani uses a guided response mode. The key stays on the server and .env is ignored by Git.

The demo handoff opens a visitor-approved WhatsApp or email draft to LuliDigital's published contacts. It never sends automatically, saves a lead, or forwards the chat transcript. The form labels the destination clearly and requires consent. To replace the temporary demo destinations, set DEMO_WHATSAPP_NUMBER (international digits) and DEMO_EMAIL on the server, then update the form's demo wording and the agent instructions for the real recipient. Matla Life's published number and email remain available for direct contact.

Before publishing

The requested address was maltalife.co.za; the publicly indexed company site is matlalife.co.za. Confirm the intended domain and brand ownership before embedding this on a live site. Review product statements and waiting periods with Matla Life: its public funeral page contains conflicting waiting period details. This prototype does not access policies, generate quotes, submit claims, or save leads.

The public demo is deployed at https://maltalifebot.vercel.app/ from Fiker-dev/Maltalifebot. The vercel.json file serves the site from public/, while api/chat.js and api/greeting.js run as server functions. Vercel holds ANTHROPIC_API_KEY and ANTHROPIC_WORKSPACE_ID as server environment variables. Never commit .env. The app limits requests per function instance, but a public demo can still incur AI usage costs; keep the link limited to intended reviewers.