Introducing AI Assistant v4 for Optimizely CMS 12 and 13

Epicweb AI Assistant v4.0 is here, bringing full support for Optimizely CMS 13 on .NET 10 while staying fully compatible with CMS 12 on .NET 8. If you already use AI Assistant Chat in Optimizely, v4 is a straightforward upgrade that expands what the chat can understand and do inside the CMS, especially around personalization and layout.

AI Assistant Chat is built to work where editors work. It is context-aware, can use the current page or attached content items, and helps with analysis, writing, translation, SEO, and accessibility. It can also propose updates, but it only applies changes after an editor confirms.

One package for CMS 12 and CMS 13

AI Assistant v4 is the first release to target both CMS generations from a single NuGet package. Whether your solution runs on CMS 12 (.NET 8) or CMS 13 (.NET 10), you install the same package: Epicweb.Optimizely.AIAssistant. The correct build and dependencies are selected automatically during restore, so you do not need separate installation instructions per CMS version.

What changed under the hood

• The main package multi-targets net8.0 and net10.0.
• CMS and framework dependencies that moved in CMS 13, for example EPiServer.Logging, are handled transparently.
• Companion packages, including Epicweb.Optimizely.AIAssistant.Tools, follow the same multi-target strategy.

Getting started on CMS 13

Setup is identical to CMS 12. In Startup.cs:

services.AddAIAssistant();

Further implementation => Guide: Install the AI Assistant Chat for Optimizely

New in v4: Visitor Group discovery in chat

Editors often know what they want to target, but not the exact visitor group name or ID. v4 adds VisitorGroupTools so AI Chat can discover and use the visitor groups configured in your Optimizely instance.

When an editor asks something like “Show this banner only to VIP customers”, the assistant can now:

1. List visitor groups with GetAllVisitorGroups
2. Inspect a specific group with GetVisitorGroup
3. Apply the correct visitor group when updating content area items via allowedRoles

This removes the need for manual GUID copy-pasting and makes personalization requests far more natural for editors.

Example conversation

Editor: “Personalise the hero area so only mobile users see the promo block.”
AI Assistant: calls GetAllVisitorGroups, finds “Mobile Users”, then updates the relevant content area item with allowedRoles: [“Mobile Users”].

New in v4: Display option discovery in chat

Display options are powerful layout hints for content areas, but editors rarely remember the configured IDs. v4 introduces DisplayOptionTools to solve that.

GetAvailableDisplayOptions returns every registered display option with its ID, name, and tag, so the assistant can suggest and apply the right layout automatically.

Example conversation

Editor: “Put the testimonial block in the sidebar area at half width.”
AI Assistant: calls GetAvailableDisplayOptions, finds id “half”, then sets displayOption: “half” on the content area item.

Recommended tool registration (v4)

To enable the full AI Chat experience, including the new visitor group and display option discovery tools, register tools like this:

• BuiltinTools
• BuiltinChatTools
• BuiltinPublishChatTools
• BuiltinUpdateChatTools
• VisitorGroupTools (new in v4)
• DisplayOptionTools (new in v4)
• BuiltinChatImageTools
• BuiltinChatCreateImageTools

Upgrading from v3

1. Update NuGet packages to 4.0.0
2. Register VisitorGroupTools and DisplayOptionTools (optional, but recommended)
3. No breaking changes in the public API, existing conversations and custom tools keep working
4. If migrating from CMS 12 to CMS 13, retarget to net10.0 and upgrade Optimizely packages to 13.x, AI Assistant handles the rest

Links

• NuGet Package
• GitHub Repository
• Configuration Guide
• Video Guides
• Premium Subscription
• Guide: Install the AI Assistant Chat for Optimizely