It is intended for customers who already have a working chatbot on v1.2.0 and need to recreate it on v1.3.0 before the Assistants API is shut down.

Why you need to migrate

OpenAI has deprecated the Assistants API and scheduled its shutdown for August 26, 2026. After that date, any chatbot still based on v1.2.0 may stop working. To avoid service interruptions, migrate to a v1.3.0 chatbot based on the Responses API before that date.

What this migration is — and is not

Recommended approach: migrate with testing.

Build the new v1.3.0 chatbot, validate it in a test environment with a small group of testers, and only switch it to production once you are confident. This way your customers keep talking to the proven v1.2.0 chatbot the whole time, with no interruption.

Before you start

Make sure you have:

• Access to your v1.2.0 extension configuration (you will copy settings from it).
• Your OpenAI API Key (the same key can be reused).
• At least one channel already connected in WOZTELL (WhatsApp Business Platform / Cloud API, Instagram, Facebook Messenger, or Webchat).
• A few testers whose accounts or phone numbers you can use to try the new chatbot safely.

The fastest way to migrate is to open your v1.2.0 configuration in one tab and the new v1.3.0 extension in another, then copy each setting across.

Step 1 — Keep your v1.2.0 chatbot active

Do not disconnect or delete your current chatbot yet. It stays live and keeps replying to customers for the entire time you are building and testing the new one. You will only switch it off at the very end, during cutover (Step 6).

Step 2 — Create the new v1.3.0 extension

You will create the new chatbot from scratch as a separate extension.

1. Go to Marketplace → + New Extension.
2. Search for the ChatGPT extension card (Artificial Intelligence · OpenAI | WOZTELL) and click Learn More.
3. Under Extension Version, select v1.3.0.
4. Enter a unique Alias (lowercase, no spaces) — for example my-gpt-assistant-v13.
5. Click Install, then open the new extension under Installed Extensions.
6. In the API Key Setup section, paste your OpenAI API Key and click Save. A green checkmark confirms the key is valid and unlocks the Configuration and Connect to Channel sections.

For the complete, screenshot-by-screenshot setup, follow the full guide: How to Create an AI Chatbot with OpenAI in WOZTELL. This migration guide focuses on the steps that are specific to moving from v1.2.0.

Important: You cannot configure the chatbot or connect it to a channel until the API Key is saved.

Step 3 — Replicate your configuration

In v1.2.0, all of your chatbot's behavior lived in the prompt (Instructions). Migrating it is mostly a matter of copying that prompt across and selecting the right model.

In the new v1.3.0 extension, open Configuration → AI Chatbot and set the instructions (prompt), model, transcription model and advanced settings.

Important: Save each tab before switching to another one — unsaved changes may be lost.

Understanding channels and environments

This is the concept that makes a safe migration possible, so it is worth understanding before you connect anything.

• A channel is the communication channel connected to WOZTELL — WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook Messenger, or Webchat.
• An environment is a workspace inside a channel that lets you separate testing from production. If you have not created additional environments, the channel uses the Default environment.

During migration, environments let you run the new v1.3.0 chatbot in a test environment while your v1.2.0 chatbot stays on the live (Default/production) environment. Your customers keep talking to the old, proven chatbot until you are ready to switch.

Keep the two chatbots on separate environments. Two chatbots ending up active within the same environment will cause unpredictable replies (users reaching one bot or the other with no control). Using a separate test environment is exactly how you prevent this.

Step 4 — Connect the new chatbot to a test environment

Now connect the new chatbot — but to a test environment, not to production.

1. If you don't already have one, create a test environment and assign testers for your channel. Follow: How to create a test environment.
2. In the v1.3.0 extension, open the Connect to Channel section.
3. Find your channel, and select the test environment you created — not the Default/production environment where v1.2.0 is live.
4. Click Connect.
5. Enter a Prefix Name if required — use a clear label such as AI-CHATBOT-WHATSAPP-TEST.
6. Click Confirm, then click Connect again.

When the button changes to Disconnect, the new chatbot is live in the test environment only.

Step 5 — Test and validate

Now only your whitelisted testers are routed to the test environment and the new v1.3.0 chatbot. Production — and your real customers — stay on v1.2.0, untouched.

Have your testers put the new chatbot through its paces:

1. From a whitelisted device/number, send messages to the channel.
2. Confirm the chatbot replies, and that the replies match your Instructions.
3. Test different question types and edge cases (including questions outside the chatbot's scope).
4. If you added a Knowledge Base / File Search, ask questions that should be answered from your documents and confirm it works.
5. Review the logs for any errors (API Key, model, tools, File Search, or channel issues).

Step 6 — Cut over to production

Once you are confident in the new chatbot, switch your live channel from v1.2.0 to v1.3.0.

1. Disconnect the v1.2.0 chatbot from the production (Default) channel/environment.
2. Connect the v1.3.0 chatbot to that production environment (same connect steps as Step 4, but selecting the production environment this time).
3. Send a final live test to confirm the new chatbot is replying in production.

Important: Disconnect v1.2.0 first, then connect v1.3.0, so the two are never active in the same environment at once.

Once you have confirmed v1.3.0 is working in production, you can safely remove the old v1.2.0 extension.

Known issues during migration

Related articles

• How to Create an AI Chatbot with OpenAI in WOZTELL | User Guide
• How to create a new environment
• Introduction to AI Chatbots with OpenAI + WOZTELL
• 14 Frequently Asked Questions About the New AI Chatbots with OpenAI + WOZTELL