UK chatbot beta launch: blog post, homepage CTA, featured tools

app/src/data/apps/apps.json

@@ -1,4 +1,17 @@
 [
+  {
+    "type": "iframe",
+    "slug": "introducing-policyengine-uk-chat",
+    "title": "PolicyEngine UK Chat: an AI interface for tax and benefits",
+    "description": "Introducing PolicyEngine's newest AI-powered tool to help users understand UK tax and benefit policy",
+    "source": "https://policyengine-uk-chat-interactive-ar.vercel.app/uk/introducing-policyengine-uk-chat",
+    "tags": ["uk", "featured", "technology", "ai", "product"],
+    "countryId": "uk",
+    "displayWithResearch": true,
+    "image": "introducing-policyengine-uk-chat.jpg",
+    "date": "2026-08-11 12:00:00",
+    "authors": ["vahid-ahmadi", "anthony-volk"]
+  },
   {
     "type": "iframe",
     "slug": "snap-payment-error-simulator",
@@ -76,7 +89,7 @@
   {
     "type": "iframe",
     "slug": "uk-cliff-watch",
-    "title": "UK CliffWatch",
+    "title": "UK CliffWatch tool",
     "description": "See where benefit withdrawal and taxes create cliffs and high marginal rates as a UK household's earnings rise, modelled with PolicyEngine UK.",
     "source": "https://uk-cliff-watch.vercel.app/",
     "tags": ["uk", "featured", "policy", "interactives"],

app/src/data/posts/postTransformers.ts

@@ -70,6 +70,7 @@ const topicLabels: TagLabels = {
   featured: 'Featured',
   impact: 'Impact',
   policy: 'Policy analysis',
+  product: 'Product',
   technical: 'Technical report',
   api: 'API',
   'benefit-access': 'Benefit access',

changelog_entry.yaml

@@ -2,3 +2,5 @@
 - Enforce the site shell on the last nine bare embedded tools, emptying the zone-shell audit exemption list
 - Redirect /uk/cec (the retired Citizens' Economic Council simulator, embedded by citizensecon.org.uk) to /uk instead of a 404
 - Report zone routes whose destination is a static asset added in the same pull request as pending deploy rather than failing the shell audit, which no in-repo static page could previously pass
+- Launch the PolicyEngine UK Chat beta at /uk/chat
+- Publish the PolicyEngine UK Chat launch post as a scrollytelling page at /uk/introducing-policyengine-uk-chat, replacing the markdown research post

website/src/components/blog/MarkdownFormatter.tsx

@@ -379,6 +379,8 @@ export function MarkdownFormatter({
     ul: ({ children }) => (
       <ul
         style={{
+          listStyleType: "disc",
+          listStylePosition: "outside",
           paddingLeft: blogSpacing.lg,
           marginBottom: blogSpacing.marginBottom.list,
           marginTop: blogSpacing.marginTop.list,
@@ -397,6 +399,8 @@ export function MarkdownFormatter({
     ol: ({ children }) => (
       <ol
         style={{
+          listStyleType: "decimal",
+          listStylePosition: "outside",
           paddingLeft: blogSpacing.lg,
           marginBottom: blogSpacing.marginBottom.list,
           marginTop: blogSpacing.marginTop.list,

website/src/components/home/FeaturedResearchBanner.tsx

@@ -12,24 +12,24 @@ const BANNER_DISMISSED_KEY = "featured-research-banner-dismissed";
 
 const cards = [
   {
-    href: "/uk/spring-statement-2026",
-    title: "Spring Statement 2026 analysis",
-    desc: "New OBR forecast and its effects on UK living standards",
+    href: "/uk/uk-cliff-watch",
+    title: "UK CliffWatch tool",
+    desc: "Where benefit withdrawal and taxes create cliffs and high marginal rates as earnings rise",
   },
   {
-    href: "/uk/research/uk-two-child-limit-reintroduction",
-    title: "Two-child limit reintroduction",
-    desc: "Budgetary, distributional, poverty, and inequality impacts across the UK",
+    href: "/uk/cancelling-fuel-duty-rise",
+    title: "Fuel duty rise cancellation",
+    desc: "Fiscal cost and household impact of cancelling the Autumn Budget 2025 fuel-duty rise",
   },
   {
-    href: "/uk/uk-salary-sacrifice-tool",
-    title: "Salary sacrifice cap analysis tool",
-    desc: "Revenue and distributional impacts of capping pension salary sacrifice",
+    href: "/uk/uc-rebalancing",
+    title: "Universal Credit rebalancing",
+    desc: "Household and fiscal impact of the Universal Credit Act 2025 rebalancing package",
   },
   {
-    href: "/uk/uk-student-loan-calculator",
-    title: "Student loan deductions calculator",
-    desc: "Repayments, marginal tax rates, and lifetime costs for UK graduates",
+    href: "/uk/energy-price-shock",
+    title: "Energy price shock",
+    desc: "Distributional impact of energy price shocks, with five modelled policy responses",
   },
 ];
 

website/src/components/home/HeroCTA.tsx

@@ -1,13 +1,11 @@
 "use client";
 
 import { motion } from "framer-motion";
+import { colors, spacing, typography } from "@/designTokens";
+
 const CALCULATOR_URL =
   process.env.NEXT_PUBLIC_CALCULATOR_URL || "https://app.policyengine.org";
-import {
-  colors,
-  spacing,
-  typography,
-} from "@/designTokens";
+const CHAT_URL = process.env.NEXT_PUBLIC_CHAT_URL || "/uk/chat";
 
 const ctaVariant = {
   hidden: { opacity: 0, y: 20 },
@@ -23,36 +21,61 @@ const ctaVariant = {
   },
 };
 
+const buttonBase = {
+  display: "inline-block",
+  padding: `${spacing.lg} ${spacing["3xl"]}`,
+  borderRadius: 40,
+  fontFamily: typography.fontFamily.primary,
+  fontWeight: typography.fontWeight.semibold,
+  fontSize: typography.fontSize.lg,
+  textDecoration: "none",
+  transition: "box-shadow 0.3s ease",
+} as const;
+
 export default function HeroCTA({ countryId }: { countryId: string }) {
   return (
     <motion.div
       variants={ctaVariant}
       style={{
         position: "relative",
         zIndex: 1,
-        textAlign: "center",
+        display: "flex",
+        flexWrap: "wrap",
+        justifyContent: "center",
+        gap: spacing.md,
       }}
     >
       <motion.a
         href={`${CALCULATOR_URL}/${countryId}/reports`}
         whileHover={{ scale: 1.03 }}
         whileTap={{ scale: 0.98 }}
         style={{
-          display: "inline-block",
+          ...buttonBase,
           background: colors.primary[500],
           color: colors.white,
-          padding: `${spacing.lg} ${spacing["3xl"]}`,
-          borderRadius: 40,
-          fontFamily: typography.fontFamily.primary,
-          fontWeight: typography.fontWeight.semibold,
-          fontSize: typography.fontSize.lg,
-          textDecoration: "none",
           boxShadow: `0 2px 12px ${colors.primary.alpha[40]}`,
-          transition: "box-shadow 0.3s ease",
         }}
       >
         Enter PolicyEngine
       </motion.a>
+
+      {countryId === "uk" && (
+        <motion.a
+          href={CHAT_URL}
+          target="_blank"
+          rel="noopener noreferrer"
+          whileHover={{ scale: 1.03 }}
+          whileTap={{ scale: 0.98 }}
+          style={{
+            ...buttonBase,
+            background: colors.secondary[800],
+            color: colors.white,
+            boxShadow: `0 2px 12px ${colors.shadow.medium}`,
+          }}
+        >
+          Try the AI chatbot
+        </motion.a>
+      )}
     </motion.div>
   );
 }

website/src/components/home/HomeBlogPreview.tsx

@@ -214,6 +214,8 @@ export default function HomeBlogPreview({ countryId }: { countryId: string }) {
     .filter(
       (item) => item.tags.includes(countryId) || item.tags.includes("global"),
     )
+    // Product announcements do not belong in "Expert policy analysis".
+    .filter((item) => !item.tags.includes("product"))
     .slice(0, TOTAL_ITEMS);
 
   if (relevantItems.length === 0) {

website/src/data/appZoneRoutes.ts

@@ -21,6 +21,10 @@ function withDeepRoute(route: AppZoneRoute): AppZoneRoute[] {
 }
 
 export const appZoneRoutes: AppZoneRoute[] = [
+  {
+    source: "/uk/chat",
+    destination: "https://policyengine-uk-chat.vercel.app/uk/chat",
+  },
   {
     source: "/us/taxation-of-benefits-reforms",
     destination:
@@ -191,6 +195,13 @@ export const appZoneRoutes: AppZoneRoute[] = [
     destination: "/assets/posts/encode-policy-multi-agent-ai/index.html",
     deepDestination: "/assets/posts/encode-policy-multi-agent-ai/:path*",
   },
+  {
+    source: "/uk/introducing-policyengine-uk-chat",
+    destination:
+      "https://policyengine-uk-chat-interactive-ar.vercel.app/uk/introducing-policyengine-uk-chat",
+    deepDestination:
+      "https://policyengine-uk-chat-interactive-ar.vercel.app/uk/introducing-policyengine-uk-chat/:path*",
+  },
   {
     source: "/uk/scottish-budget-2026-27",
     destination: