diff --git a/packages/template-retail-react-app/app/components/search/index.jsx b/packages/template-retail-react-app/app/components/search/index.jsx
index bdd310ddfb..154896315b 100644
--- a/packages/template-retail-react-app/app/components/search/index.jsx
+++ b/packages/template-retail-react-app/app/components/search/index.jsx
@@ -174,7 +174,8 @@ const Search = (props) => {
             if (!miawChatRef.current.hasFired && miawChatRef.current.newChatLaunched) {
                 if (
                     e.detail.conversationEntry?.sender?.role === 'Chatbot' &&
-                    searchInputRef?.current?.value
+                    searchInputRef?.current?.value &&
+                    window.embeddedservice_bootstrap?.utilAPI
                 ) {
                     miawChatRef.current.hasFired = true
                     setTimeout(() => {
@@ -194,9 +195,13 @@ const Search = (props) => {
         }
     }, [])
     const launchChat = () => {
-        window.embeddedservice_bootstrap.utilAPI
-            .launchChat()
-            .then((successMessage) => {
+        if (window.embeddedservice_bootstrap?.settings) {
+            window.embeddedservice_bootstrap.settings.disableStreamingResponses = true
+            window.embeddedservice_bootstrap.settings.enableUserInputForConversationWithBot = false
+        }
+        window.embeddedservice_bootstrap?.utilAPI
+            ?.launchChat()
+            ?.then((successMessage) => {
                 /* TODO: With the Salesforce Winter '26 release, we will be able to use the
                  * onEmbeddedMessagingFirstBotMessageSent event instead, and get rid of this logic. */
                 if (successMessage.includes('Successfully initialized the messaging client')) {
@@ -204,7 +209,7 @@ const Search = (props) => {
                     miawChatRef.current.newChatLaunched = true
                 }
             })
-            .catch((err) => {
+            ?.catch((err) => {
                 console.error('launchChat error', err)
             })
     }
@@ -218,7 +223,7 @@ const Search = (props) => {
             return
         }
 
-        if (askAgentOnSearchEnabled && window.embeddedservice_bootstrap) {
+        if (askAgentOnSearchEnabled && window.embeddedservice_bootstrap?.utilAPI) {
             // Add a 500ms delay before sending the message to ensure the experience isn't jarring to the user
             setTimeout(() => {
                 window.embeddedservice_bootstrap.utilAPI
diff --git a/packages/template-retail-react-app/app/hooks/use-miaw.js b/packages/template-retail-react-app/app/hooks/use-miaw.js
index cfa96db722..cf4c4e4351 100644
--- a/packages/template-retail-react-app/app/hooks/use-miaw.js
+++ b/packages/template-retail-react-app/app/hooks/use-miaw.js
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@ const initEmbeddedMessaging = (
         ) {
             window.embeddedservice_bootstrap.settings.language = locale
             window.embeddedservice_bootstrap.settings.disableStreamingResponses = true
+            window.embeddedservice_bootstrap.settings.enableUserInputForConversationWithBot = false
             window.embeddedservice_bootstrap.init(
                 salesforceOrgId,
                 embeddedServiceDeploymentName,