Channels overview
How channels work and the settings every channel shares.
A channel is a connected source of conversations. Chatasist supports five channel types:
| Type | Internal key | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Website widget | website_widget | Embeddable live chat |
whatsapp | Twilio official API or personal-number QR | |
| Telegram | telegram | Bot connection |
| Facebook Messenger | facebook | Meta OAuth, one channel per Page |
| Instagram Direct | instagram | Meta/Instagram OAuth |
Every channel has a stable UUID that identifies it in embeds, webhooks, and the API. Manage channels under Settings → Channels in the web app.
How many channels and which types you can connect depends on your plan. Free is limited to a single website widget; the official WhatsApp API requires Growth or above. See Plan limits & enforcement.
The marketing site advertises more channels than ship today. The five types above are what's actually implemented. Email-to-ticket is handled separately — see Email to ticket.
Settings shared by every channel#
Regardless of type, each channel exposes the same behavior controls. These drive how the conversation is answered and routed.
AI answers#
allow_ai_answers— when on, the AI agent answers conversations on this channel.- Agent tone — required when AI is enabled. One of Friendly, Professional (default), Playful, or Empathetic.
- Learn from agent replies — lets the agent draw on past human answers in addition to the knowledge base.
Auto-assignment & routing#
auto_assignment— when on, new conversations are assigned automatically.- User group — required when auto-assignment is on; conversations route to a user group.
- Work schedule — optional, and available whether or not auto-assignment is on; defines business hours. Outside them the AI agent tells customers when your team is back, and out-of-hours traffic can be steered to ticket-only handling. Without a schedule the channel is treated as always open.
AI-created tickets#
If you want the AI agent to open tickets from this channel, set both an agent ticket board and a column. Both are required together. See Ticket boards.
Resource access#
resource_access_enabled— lets the AI agent read Resources (custom datasets) attached to this channel.- Resources — the specific resource types the channel may access.