agent-channeltalkbot

Agent ChannelTalkBot

A TypeScript CLI tool that enables AI agents and humans to interact with Channel Talk workspaces using API credentials (Access Key + Access Secret). Designed for customer support automation, team inbox management, and CI/CD integrations.

Key Concepts

Before diving in, a few things about Channel Talk's terminology:

• Channel = workspace (not a chat channel like Slack). The API calls it a "channel," but it means your entire workspace.
• UserChats = 1:1 conversations with end users (customers).
• Groups = team inbox channels (similar to Slack channels). Referenced by ID or @name.
• Managers = human agents on your team.
• Bots = automated agents that can send messages and close chats.
• Messages use a blocks format: [{ type: "text", value: "..." }]. The CLI handles this automatically when you pass plain text.

Quick Start

# Set your API credentials
agent-channeltalkbot auth set your-access-key your-access-secret

# Verify authentication
agent-channeltalkbot auth status

# Get a workspace overview
agent-channeltalkbot snapshot --pretty

# Send a message to a UserChat
agent-channeltalkbot message send abc123-chat-id "Hello from the CLI!"

# Send a message to a Group
agent-channeltalkbot message send @support "Team update: deployment complete"

Authentication

API Credential Setup

agent-channeltalkbot uses Access Key + Access Secret pairs from Channel Talk's developer settings:

# Set credentials (validates against Channel Talk API before saving)
agent-channeltalkbot auth set your-access-key your-access-secret

# Check auth status
agent-channeltalkbot auth status

# Clear stored credentials
agent-channeltalkbot auth clear

For credential setup, multi-workspace management, and security details, see references/authentication.md.

Memory

The agent maintains a ~/.config/agent-messenger/MEMORY.md file as persistent memory across sessions. This is agent-managed, the CLI does not read or write this file. Use the Read and Write tools to manage your memory file.

Reading Memory

At the start of every task, read ~/.config/agent-messenger/MEMORY.md using the Read tool to load any previously discovered workspace IDs, group IDs, chat IDs, manager IDs, bot names, and preferences.

• If the file doesn't exist yet, that's fine. Proceed without it and create it when you first have useful information to store.
• If the file can't be read (permissions, missing directory), proceed without memory. Don't error out.

Writing Memory

After discovering useful information, update ~/.config/agent-messenger/MEMORY.md using the Write tool. Write triggers include:

• After discovering workspace IDs and names (from auth list, snapshot, etc.)
• After discovering group IDs and names (from group list, snapshot, etc.)
• After discovering chat IDs (from chat list, etc.)
• After discovering manager IDs and names (from manager list, etc.)
• After discovering bot names (from bot list, etc.)
• After the user gives you an alias or preference ("call this the support workspace", "my main group is X")
• After setting a default bot name (from auth bot)

When writing, include the complete file content. The Write tool overwrites the entire file.

What to Store

• Workspace IDs with names
• Group IDs with names (and @name aliases)
• UserChat IDs with context
• Manager IDs with names
• Bot names and their purposes
• Default bot name per workspace
• User-given aliases ("support workspace", "billing group")
• Any user preference expressed during interaction

What NOT to Store

Never store access keys, access secrets, or any credentials. Never store full message content (just IDs and context). Never store personal user data.

Handling Stale Data

If a memorized ID returns an error (chat not found, group not found), remove it from MEMORY.md. Don't blindly trust memorized data. Verify when something seems off. Prefer re-listing over using a memorized ID that might be stale.

Format / Example

# Agent Messenger Memory

## Channel Talk Workspaces

- `abc123` - Acme Support

## Default Bot (Acme Support)

- Support Bot

## Groups (Acme Support)

- `grp_111` - @support (Support Inbox)
- `grp_222` - @billing (Billing Inbox)
- `grp_333` - @engineering (Engineering)

## Recent UserChats (Acme Support)

- `uc_aaa` - John Doe inquiry (opened)
- `uc_bbb` - Refund request (closed)

## Managers (Acme Support)

- `mgr_001` - Alice (Team Lead)
- `mgr_002` - Bob (Support Agent)

## Bots (Acme Support)

- Support Bot (default, used for auto-replies)
- Notification Bot (used for alerts)

## Aliases

- "support" -> `grp_111` (@support in Acme Support)

## Notes

- Support Bot is used for closing chats and auto-replies
- Notification Bot is used for CI/CD alerts to @engineering

Memory lets you skip repeated group list and chat list calls. When you already know an ID from a previous session, use it directly.

Commands

Auth Commands

# Set workspace credentials (validates against API)
agent-channeltalkbot auth set <access-key> <access-secret>

# Check auth status
agent-channeltalkbot auth status

# Clear all credentials
agent-channeltalkbot auth clear

# List stored workspaces
agent-channeltalkbot auth list

# Switch active workspace
agent-channeltalkbot auth use <workspace-id>

# Remove a stored workspace
agent-channeltalkbot auth remove <workspace-id>

# Set default bot name for sending messages
agent-channeltalkbot auth bot <name>

Whoami Command

# Show current authenticated bot
agent-channeltalkbot whoami
agent-channeltalkbot whoami --pretty
agent-channeltalkbot whoami --workspace <workspace-id>

Message Commands

# Send a message to a UserChat or Group
agent-channeltalkbot message send <target> <text>
agent-channeltalkbot message send abc123-chat-id "Hello!"
agent-channeltalkbot message send @support "Team update"

# Reply in a group thread (group only — userchats have no thread API)
agent-channeltalkbot message reply <group> <root-message-id> <text>
agent-channeltalkbot message reply @support root-msg-id "Sounds good"

# List messages from a UserChat or Group
agent-channeltalkbot message list <target>
agent-channeltalkbot message list abc123-chat-id --limit 50

# Get a specific message by ID
# Note: Searches the latest 100 messages. Older messages may not be found.
agent-channeltalkbot message get <target> <message-id>

Target auto-detection: if the target starts with @, it's treated as a group. Otherwise, it's treated as a UserChat. You can override with --type userchat or --type group.

Chat Commands (UserChats)

# List UserChats (default: opened)
agent-channeltalkbot chat list
agent-channeltalkbot chat list --state opened
agent-channeltalkbot chat list --state snoozed
agent-channeltalkbot chat list --state closed

# Get a specific UserChat
agent-channeltalkbot chat get <chat-id>

# Close a UserChat (requires --bot or default bot)
agent-channeltalkbot chat close <chat-id>
agent-channeltalkbot chat close <chat-id> --bot "Support Bot"

# Delete a UserChat (requires --force)
agent-channeltalkbot chat delete <chat-id> --force

Group Commands

# List groups
agent-channeltalkbot group list

# Get a group by ID or @name
agent-channeltalkbot group get <group>
agent-channeltalkbot group get @support

# Get messages from a group
agent-channeltalkbot group messages <group>
agent-channeltalkbot group messages @support --limit 50

Manager Commands

# List all managers
agent-channeltalkbot manager list

# Get a specific manager
agent-channeltalkbot manager get <manager-id>

Bot Commands

# List all bots
agent-channeltalkbot bot list

# Create a new bot
agent-channeltalkbot bot create <name>
agent-channeltalkbot bot create "Deploy Bot" --color "#FF5733" --avatar-url "https://example.com/avatar.png"

# Delete a bot (requires --force)
agent-channeltalkbot bot delete <bot-id> --force

Snapshot Command

Get workspace overview for AI agents (brief by default):

# Brief snapshot (default) — fast, minimal API calls
agent-channeltalkbot snapshot

# Full snapshot — includes messages, managers, bots (slow, large output)
agent-channeltalkbot snapshot --full

# Filtered full snapshots
agent-channeltalkbot snapshot --full --groups-only
agent-channeltalkbot snapshot --full --chats-only

# Limit messages per group/chat (only with --full)
agent-channeltalkbot snapshot --full --limit 10

Default returns brief JSON with:

• Workspace metadata (id, name, homepage_url, description)
• Groups (id, name)
• UserChat summary (opened/snoozed/closed counts)
• Hint for next commands

With --full, returns comprehensive JSON with:

• Workspace metadata (id, name, homepage_url, description)
• Groups with recent messages (id, name, messages)
• UserChat summary (opened/snoozed/closed counts, recent opened with last message)
• Managers (id, name, description)
• Bots (id, name)

Output Format

JSON (Default)

All commands output JSON by default for AI consumption:

{
  "id": "msg_abc123",
  "chat_id": "uc_def456",
  "person_type": "bot",
  "plain_text": "Hello world",
  "created_at": 1705312200000
}

Pretty (Human-Readable)

Use --pretty flag for formatted output:

agent-channeltalkbot group list --pretty

Global Options

Option	Description
--pretty	Human-readable output instead of JSON
--workspace <id>	Use a specific workspace for this command
--bot <name>	Use a specific bot name for this command

Common Patterns

See references/common-patterns.md for typical AI agent workflows.

Templates

See templates/ directory for runnable examples:

• post-message.sh - Send messages with error handling
• monitor-chat.sh - Poll for new UserChats
• workspace-summary.sh - Generate workspace summary

Error Handling

All commands return consistent error format:

{
  "error": "No credentials. Run \"auth set <access-key> <access-secret>\" first."
}

Common errors: No credentials, Workspace not found, Bot name is required, Use --force to confirm deletion.

Configuration

Credentials stored in ~/.config/agent-messenger/channeltalkbot-credentials.json (0600 permissions). See references/authentication.md for format and security details.

Config format:

{
  "current": { "workspace_id": "abc123" },
  "workspaces": {
    "abc123": {
      "workspace_id": "abc123",
      "workspace_name": "My Workspace",
      "access_key": "...",
      "access_secret": "..."
    }
  },
  "default_bot": "Support Bot"
}

Key Differences from agent-channeltalk

Feature	agent-channeltalk	agent-channeltalkbot
Auth type	Cookie extraction (browser)	API credentials (access key/secret)
Token source	Auto-extracted from session	Channel Talk admin Open API
Acts as	Manager (you)	Bot (named identity)
Send group messages	Yes	Yes (requires bot name)
Send user-chat reply	Yes	Yes
Manage bots	No	Yes (create / delete)
Workspace snapshot	Yes	Yes
Search messages	Yes (UI search)	No (API limitation)
CI/CD friendly	Requires browser session	Yes (just set access key/secret)

Limitations

• No real-time events / WebSocket connection
• No file upload support
• No message editing or deletion (Channel Talk API limitation)
• No user management (users are end-customers, managed by Channel Talk)
• No webhook support
• No message search (Channel Talk Open API does not provide a search endpoint)
• Plain text messages only (no rich blocks in v1)
• Bot name must exist in the workspace for sending messages
• Channel Talk has rate limits on API calls

Troubleshooting

agent-channeltalkbot: command not found

agent-channeltalkbot is NOT the npm package name. The npm package is agent-messenger.

If the package is installed globally, use agent-channeltalkbot directly:

agent-channeltalkbot message send abc123-chat-id "Hello"

If the package is NOT installed, run it directly with npx -y:

npx -y agent-messenger channeltalkbot message send abc123-chat-id "Hello"

Note: If the user prefers a different package runner (e.g., bunx, pnpx, pnpm dlx), use that instead.

NEVER run npx agent-channeltalkbot, bunx agent-channeltalkbot, or pnpm dlx agent-channeltalkbot. It will fail or install a wrong package since agent-channeltalkbot is not the npm package name.

How to get API credentials

1. Log in to Channel Talk
2. Go to Settings > Developers > Open API
3. Create or copy your Access Key and Access Secret
4. Run agent-channeltalkbot auth set <access-key> <access-secret>

Rate limiting

Channel Talk enforces rate limits on API calls. The CLI automatically retries on rate limit (429) responses using the Retry-After header. For bulk operations, add delays between requests to avoid hitting limits.

Bot name errors

Some operations (closing chats, sending messages) require a bot name. Set a default with auth bot <name> or pass --bot <name> per command. The bot must exist in your workspace. Use bot list to see available bots.

For other troubleshooting, see references/authentication.md.

References

• Authentication Guide
• Common Patterns