# Channels

> What channels and entry points are, which kinds of channel Caplo supports, and how a channel serves, updates and rolls back an agent release.

A **channel** is how customers reach an agent. It connects one or more **entry points**, such as a widget on your website or a WhatsApp number, to one published release of one agent. You manage channels under **Channels** in the console.

## Kinds of channel

| Channel                | Entry point                                                                                                     | Conversations                              |
| ---------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------ |
| **Live chat widget**   | The Caplo widget, installed on your website with an embed snippet and limited to the website origins you allow. | Text, and optionally voice in the browser. |
| **WhatsApp Business**  | A WhatsApp Business phone number connected through Meta.                                                        | Text messages.                             |
| **Facebook Messenger** | A Facebook Page connected through Meta.                                                                         | Text messages.                             |
| **Instagram**          | An Instagram professional account connected through Meta.                                                       | Text messages.                             |
| **Telephone**          | A phone number from your Twilio or Telnyx account.                                                              | Voice calls.                               |

For a website, you only need a published widget design; see [Add an agent to your website](/get-started/add-to-your-website/). Messaging and phone channels first need the account connected under **Integrations** > **Communication channels**. See the [channels overview](/channels/).

## A channel serves one release

Each channel names an agent and a specific release of it. That agent is the channel’s **entry agent**: it greets the customer and may delegate to sub-agents (see [Multi-agent](/concepts/multi-agent/)).

Because the channel names a release rather than “the latest”, publishing a new agent release never changes what customers get on its own. You decide when each channel moves.

## Deploying and rolling back

| To                              | In the console                                            | With the CLI                                                   |
| ------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Move to the newest release      | Open the channel and select **Update to** the new version | `caplo channel deploy "<CHANNEL>"`                             |
| Choose a specific release       | **Change release**                                        | `caplo channel deploy "<CHANNEL>" --agent "<AGENT>@<VERSION>"` |
| Go back to the previous release | **Change release**                                        | `caplo channel rollback "<CHANNEL>"`                           |

Whichever way you deploy:

* **New conversations** start on the new release straight away.
* **Conversations in progress** keep the release they started with until they end. A conversation ends after the channel’s inactivity timeout, which is 24 hours unless you change it.
* Rolling back serves the earlier release exactly as it was published; to move forward again, deploy or publish again.

A CLI project can also deploy channels as part of `caplo publish`, by listing them under an environment’s `channels`. See [Environments](/cli/environments/).

## Channel settings

Besides the release, a channel’s entry points carry settings that apply to every conversation on them, such as allowed website origins, whether voice is allowed, the inactivity timeout, and conversation actions like transferring to a person or ending a call. Changes to a channel are saved as new revisions, and settings that shape a conversation apply to conversations that start after the change.

## Related

* [Channels overview](/channels/)
* [Install the website widget](/channels/website-widget/install/)
* [Conversations and handoff](/concepts/conversations-and-handoff/)
* [`caplo channel deploy`](/reference/cli/channel/#caplo-channel-deploy)