Channels
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
Section titled “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. |
| 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. Messaging and phone channels first need the account connected under Integrations > Communication channels. See the channels overview.
A channel serves one release
Section titled “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).
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
Section titled “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.
Channel settings
Section titled “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.