Chatwoot

Use Chatwoot via direct curl calls to manage customer support across multiple channels (website, email, WhatsApp, etc.).

Official docs: https://developers.chatwoot.com/api-reference/introduction

When to Use

Use this skill when you need to:

Manage contacts - create, search, and update customer profiles
Handle conversations - create, assign, and track support conversations
Send messages - reply to customers or add internal notes
List agents - get support team information
Automate workflows - integrate with CRM, ticketing, or notification systems

Prerequisites

Set up Chatwoot (Cloud or Self-hosted)
Log in and go to Profile Settings to get your API access token
Note your Account ID from the URL (e.g., /app/accounts/1/...)

export CHATWOOT_API_TOKEN="your-api-access-token"
export CHATWOOT_ACCOUNT_ID="1"
export CHATWOOT_BASE_URL="https://app.chatwoot.com" # or your self-hosted URL

API Types

API Type	Auth	Use Case
Application API	User access_token	Agent/admin automation
Client API	inbox_identifier	Custom chat interfaces
Platform API	Platform App token	Multi-tenant management (self-hosted only)

Important: When using $VAR in a command that pipes to another command, wrap the command containing $VAR in bash -c '...'. Due to a Claude Code bug, environment variables are silently cleared when pipes are used directly.
bash -c 'curl -s "https://api.example.com" -H "Authorization: Bearer $API_KEY"' | jq .

How to Use

All examples use the Application API with user access token.

1. Create a Contact

Create a new contact in your account:

Write to /tmp/chatwoot_request.json:

{
  "inbox_id": 1,
  "name": "John Doe",
  "email": "john@example.com",
  "phone_number": "+1234567890",
  "identifier": "customer_123",
  "additional_attributes": {
    "company": "Acme Inc",
    "plan": "premium"
  }
}

Then run:

bash -c 'curl -s -X POST "${CHATWOOT_BASE_URL}/api/v1/accounts/${CHATWOOT_ACCOUNT_ID}/contacts" -H "api_access_token: ${CHATWOOT_API_TOKEN}" -H "Content-Type: application/json" -d @/tmp/chatwoot_request.json'

2. Search Contacts

Search contacts by email, phone, or name:

bash -c 'curl -s -X GET "${CHATWOOT_BASE_URL}/api/v1/accounts/${CHATWOOT_ACCOUNT_ID}/contacts/search?q=john@example.com" -H "api_access_token: ${CHATWOOT_API_TOKEN}"' | jq '.payload[] | {id, name, email}'

3. Get Contact Details

Get a specific contact by ID. Replace <contact-id> with the actual contact ID from the "Search Contacts" or "Create a Contact" response:

bash -c 'curl -s -X GET "${CHATWOOT_BASE_URL}/api/v1/accounts/${CHATWOOT_ACCOUNT_ID}/contacts/<contact-id>" -H "api_access_token: ${CHATWOOT_API_TOKEN}"'

4. Create a Conversation

Create a new conversation with a contact:

Write to /tmp/chatwoot_request.json:

{
  "source_id": "api_conversation_123",
  "inbox_id": 1,
  "contact_id": 123,
  "status": "open",
  "message": {
    "content": "Hello! How can I help you today?"
  }
}

Then run:

bash -c 'curl -s -X POST "${CHATWOOT_BASE_URL}/api/v1/accounts/${CHATWOOT_ACCOUNT_ID}/conversations" -H "api_access_token: ${CHATWOOT_API_TOKEN}" -H "Content-Type: application/json" -d @/tmp/chatwoot_request.json'

5. List Conversations

Get all conversations with optional filters:

# List open conversations
bash -c 'curl -s -X GET "${CHATWOOT_BASE_URL}/api/v1/accounts/${CHATWOOT_ACCOUNT_ID}/conversations?status=open" -H "api_access_token: ${CHATWOOT_API_TOKEN}"' | jq '.data.payload[] | {id, status, contact: .meta.sender.name}'

6. Get Conversation Details

Get details of a specific conversation. Replace <conversation-id> with the actual conversation ID from the "List Conversations" or "Create a Conversation" response:

bash -c 'curl -s -X GET "${CHATWOOT_BASE_URL}/api/v1/accounts/${CHATWOOT_ACCOUNT_ID}/conversations/<conversation-id>" -H "api_access_token: ${CHATWOOT_API_TOKEN}"'

7. Send a Message

Send a message in a conversation. Replace <conversation-id> with the actual conversation ID from the "List Conversations" response:

Write to /tmp/chatwoot_request.json:

{
  "content": "Thank you for contacting us! Let me help you with that.",
  "message_type": "outgoing",
  "private": false
}

Then run:

bash -c 'curl -s -X POST "${CHATWOOT_BASE_URL}/api/v1/accounts/${CHATWOOT_ACCOUNT_ID}/conversations/<conversation-id>/messages" -H "api_access_token: ${CHATWOOT_API_TOKEN}" -H "Content-Type: application/json" -d @/tmp/chatwoot_request.json'

8. Add Private Note

Add an internal note (not visible to customer). Replace <conversation-id> with the actual conversation ID from the "List Conversations" response:

Write to /tmp/chatwoot_request.json:

{
  "content": "Customer is a VIP - handle with priority",
  "message_type": "outgoing",
  "private": true
}

Then run:

bash -c 'curl -s -X POST "${CHATWOOT_BASE_URL}/api/v1/accounts/${CHATWOOT_ACCOUNT_ID}/conversations/<conversation-id>/messages" -H "api_access_token: ${CHATWOOT_API_TOKEN}" -H "Content-Type: application/json" -d @/tmp/chatwoot_request.json'

9. Assign Conversation

Assign a conversation to an agent. Replace <conversation-id> with the actual conversation ID and <agent-id> with the agent ID from the "List Agents" response:

Write to /tmp/chatwoot_request.json:

{
  "assignee_id": 1
}

Then run:

bash -c 'curl -s -X POST "${CHATWOOT_BASE_URL}/api/v1/accounts/${CHATWOOT_ACCOUNT_ID}/conversations/<conversation-id>/assignments" -H "api_access_token: ${CHATWOOT_API_TOKEN}" -H "Content-Type: application/json" -d @/tmp/chatwoot_request.json'

10. Update Conversation Status

Change conversation status (open, resolved, pending). Replace <conversation-id> with the actual conversation ID from the "List Conversations" response:

Write to /tmp/chatwoot_request.json:

{
  "status": "resolved"
}

Then run:

bash -c 'curl -s -X POST "${CHATWOOT_BASE_URL}/api/v1/accounts/${CHATWOOT_ACCOUNT_ID}/conversations/<conversation-id>/toggle_status" -H "api_access_token: ${CHATWOOT_API_TOKEN}" -H "Content-Type: application/json" -d @/tmp/chatwoot_request.json'

11. List Agents

Get all agents in the account:

bash -c 'curl -s -X GET "${CHATWOOT_BASE_URL}/api/v1/accounts/${CHATWOOT_ACCOUNT_ID}/agents" -H "api_access_token: ${CHATWOOT_API_TOKEN}"' | jq '.[] | {id, name, email, role, availability_status}'

12. List Inboxes

Get all inboxes (channels) in the account:

bash -c 'curl -s -X GET "${CHATWOOT_BASE_URL}/api/v1/accounts/${CHATWOOT_ACCOUNT_ID}/inboxes" -H "api_access_token: ${CHATWOOT_API_TOKEN}"' | jq '.payload[] | {id, name, channel_type}'

13. Get Conversation Counts

Get counts by status for dashboard:

bash -c 'curl -s -X GET "${CHATWOOT_BASE_URL}/api/v1/accounts/${CHATWOOT_ACCOUNT_ID}/conversations/meta" -H "api_access_token: ${CHATWOOT_API_TOKEN}"' | jq '.meta.all_count, .meta.mine_count'

Conversation Status

Status	Description
`open`	Active conversation
`resolved`	Closed/completed
`pending`	Waiting for response
`snoozed`	Temporarily paused

Message Types

Type	Value	Description
Outgoing	`outgoing`	Agent to customer
Incoming	`incoming`	Customer to agent
Private	`private: true`	Internal note (not visible to customer)

Response Fields

Contact

Field	Description
`id`	Contact ID
`name`	Contact name
`email`	Email address
`phone_number`	Phone number
`identifier`	External system ID
`custom_attributes`	Custom fields

Conversation

Field	Description
`id`	Conversation ID
`inbox_id`	Channel/inbox ID
`status`	Current status
`assignee`	Assigned agent
`contact`	Customer info

Message

Field	Description
`id`	Message ID
`content`	Message text
`message_type`	incoming/outgoing
`private`	Is internal note
`status`	sent/delivered/read/failed

Guidelines

Get API token from Profile Settings: Log into Chatwoot → Profile → Access Token
Account ID is in URL: Look at /app/accounts/{id}/... in your browser
Inbox ID is required: Get inbox IDs first with the list inboxes endpoint
Use source_id for conversations: Required to create conversations via API
Private messages: Set private: true for internal notes
Self-hosted: Change CHATWOOT_BASE_URL to your instance URL
Webhooks recommended: Use webhooks for real-time updates instead of polling