Message Channels

Channels connect outside conversations — customers on WhatsApp, a team Slack, an inbox — to the agent runtime. Inbound messages are routed to the right workspace and agent, can create tasks, and replies go back out on the same channel.

Supported Channels

Channel	Transport	Notes
Telegram	Webhook or long-polling	TELEGRAM_MODE=webhook|polling|auto; auto uses webhooks when PUBLIC_BASE_URL is HTTPS, otherwise polls — so Telegram works on a laptop with no public URL.
WhatsApp Business	Meta Cloud API webhook	Customer-owned WABA and business number through Meta Embedded Signup.
SMS / Voice (Twilio)	Webhooks + Media Streams	Voice calls use native OpenAI Realtime over a WebSocket. Configure the Entity's Primary AI BYOK in Account → Models — see Configuration.
WeChat Official Account	Fixed callback URL	Customer-service and template messages through the WeChat OA API. Configure the callback in plain-text mode with the complete URL shown on the Integration health card: https://<public-host>/api/v1/channels/wechat/callback?config_id=<ChannelConfig ID>.
WeChat Personal	wechat-runner callback	The wechat-runner service bridges a personal-style WeChat session (scan the QR at http://localhost:8801/qr.png).
Facebook Pages / Messenger	HMAC-verified webhook	Requires Meta app review for production scopes.
Slack	Generic callback	Handles Slack's url_verification automatically.
Discord	Generic callback + bot	Interaction signatures verified with DISCORD_PUBLIC_KEY.
Email	SMTP/inbound adapter	Uses the deployment's email configuration.
Web chat	Built-in	Embeddable public chat, no external provider needed.

Each connected channel is a channel config on your entity, with credentials stored encrypted (Vault). Contacts who message in become channel contacts — per-channel identities that can optionally be claimed by a Manor user and assigned a role (external, member, admin), which governs what tools the agent may use in that conversation. Some channels allow contact-level routing; WhatsApp Business always uses the one exact active Agent Binding for its connected number.

Browser voice and Twilio voice use the same Entity BYOK model policy as Chat. Configure the speech providers as well as the model; a platform-only key does not make self-hosted voice healthy. Without SMTP, outbound email is unavailable but local documents, signatures and collaboration remain usable. Health/setup checks do not grant channel or tool permissions.

WhatsApp Business Setup

Manor uses one account-only Embedded Signup flow. The customer owns the Meta Business Portfolio, WABA, number, billing, templates, and policy compliance; Nango holds the delegated customer token. The normal setup requires no manual access token, App Secret, WABA ID, phone ID, or callback field.

1. Open Integrations, find WhatsApp Business, and select Connect.
2. Complete Meta Embedded Signup as a Business Portfolio administrator and select or create the customer WABA and eligible Cloud API number.
3. Run Test connection. This checks OAuth, assets, phone registration, the exact Manor Meta App subscription, and the fixed callback. A six-digit PIN is requested only when Meta requires registration recovery.
4. Open Agent Channels and use the existing Agent Binding control to map the connected number to one exact Agent deployment and Workspace.
5. Send a message from a different WhatsApp account to the business number, or open https://wa.me/<E164-number-without-plus>. The business number must not message itself.

A customer-initiated message opens Meta's 24-hour customer-service window for free-form replies. Outside that window Manor requires an explicit approved template and never silently substitutes one.

Self-hosted operators need a Facebook Login for Business v4 configuration with Embedded Signup and Cloud API, Advanced Access for whatsapp_business_management and whatsapp_business_messaging, and a public HTTPS callback. Staging and production must use separate Meta Apps, Config IDs, App Secrets, verify tokens, Nango provider configs, and callback hosts. The production Nango redirect is ${NANGO_PUBLIC_URL}/oauth/callback; never copy a staging Nango host into production.

Routing Into Workspaces

In a workspace's Channels tab, attach a channel and map it to the right agent (for example: bookings inbox → concierge agent). Inbound messages then create conversations and tasks in that workspace, and the agent replies on the channel.

Pairing Codes

For chat apps where users must link their external identity to their Manor account (for example a Telegram bot serving your team), Manor uses short pairing codes:

1. An operator mints a code in Manor (POST /api/v1/channel-pairings).
2. The user sends the code to the bot.
3. The bot redeems it (POST /api/v1/channel-pairings/redeem) and the external identity is linked to the Manor user.

Codes are single-use, expire after minutes, and can be workspace-bound.

Webhook URLs

Inbound webhooks live under /api/v1/channels/:

POST /api/v1/channels/telegram/webhook/{bot_token_hash}
GET/POST /api/v1/channels/whatsapp/webhook
POST /api/v1/channels/twilio/sms | /twilio/voice | /twilio/status
GET/POST /api/v1/channels/wechat/callback?config_id=...   # Official Account; plain-text mode
GET/POST /api/v1/channels/facebook/webhook
POST /api/v1/channels/{channel_type}/callback?config_id=...   # generic (Slack, Discord, …)

All of them require PUBLIC_BASE_URL to be reachable by the provider — HTTPS in production. Signature verification (Meta HMAC, Discord Ed25519, Twilio signatures) rejects unsigned traffic; a signature mismatch fails silently from the provider's point of view, so double-check app secrets when messages don't arrive.

Internal Direct Messages

Separate from external channels, Manor has team direct messages (Messages in the sidebar): human-to-human threads between users of the same entity, backed by GET/POST /api/v1/messages and /api/v1/messages/threads.