Introduction

The Configuration API allows you to manage resources such as agents, auto access, bots, groups, properties, and webhooks. You can use it to build advanced integrations as well as alter the configuration of your resources directly via the API.

Use cases

Here are some of the most common use cases of the Configuration API:

• Build integrations that connect LiveChat with other services via webhooks. React to events happening in the chat.
• Create automation solutions with the use of bots. Connect LiveChat with various AI solutions.
• Use properties to store information about chats, threads, or events.

API versioning

The LiveChat Configuration API goes through several stages in its lifecycle.

Current versioning

Refer to this chart to learn the details about our current APIs lifecycle. One block on the chart represents a quarter of a year.

Resources

Agents

An agent is a type of user who communicates with customers. You can see the sample agent data structure in the response of Get Agent. The Configuration API allows for multiple agent-related actions, including creating, updating, deleting, and suspending agents.

Auto access

Auto access is a functionality that allows for assigning customers to dedicated groups based on the URL or the customer's geolocation. When a customer who matches some pre-defined auto access rules starts a chat, the chat is automatically routed to the specific group. You can use auto access, for example, to provide multi-language support with each group of agents being responsible for communication in a different language.

Bots

Bots are similar to regular agents. The main difference between them is that bots have a greater potential for automation, for example, they can listen for and react to incoming webhooks and pushes.

Bots are created and managed via the Configuration API. Just as regular agents, bots can call Agent Chat API by the Web or RTM API.

To change a bot's status (accepting_chats, not_accepting_chats, or offline), use the Set Routing Status method from the Agent Chat API.

Bot authorization

There are two authorization mechanisms for bots:

• old (v3.5 and lower): X-Author-Id mechanism; bots use the agent token to call the API
• new (v3.5 and higher): bots use their own authorization tokens

Version 3.5 supports both authorization mechanism. Read more in Changelog.

Groups

Groups let you organize your work by creating teams with agent and bot members. You can use groups to do configuration based on shared settings (language, working hours, department) and to separate chat routing.

Properties

Properties are key-value storages. Depending on the API version, they can be set within the following locations: a chat, a thread, an event, a group, and a license. Property configuration is owned by a Client Id (integration), not by license (v3.3+). Properties can be public or private.

• Learn more about properties
• See property methods

Webhooks

In a nutshell, actions invoked by the use of Messaging APIs or the Configuration API result in events. You can be notified about those events with webhooks. LiveChat provides a number of webhooks, which you can register and manage via the Configuration API. Just like properties, webhooks are registered per Client Id (integration), not per license (v3.3+).

We can distinguish two types of webhooks:

• license webhooks
• bot webhooks

Once license webhooks are set up, you will always receive them. Read our tutorial on how to configure LiveChat license webhooks via the Configuration API.

Bot webhooks are strongly coupled with the bot's status (accepting chats, not accepting chats, offline). If the bot is offline, webhooks won't be received.

• Learn more about webhooks
• See available webhooks
• See webhook methods