Linking Channel.io as a source

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The Channel.io connector syncs your Channel.io (Channel Talk) conversations into the PostHog data warehouse. Import user chats, messages, managers, groups, chat tags, bots, and campaigns so you can join support conversations with your product analytics.

Prerequisites

You need permission to manage API keys in your Channel.io channel.

Adding a data source

In PostHog, go to the Sources tab of the data pipeline section.
Click + New source and click Link next to this source.
Enter your credentials (see Configuration below) and click Next.
Select the tables you want to sync, choose a sync method and frequency, then click Import.

Once the syncs are complete, you can start querying this data in PostHog.

When linking Channel.io, you need:

Access key – the access key of a Channel.io API credential
Access secret – the access secret of the same credential

To get these:

Open the Channel desk.
Go to Settings > API Key management.
Click Create new credential and give it a name.
Copy the access key and access secret into PostHog. Channel.io shows the access secret only once.

Sync modes

Each table can be synced in one of several modes, depending on what the source supports:

Webhook (when available) – the source pushes changes to PostHog in real time. Fastest freshness, lowest ongoing cost, and the only mode that reliably captures updates and deletes.
Incremental – only new or updated rows are synced on each run, using a cursor field (such as an updated_at timestamp). Cheaper than a full refresh, but deletes aren't captured.
Append only – new rows are appended using a cursor field; existing rows are never updated. Ideal for immutable, append-only tables like event logs.
Full refresh – the whole table is reloaded on every sync. Use it when a table has no reliable cursor or when you need deletions reflected.

See sync methods for a full explanation of how each mode works and how to choose between them.

user_chats supports incremental sync on deskUpdatedAt, the time of the most recent desk activity in a chat.

messages supports incremental sync on userChatDeskUpdatedAt. Each incremental sync reads every message of the chats that had desk activity since the last sync, and merges them on the message ID.

managers, groups, chat_tags, bots, and campaigns use full refresh.

Configuration

Option	Type	Required
`Access key`	password	Yes
`Access secret`	password	Yes

Supported tables

Table	Description	Sync method	Incremental field	Primary key
`user_chats`	Conversations between end users and the team in the Channel desk.	Incremental, Full refresh	deskUpdatedAt	—
`messages`	Messages in user chats, one row per message.	Incremental, Full refresh	userChatDeskUpdatedAt	—
`managers`	Team members who handle chats in the Channel desk.	Full refresh	—	—
`groups`	Public team chat groups in the channel.	Full refresh	—	—
`chat_tags`	Tags available for classifying user chats.	Full refresh	—	—
`bots`	Bots that post messages in the channel.	Full refresh	—	—
`campaigns`	Marketing campaigns that message users when they trigger an event.	Full refresh	—	—

Troubleshooting

Invalid credentials – create a new credential under Settings > API Key management, then reconnect the source.
Permission errors – the credential is valid but can't read one of the tables you selected. Check the credential's access in Settings > API Key management, or deselect that table.
Slow syncs – Channel.io limits API requests per channel, and the user chat list has a stricter limit on non-Enterprise plans. Large first syncs can take a while.
No users table – the Channel.io API has no endpoint that lists all users, so there is no users table. Each user chat includes the userId of its user.

If your sync is failing or data looks wrong, see the Data warehouse troubleshooting guide. If that doesn't help, contact support – we're happy to help.