Connectors, sidebar buttons and sidebar apps

Connectors are part of Cliedesk Pro. A connector calls another service from a conversation. For example, it looks up an order, a licence or a subscription and shows the answer to the agent. People with the Manage integrations permission (Admins) set them up in Settings → Developer → Connectors.

Add a connector

1. Select New connector and give it a name. Or install a template under Templates (see below).
2. In Setup, write a Description. Say what it does and when to use it. Choose Read: only looks things up or Write: changes data in the service. Set the Timeout in seconds (15 by default, 60 at most).
3. Under Sign-in, choose how the service checks who you are. Enter the key in Credential and select Save credential. Cliedesk keeps it encrypted and never shows it again. The credential goes only to the addresses and in the place it was saved for. If you later change an address or the sign-in method, enter the credential again.
4. In Inputs and steps, add the Inputs. For each input, choose where Value comes from: the conversation, the contact (for example the email), a fixed value, Typed by the agent, or AI collects from customer (used by the AI agent in a later version).
5. Add the Steps. A request step has a method (GET, POST, PUT, PATCH or DELETE), an HTTPS address, headers and a body. Use tokens such as {inputs.email} in the path or query (not in the host name). A step can run only when a condition holds, and a step can run a Cliedesk action.
6. In Outputs and mapping, add the values you want from the answer as JSONPath (for example $.orders[0].status) and write a Result explanation such as “Order {outputs.status}”.
7. Select Save. Every save is a version. In History you can restore an older version.

Connectors call only public HTTPS addresses. Addresses inside your own network are blocked.

Save the answer in fields

Under Mapping, send each output to a Contact field, a Conversation field, a Custom record or the Sidebar card. A transform can Format date, format Money or Pick first from a list. Values saved by a connector work in views, contact filters, rules and macros like any other field value. Values are saved only when the person who runs the connector may edit those fields. Opening a sidebar card only shows the values.

Test before you go live

In Test, choose Run against: Mock response (no request at all), Staging address or Live service. Enter Sample inputs and select Test. The result shows each output. Select a value in the answer to add it as an output. Tests never save values in fields. Staging tests never get the live credential: to sign in to staging, save a Staging credential under Sign-in.

Health shows the runs of the last 7 days, the success rate, the response time, the last errors and how many conversations had errors. When many runs fail in one hour, the admins get a notification. Runs are kept for 30 days.

Use a connector

• Rules: each active connector is a rule action. Its outputs can be used in later actions as {vars.status}.
• Macros: a macro step can call a connector.
• Sidebar buttons: in Settings → Developer → Sidebar buttons, add a button that runs a connector. Choose which inputs the agent can edit, which are required, the roles that see it, and Ask for confirmation. The button shows in the Actions panel of the sidebar. Each use is logged. When a button has roles, a confirmation or a value the agent cannot change, people run that connector only through the button.
• A read connector whose mapping has Sidebar card values and no typed inputs shows its card in the sidebar.

Templates and suggestions

Templates install a ready connector in one click: Stripe, shipment tracking (AfterShip), Statuspage, HubSpot, a licence server (License Manager for WooCommerce) and Klaviyo. Add the credential after you install it.

Suggestions come from a weekly scan of unresolved conversations. Cliedesk looks for words such as “licence key” or “tracking” and shows how many conversations could use each template, with example conversations. Select Scan now to scan at once, or Dismiss to hide a suggestion.

Sidebar apps and plugin panels

In Settings → Developer → Sidebar apps, add a web app on another address. It shows in the sidebar, can read the conversation on screen and can run only the actions you list, with the rights of the person looking.

When these plugins are active, their panels show in the sidebar by themselves: Loyalty points (YITH Points and Rewards, WPLoyalty), Email marketing (MailPoet, FluentCRM), Klaviyo (after you install its template) and Reviews (WooCommerce product reviews). These panels use only an email address the customer verified, or the customer’s WordPress account.