> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.fapost.in/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Channels

> Connecting a messaging provider to an assistant.

A channel is the assistant's presence on one messaging platform — the bot people
actually write to. Without one, an assistant has flows and contacts but no way to
hear from anyone.

## The list

Each channel shows its **platform**, its **webhook hash**, whether it is
**active**, and when it was last **updated**. Three actions: **Edit**, **Rotate
webhook hash**, **Delete**.

## Connecting one

**New Channel** asks for the platform and its credentials:

**Token** — the bot token issued by the platform. This is what authorises the
assistant to send.

**Secret token** — used to verify that an incoming request genuinely came from
the provider and not from someone who guessed the URL. For Telegram this is the
value checked against the `X-Telegram-Bot-Api-Secret-Token` header.

**Active** — whether the channel is in service.

**Channel settings** — free-form key/value pairs for options a particular
platform needs beyond the two above.

<Warning>
  Saving a channel contacts the provider and registers the webhook. A token that
  does not belong to a real bot makes the save fail — the platform is not storing
  a credential and hoping, it is proving the credential works before accepting
  it.

  This is why a channel cannot be prepared in advance and filled in later. Have
  the token ready.
</Warning>

## The webhook hash

Every channel gets a unique hash, which becomes part of the URL the provider
delivers to. It is not a display value: **it is the credential that identifies
this channel**, which is why the list shows it in full only to those who may
manage channels.

**Rotate webhook hash** issues a new one.

<Warning>
  Rotating invalidates the URL the provider currently has. Deliveries stop until
  the webhook is re-registered on the provider side, and nothing warns you —
  messages simply arrive nowhere.

  Rotate when the hash may have leaked. Do not rotate to "refresh" a channel that
  is misbehaving; that is not what it fixes.
</Warning>

The permission to rotate is marked sensitive for exactly this reason — see
[Roles and permissions](/using/roles-and-permissions).

## Active and deleted

Deactivating stops the channel serving without discarding it: the token, the
hash, and the conversations that came through it all remain. Deleting removes the
channel itself.

Prefer deactivating. A deleted channel takes its identity with it, and
reconnecting later means a new hash and a fresh registration with the provider.

## Several channels, one assistant

An assistant can hold more than one channel — the same flows answering on
Telegram and WhatsApp, for instance. Contacts remain per channel: the same person
writing on two platforms is two contacts, because from the assistant's side two
separate people started talking.