Integrations

Overview

Helpon integrates with a wide range of external services to extend your chat assistant into the tools your team already uses. All integration settings are managed from Helpon → Settings → Integrations in your WordPress admin panel.

The following integrations are available out of the box:

• Webhooks — Send real-time event data to any external URL
• Slack — Receive chat notifications and respond from Slack channels
• Email Notifications — Alert agents and admins of key events via email
• Shortcodes — Embed chat widgets, knowledge base, booking, FAQ, and contact forms on any page
• Follow-Up Emails — Automatically send transcripts, surveys, and re-engagement messages
• REST API — Programmatic access to conversations, contacts, and messages
• Zapier — Connect Helpon to 5,000+ apps with no-code automation
• Third-Party Apps — Google Analytics, Facebook Pixel, and custom JavaScript hooks

Webhooks

Outgoing webhooks allow Helpon to send real-time HTTP POST requests to your server whenever specific events occur. This is ideal for syncing data with external CRMs, triggering custom workflows, or logging events to a third-party system.

Setting Up a Webhook

Available Webhook Events

Payload Format

All webhook payloads are sent as JSON with the Content-Type: application/json header. Here is an example payload for the conversation.started event:

{
  "event": "conversation.started",
  "timestamp": "2026-03-03T14:22:08Z",
  "webhook_id": "wh_8a3b2c1d",
  "data": {
    "conversation_id": 1542,
    "channel": "web_chat",
    "visitor": {
      "name": "Sarah Johnson",
      "email": "sarah@example.com",
      "ip": "192.168.1.100",
      "user_agent": "Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; Win64; x64)",
      "page_url": "https://example.com/services"
    },
    "assigned_agent": null,
    "ai_enabled": true,
    "tags": [],
    "metadata": {
      "referrer": "https://google.com",
      "utm_source": "organic"
    }
  }
}

Retry Logic

If a webhook delivery fails (non-2xx response or timeout), Helpon retries the request using exponential backoff:

• Retry 1: After 30 seconds
• Retry 2: After 5 minutes
• Retry 3: After 30 minutes
• Retry 4: After 2 hours
• Retry 5: After 12 hours (final attempt)

After 5 failed attempts, the webhook is marked as failing and an admin notification is sent. You can view delivery logs and manually retry from the webhook detail page.

Slack Integration

Connect Helpon to your Slack workspace so your team receives instant notifications for new chats, escalations, and offline messages directly in Slack channels.

Connecting Slack

Notification Events

Slack Bot Commands

Once connected, the Helpon Slack bot supports these commands in your workspace:

• /helpon status — View current online agents and active conversation count
• /helpon recent — List the 5 most recent conversations with links
• /helpon assign [conversation_id] [agent] — Assign a conversation to a specific agent
• /helpon resolve [conversation_id] — Mark a conversation as resolved
• /helpon stats — Quick summary of today's chat metrics

Email Notifications

Configure email alerts so your team never misses an important event. Email notifications are managed from Helpon → Settings → Integrations → Email Notifications.

Email Triggers

Recipient Settings

For each email trigger, you can configure recipients as:

• All agents — Every agent registered in Helpon receives the email
• Online agents only — Only agents currently marked as online
• Assigned agent — Only the agent assigned to the conversation
• Admin email — The WordPress admin email address
• Custom emails — Enter one or more custom email addresses separated by commas

Email Template Customization

Helpon uses HTML email templates that can be customized under Helpon → Settings → Integrations → Email Templates. Available template variables include:

SMTP Settings

By default, Helpon sends emails using WordPress's wp_mail() function. For better deliverability, configure a custom SMTP server under Helpon → Settings → Integrations → SMTP:

• SMTP Host — Your mail server address (e.g., smtp.gmail.com)
• SMTP Port — Typically 587 (TLS) or 465 (SSL)
• Encryption — TLS (recommended) or SSL
• Username — Your SMTP login username
• Password — Your SMTP login password
• From Name — Sender name shown in the email
• From Email — Sender email address

Shortcodes

Helpon provides WordPress shortcodes to embed chat widgets, knowledge base articles, booking forms, FAQs, and contact forms on any page or post. Use these shortcodes in the WordPress editor, page builders, or template files.

[helpon_chat]

Embeds the chat widget inline on a page instead of as a floating bubble. Useful for dedicated support pages.

[helpon_chat position="inline" height="500" color="#2D8BC9" greeting="How can we help?"]

[helpon_kb]

Displays the knowledge base with search, categories, and article listings. Ideal for creating a self-service help center page.

[helpon_kb category="general" columns="3" search="true" limit="12"]

[helpon_booking]

Renders the appointment booking form with calendar, time slot selection, and service picker.

[helpon_booking service="consultation" provider="dr-smith" style="calendar"]

[helpon_faq]

Displays an accordion-style FAQ section pulled from your knowledge base articles tagged as FAQ.

[helpon_faq category="billing" limit="10" style="accordion" search="true"]

[helpon_contact_form]

Embeds a contact form that creates a new conversation and contact record in Helpon when submitted.

[helpon_contact_form fields="name,email,phone,message" subject="Website Inquiry" department="support"]

Shortcode Parameters Reference

Follow-Up Emails

Helpon can automatically send follow-up emails to visitors after a chat session ends. Configure follow-up emails from Helpon → Settings → Integrations → Follow-Up Emails.

Setting Up Follow-Up Emails

REST API

The Helpon REST API provides programmatic access to your conversations, contacts, messages, and more. Use it to build custom integrations, dashboards, or sync data with external systems.

Authentication

All API requests require authentication via an API key passed in the request header. Generate your API key from Helpon → Settings → Integrations → REST API.

X-Helpon-API-Key: your_api_key_here

Base URL

All API endpoints are available at:

https://yoursite.com/wp-json/helpon/v1/

Rate Limits

When you exceed the rate limit, the API returns a 429 Too Many Requests response with a Retry-After header indicating when you can retry.

API Endpoints

List Conversations

Retrieve a paginated list of conversations with filters for status, date range, and agent.

curl -X GET "https://yoursite.com/wp-json/helpon/v1/conversations?status=open&per_page=20&page=1" \
  -H "X-Helpon-API-Key: your_api_key_here" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json"

Create a Contact

Add a new contact to the Helpon CRM programmatically.

curl -X POST "https://yoursite.com/wp-json/helpon/v1/contacts" \
  -H "X-Helpon-API-Key: your_api_key_here" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "name": "Jane Doe",
    "email": "jane@example.com",
    "phone": "+1-555-0123",
    "tags": ["new-patient", "web-lead"],
    "custom_fields": {
      "insurance_provider": "BlueCross",
      "preferred_location": "Downtown"
    }
  }'

Send a Message

Send a message to an existing conversation on behalf of an agent or the system.

curl -X POST "https://yoursite.com/wp-json/helpon/v1/conversations/1542/messages" \
  -H "X-Helpon-API-Key: your_api_key_here" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "message": "Thank you for reaching out! Your appointment has been confirmed for March 10th at 2:00 PM.",
    "sender_type": "agent",
    "agent_id": 3
  }'

Zapier

Connect Helpon to over 5,000 apps using Zapier's no-code automation platform. Create "Zaps" that automatically trigger actions in other apps when events occur in Helpon, or push data into Helpon from external sources.

Setting Up Zapier

Available Triggers

• New Conversation — Fires when a visitor starts a new chat
• Conversation Resolved — Fires when a conversation is closed
• New Contact — Fires when a new contact is created
• New Appointment — Fires when a visitor books an appointment
• Offline Message — Fires when a visitor submits an offline form
• Agent Escalation — Fires when AI escalates to a human agent

Available Actions

• Create Contact — Add a new contact to Helpon CRM
• Update Contact — Update an existing contact's details
• Send Message — Send a message in a conversation
• Add Tag — Add a tag to a contact or conversation
• Create Appointment — Book an appointment for a contact

Example Zaps

Third-Party Apps

Helpon provides hooks and event tracking integrations for Google Analytics, Facebook Pixel, and custom JavaScript, allowing you to measure chat engagement and trigger custom behaviors.

Google Analytics Event Tracking

Enable Google Analytics tracking from Helpon → Settings → Integrations → Analytics. Helpon automatically sends events to your GA4 property when visitors interact with the chat widget.

// Automatically fired by Helpon when GA tracking is enabled:

// When the chat widget is opened
gtag('event', 'helpon_chat_opened', {
  event_category: 'Helpon',
  event_label: 'Chat Widget Opened'
});

// When a visitor sends a message
gtag('event', 'helpon_message_sent', {
  event_category: 'Helpon',
  event_label: 'Visitor Message',
  value: 1
});

// When an appointment is booked via chat
gtag('event', 'helpon_appointment_booked', {
  event_category: 'Helpon',
  event_label: 'Appointment Booking',
  value: 1
});

// When a conversation is escalated to a human
gtag('event', 'helpon_escalation', {
  event_category: 'Helpon',
  event_label: 'Agent Escalation'
});

Facebook Pixel Integration

Enter your Facebook Pixel ID in Helpon → Settings → Integrations → Facebook Pixel. Helpon fires custom events for chat interactions that can be used for retargeting and conversion tracking.

// Automatically fired by Helpon when FB Pixel is enabled:

fbq('trackCustom', 'HelponChatOpened');
fbq('trackCustom', 'HelponMessageSent');
fbq('trackCustom', 'HelponAppointmentBooked');
fbq('trackCustom', 'HelponContactFormSubmitted');

Custom JavaScript Hooks

Helpon exposes a JavaScript event system that lets you listen for chat events and execute custom logic on your frontend.

// Listen for when the chat widget opens
document.addEventListener('helpon:chat:opened', function(e) {
  console.log('Chat widget opened');
});

// Listen for when a visitor sends a message
document.addEventListener('helpon:message:sent', function(e) {
  console.log('Message sent:', e.detail.message);
});

// Listen for when a conversation ends
document.addEventListener('helpon:conversation:ended', function(e) {
  console.log('Conversation ended:', e.detail.conversation_id);
  // Trigger a custom survey popup
  showCustomSurvey(e.detail.conversation_id);
});

// Listen for when an appointment is booked
document.addEventListener('helpon:appointment:booked', function(e) {
  console.log('Appointment booked:', e.detail);
  // Redirect to a thank-you page
  window.location.href = '/thank-you/?booking=' + e.detail.appointment_id;
});

WordPress Action & Filter Hooks

For server-side customization, Helpon provides WordPress action and filter hooks that you can use in your theme's functions.php or a custom plugin.

// Triggered when a new conversation is created
add_action('helpon_conversation_started', function($conversation) {
    // Log to a custom table or send to an external API
    error_log('New conversation #' . $conversation->id . ' from ' . $conversation->visitor_name);
});

// Triggered when a contact is created
add_action('helpon_contact_created', function($contact) {
    // Sync with an external CRM
    wp_remote_post('https://external-crm.com/api/contacts', array(
        'body' => json_encode(array(
            'name'  => $contact->name,
            'email' => $contact->email,
            'phone' => $contact->phone,
        )),
        'headers' => array('Content-Type' => 'application/json'),
    ));
});

// Filter the AI response before it is sent to the visitor
add_filter('helpon_ai_response', function($response, $conversation) {
    // Append a disclaimer to every AI message
    $response .= "\n\nNote: This response was generated by AI. For medical advice, please consult a professional.";
    return $response;
}, 10, 2);

// Filter the widget output before rendering
add_filter('helpon_widget_html', function($html) {
    // Add a custom CSS class to the widget wrapper
    return str_replace('class="helpon-widget"', 'class="helpon-widget my-custom-class"', $html);
});

Troubleshooting

Common integration issues and their solutions:

Webhook Not Receiving Data

• Verify the webhook URL is accessible from the public internet (not localhost)
• Check that your server returns a 2xx status code within 15 seconds — Helpon times out after 15 seconds
• Ensure the webhook is set to Active in the webhook settings
• Review the delivery log at Helpon → Settings → Integrations → Webhooks → [Your Webhook] → Logs
• If your server requires IP whitelisting, whitelist the Helpon server IP shown on the webhook settings page
• Make sure HTTPS is configured correctly on your receiving endpoint — self-signed certificates will cause failures

Slack Not Connecting

• Ensure you are a Slack workspace admin or have permission to install apps
• Try disconnecting and reconnecting the Slack integration from the Helpon settings
• Verify the bot has been invited to the notification channel — type /invite @Helpon in the channel
• Check if your Slack workspace has restrictions on third-party app installations
• Clear browser cookies and try the OAuth flow again in an incognito window

Emails Going to Spam

• Configure a dedicated SMTP service instead of relying on the default wp_mail() function
• Set up SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records for your sending domain
• Use a sender email address on your own domain (not a free email provider like Gmail)
• Keep email content professional and avoid spam trigger words
• Verify your sender domain in your SMTP provider's dashboard
• Test email deliverability using tools like Mail Tester (mail-tester.com)

API Authentication Errors

• Confirm the API key is passed in the X-Helpon-API-Key header (not as a URL parameter)
• Check that the API key has not been regenerated — regenerating creates a new key and invalidates the old one
• Verify your site URL matches the one registered with the API key
• Ensure the REST API is enabled for your plan (Pro and above)
• Check for WordPress plugins that may block REST API requests (some security plugins do this)
• If using a .htaccess password on your site, ensure the API endpoint is excluded