Channels: Connect Octop to Your Messaging Apps#

Channels connect your Octop agents to external messaging platforms. Once a channel is configured, every message sent to that platform is routed through Octop's IM bridge and delivered to the agent the channel belongs to. A single agent can have multiple channels active at the same time — the same agent can respond on both Feishu and Telegram, sharing one conversation context.

#Supported channels

Octop ships nine channels:

#Add a channel to an agent

Channels are configured per agent under personalization:

Personalization → Channels

Pick the agent at the top of the page, toggle on the platform you want, and fill in that platform's credentials.

#How message routing works

Each channel is attached to exactly one agent. When a user sends a message on the connected platform, Octop's IM bridge normalises it into a standard format and delivers it to the agent for processing. The agent's reply travels back through the same bridge to the originating platform.

User on Feishu
    │
    ▼
Octop IM bridge  (normalises platform message)
    │
    ▼
Agent            (processes the message)
    │
    ▼
Octop IM bridge  (sends reply back to Feishu)
    │
    ▼
User on Feishu

#Choose how replies appear

In the channel settings drawer, open Message display → Response mode:

• Final only (Recommended) sends one completed reply after the agent finishes.
• Live progress shows updates in the chat app while the agent is still working.

Show thinking and Show tool hints are extra toggles. They are unavailable when the mode is Final only. QQ private chat ignores Response mode and uses c2c_streaming instead.

#Next steps