What you will build

Customers stay in their Voiceflow conversation while your team replies from Freshchat. Your service translates the platform’s conversation operations and events into the live agent handoff system.

This is a developer implementation guide, not a native connector. The API approach has been reviewed against provider documentation; a live account test is required before rollout.

Before you begin

You need Freshchat API access for your account region, a test user, and an available support agent, an HTTPS service, and access to Custom Handoff in Voiceflow. Start with the shared connection starter. Choose one test customer and one support destination.

Persist the Freshchat conversation ID and user ID independently. Verify region, channel and actor fields against the API version enabled for your account.

Implement the connection

Prepare the support workspace

Use the API host for your Freshchat account region. Resolve a Freshchat user and choose the support channel before creating the conversation.

Confirm a teammate can receive and answer a manually created test conversation before adding Voiceflow.

Implement conversation creation

Create a conversation through the Conversations API, associating the user and initial message with your configured channel.

Use the starter’s create(request, connectionId) hook. Persist the provider ID and connection ID together. Forward relevant context as an initial summary or supported private note; never inject internal metadata into customer-visible replies.

Forward customer messages

Send subsequent messages to the mapped conversation using its message API. Preserve the customer actor rather than posting as a support agent.

Implement the starter’s message(providerConversationId, message) hook. Deduplicate the Voiceflow message id. For the first test, support text and explicitly reject unsupported files rather than acknowledging and dropping them.

Receive human replies

Consume freshchat.conversation.message.create notifications. Distinguish human-agent messages from user messages; map conversation resolution events separately.

After provider authentication succeeds, look up the mapped connection ID and send a normalized message.received event to the starter’s authenticated /events route. Include a stable provider event ID, timestamp and human display name. Do not manufacture an agent.joined event merely because a conversation was created.

Implement closure

Use the conversation update API to resolve the mapped conversation. Test the account’s actual resolution payload before translating it to the Voiceflow end event.

Implement the end(providerConversationId) hook. Deliver conversation.ended for provider-initiated closure. Make both paths idempotent so a reflected closure cannot trigger an endless loop.

Connect and test in Voiceflow

Configure your service in Settings → Integrations → Custom Handoff, then follow Set up live agent handoff. Set Queue ID only when your service has a documented mapping. Publish to a test environment and use the actual customer channel.

Provider mapping

Use POST /v2/conversations for creation, POST /v2/conversations/{conversation_id}/messages for customer replies, and PUT /v2/conversations/{conversation_id} with status: "resolved" for closure. Text content belongs in message_parts, for example:

{
  "actor_type": "user",
  "actor_id": "FRESHCHAT_USER_ID",
  "message_type": "normal",
  "message_parts": [{"text": {"content": "I need help with my order."}}]
}

Use your actual Freshchat user ID. Exclude private and system messages from human reply delivery. Preserve the interaction ID when distinguishing a resolved conversation from a later reopening.

Verify a complete handoff

Run this acceptance sequence with a teammate in Freshchat:

Escalate and confirm exactly one conversation appears in the intended inbox.
Check the customer identity and escalation context.
Send “customer test 1” from Voiceflow and “human test 1” from the support inbox. Both must arrive once.
Add a private note; it must not reach the customer.
Replay the same customer-message ID and provider event ID; neither should duplicate a message.
Close from the support inbox and verify the configured return-to-AI path.
Repeat with invalid credentials and an unavailable provider; verify the fallback.

If messages disappear, inspect the provider delivery log, the ID mapping and Voiceflow callback response in that order. A successful create call alone does not establish that the connection works.

Reference and next steps

Provider setup/API documentation · Provider messages/events documentation

Connection API · Event contract · Troubleshooting

Before production, replace in-memory state with durable storage, implement the provider’s retry/refresh rules, and test attachment and routing support only if your deployment needs them.

Connect Voiceflow to Freshchat