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Overview

What it does

Intercom integration connects AI tools directly to your customer messaging platform, enabling natural language interactions with conversations, contacts, companies, and support content.Key Features:
  • Manage conversations and messages
  • Access and update contacts
  • Organize company data
  • Create and manage articles
  • Send targeted messages
  • Track customer interactions
  • Automate support workflows
  • Search knowledge base

Use Cases

Customer Support:
  • Automate responses to common questions
  • Search and share knowledge base articles
  • Track and prioritize support conversations
  • Update contact information from conversations
Sales & Marketing:
  • Send personalized outreach messages
  • Track company engagement
  • Create targeted campaigns
  • Update lead information
Workflow Automation:
  • Sync customer data with CRM
  • Generate support reports
  • Escalate urgent conversations
  • Create tickets from email threads

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Quick Start

1

Connect Your Intercom Account

NimbleBrain Studio uses OAuth2 to securely connect to your Intercom workspace.
  1. Navigate to Connections in the sidebar
  2. Click Browse Catalog
  3. Search for “Intercom”
  4. Click Install
  5. Click Connect and authorize with your Intercom account
  6. Grant the requested permissions for Intercom access
OAuth2 provides secure, token-based authentication. You’ll need admin permissions to install integrations in your Intercom workspace.
2

Verify Connection

Once connected, test the integration:
"Show me my recent Intercom conversations"
Other test prompts:
  • “List all contacts in my Intercom workspace”
  • “Find articles about pricing in my knowledge base”
  • “Show me all companies with more than 50 employees”

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Available Tools

The Intercom connection provides tools organized into the following categories:

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Conversation Management

Manage customer conversations and messages.
ToolDescription
INTERCOM_LIST_CONVERSATIONSRetrieve conversations with filtering and pagination
INTERCOM_GET_CONVERSATIONGet detailed information about a specific conversation
INTERCOM_REPLY_TO_CONVERSATIONSend a reply in an existing conversation
INTERCOM_CREATE_CONVERSATIONStart a new conversation with a contact
INTERCOM_CLOSE_CONVERSATIONClose or resolve a conversation
INTERCOM_ASSIGN_CONVERSATIONAssign conversation to a team member
INTERCOM_SEARCH_CONVERSATIONSSearch conversations by keywords and filters
Example Usage:
"Reply to the conversation with John Smith: 'Thanks for reaching out! I'll look into this for you.'"
Conversations can include multiple messages and can be assigned to different team members or teams.

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Contact Management

Access and manage customer contact information.
ToolDescription
INTERCOM_LIST_CONTACTSList all contacts with pagination
INTERCOM_GET_CONTACTGet detailed contact information
INTERCOM_CREATE_CONTACTCreate a new contact
INTERCOM_UPDATE_CONTACTUpdate contact details and attributes
INTERCOM_DELETE_CONTACTRemove a contact from workspace
INTERCOM_SEARCH_CONTACTSSearch contacts by email, name, or attributes
INTERCOM_ARCHIVE_CONTACTArchive inactive contacts
Example Usage:
"Create a new contact with email [email protected] and name 'Sarah Johnson'"
Contacts can have custom attributes for segmentation and personalization. Update these to power targeted campaigns.

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Company Management

Manage company records and account information.
ToolDescription
INTERCOM_LIST_COMPANIESList all companies in workspace
INTERCOM_GET_COMPANYGet detailed company information
INTERCOM_CREATE_COMPANYCreate a new company record
INTERCOM_UPDATE_COMPANYUpdate company details and attributes
INTERCOM_DELETE_COMPANYRemove a company from workspace
INTERCOM_ATTACH_CONTACT_TO_COMPANYLink a contact to a company
INTERCOM_SEARCH_COMPANIESSearch companies by name or attributes
Example Usage:
"Update the company 'Acme Corp' to set the plan attribute to 'Enterprise'"
Companies help organize contacts by organization, enabling account-based workflows and reporting.

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Knowledge Base & Articles

Manage help center articles and knowledge base content.
ToolDescription
INTERCOM_LIST_ARTICLESList all help center articles
INTERCOM_GET_ARTICLEGet article content and details
INTERCOM_CREATE_ARTICLECreate a new help article
INTERCOM_UPDATE_ARTICLEUpdate article content or metadata
INTERCOM_DELETE_ARTICLERemove an article
INTERCOM_SEARCH_ARTICLESSearch knowledge base by keywords
INTERCOM_PUBLISH_ARTICLEPublish a draft article
Example Usage:
"Search my knowledge base for articles about 'password reset'"
Keep your knowledge base up to date to reduce support volume and empower customers with self-service.

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Messaging

Send targeted messages to contacts and leads.
ToolDescription
INTERCOM_SEND_MESSAGESend a message to a specific contact
INTERCOM_SEND_EMAILSend an email to a contact
INTERCOM_CREATE_MESSAGECreate a new message or broadcast
INTERCOM_GET_MESSAGERetrieve message details
Example Usage:
"Send a message to contact with email [email protected]: 'We've just released a new feature you might like!'"
Be mindful of message frequency to avoid overwhelming your contacts. Follow messaging best practices and respect user preferences.

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Tags & Segmentation

Organize contacts and companies with tags.
ToolDescription
INTERCOM_LIST_TAGSList all tags in workspace
INTERCOM_CREATE_TAGCreate a new tag
INTERCOM_TAG_CONTACTAdd tag to a contact
INTERCOM_TAG_COMPANYAdd tag to a company
INTERCOM_UNTAG_CONTACTRemove tag from contact
INTERCOM_DELETE_TAGDelete a tag from workspace
Example Usage:
"Tag all contacts from Acme Corp with 'vip-customer'"

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Example Workflows

Scenario: Auto-respond to common support questionsPrompt:
"Search for articles about 'billing questions', then reply to the conversation with Sarah with the most relevant article link"
What happens:
  • Searches knowledge base for relevant articles
  • Finds best matching content
  • Sends article link in conversation reply
  • Provides quick self-service resolution

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Authentication

OAuth2 Authentication: This connection uses OAuth2 for secure authentication.

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How It Works

When you connect Intercom in NimbleBrain Studio:
  1. You’ll be redirected to Intercom’s authorization page
  2. Log in with your Intercom account
  3. Review and grant permissions
  4. You’re automatically redirected back to Studio

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Required Permissions

The integration requests the following Intercom permissions: Conversation Permissions:
  • Read conversations
  • Write and reply to conversations
  • Manage conversation assignments
Contact & Company Permissions:
  • Read contact and company data
  • Create and update contacts and companies
  • Manage tags and attributes
Content Permissions:
  • Read articles and knowledge base content
  • Create and update articles
  • Publish help center content
Messaging Permissions:
  • Send messages to contacts
  • Create and send email campaigns
You can manage connected apps in Intercom under Settings → Developers → Apps.

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Access Levels

Different Intercom plans provide different API access:
PlanAPI Access
StarterBasic API access with rate limits
ProFull API access
PremiumFull API access with higher limits
Some advanced features may require specific Intercom plan levels. Check your plan details if you encounter permission issues.

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Rate Limits

Intercom enforces rate limits based on your plan:
PlanRate Limit
Starter500 requests per minute
Pro1,000 requests per minute
Premium2,000 requests per minute
Rate Limit Headers:
  • X-RateLimit-Limit - Total requests allowed
  • X-RateLimit-Remaining - Requests remaining
  • X-RateLimit-Reset - Time when limit resets
Studio automatically handles rate limiting with exponential backoff for retries.

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Troubleshooting

Issue: OAuth authorization didn’t completeSolutions:
  • Ensure you’re logged into the correct Intercom workspace
  • Try a different browser or incognito mode
  • Check popup blockers aren’t interfering
  • Verify you have admin permissions in Intercom
  • Contact your workspace admin if you lack permissions
Issue: Insufficient privileges errorSolutions:
  • Reconnect to grant additional permissions
  • Verify your Intercom plan supports the API feature
  • Check if your admin has restricted API access
  • Ensure the app is approved in your workspace
Issue: Cannot find specified contactSolutions:
  • Verify the contact email or ID is correct
  • Contact may have been deleted or archived
  • Check if contact exists in a different workspace
  • Try searching with different criteria
Issue: Too many requests error (429)Solutions:
  • Wait for rate limit to reset (shown in retry-after header)
  • Reduce frequency of requests
  • Upgrade Intercom plan for higher limits
  • Studio automatically handles retries with backoff
Issue: Cannot send reply to conversationSolutions:
  • Verify conversation is still open
  • Check if conversation is assigned to you
  • Ensure conversation exists and hasn’t been deleted
  • Verify message content meets Intercom requirements
Issue: Cannot publish articleSolutions:
  • Ensure article has required fields (title, body)
  • Check article is in draft state
  • Verify you have permission to publish
  • Review article content for invalid formatting

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Best Practices

Customer Communication

  • Respond to conversations promptly
  • Personalize messages with contact data
  • Use templates for consistency
  • Tag conversations for organization
  • Close conversations when resolved

Data Management

  • Keep contact information up to date
  • Use custom attributes for segmentation
  • Archive inactive contacts regularly
  • Link contacts to companies
  • Maintain clean tag taxonomy

Knowledge Base

  • Keep articles current and accurate
  • Use clear, searchable titles
  • Organize with collections
  • Link related articles
  • Monitor article performance

Security

  • Review connected apps regularly
  • Use minimal required permissions
  • Monitor API usage and activity
  • Don’t share access tokens
  • Rotate credentials periodically

Intercom API Reference

Official Intercom API documentation

Intercom Help Center

Intercom support and guides

Developer Hub

Intercom developer resources
Need help? Join the NimbleBrain Discord or email [email protected]