Chatwoot

Rule

Use the official chatwoot CLI. If the CLI is missing or unauthenticated, stop and guide the user through install/auth first.

Do not bypass the CLI with raw REST calls, Rails runner, database queries, or server-side container access unless the user explicitly asks for a fallback path after seeing the install/auth instructions. Boss picked the CLI route; respect it.

For self-hosted deployments, prompt for or discover:

• Base URL: the Chatwoot instance URL, for example https://chatwoot.example.com
• Account ID: the numeric account ID from the Chatwoot dashboard URL or chatwoot auth status

Never store or print the API access token in skill files, docs, shell history examples, or final answers.

Setup Check

1. Check whether the CLI exists:

command -v chatwoot && chatwoot --version

1. If missing, guide the user to install:

curl -fsSL https://chwt.app/install-cli | sh

After install, ask the user to restart the shell if chatwoot is still not found, then run:

chatwoot --version
chatwoot auth login

1. Authenticate:

chatwoot auth login

Tell the user to enter:

• Base URL: their self-hosted Chatwoot URL, for example https://chatwoot.example.com
• API Key: Profile Settings -> Personal Access Token / API access token
• Account ID: the number in the Chatwoot dashboard URL

The CLI supports self-hosted domains because auth login asks for a Base URL and validates credentials against that instance.

Config

Official CLI persistence:

• Non-secret config: ~/.chatwoot/config.yaml
• API key: OS keyring
• Headless/CI override: CHATWOOTAPIKEY

Useful checks:

chatwoot auth status
chatwoot config path
chatwoot config view

Use CHATWOOTAPIKEY only for CI/headless sessions where keyring access is unavailable. Prefer the keyring on the user's Mac.

Do not confuse chatwoot with cwctl. cwctl manages self-hosted server operations; chatwoot is the customer-support API CLI.

Common Workflows

List open conversations:

chatwoot convs

List all conversations in an inbox or assigned to anyone:

chatwoot convs --assignee all --inbox 5

Search conversations by message content:

chatwoot convs --query "refund"

View a conversation:

chatwoot conv 123

Reply or add a private note:

chatwoot conv 123 reply "Looking into it"
chatwoot conv 123 reply "Internal context" --private

Change status, assignee, labels, or priority:

chatwoot conv 123 resolve
chatwoot conv 123 open
chatwoot conv 123 pending
chatwoot conv 123 assign --agent me
chatwoot conv 123 assign --team 7
chatwoot conv 123 label billing,urgent
chatwoot conv 123 priority urgent

List supporting objects:

chatwoot inboxes
chatwoot agents
chatwoot labels
chatwoot teams
chatwoot me

Use JSON for automation:

chatwoot convs -o json
chatwoot convs -q

Use raw Application API paths through the CLI when the noun command does not cover the endpoint:

chatwoot api /conversations/123
chatwoot api -X PATCH /conversations/123 --data '{"status":"open"}'

The raw API path expands under /api/v1/accounts/<account_id>.

Customer Feedback

For daily customer feedback summaries:

1. Use chatwoot convs -o json or chatwoot api /conversations?... -o json to get candidate conversations.
2. Prefer active/recent conversations, then inspect individual conversations.
3. Treat customer-originated messages as incoming; agent replies are outgoing; private notes are not customer feedback.
4. For precise date filters or endpoints not exposed by noun commands, use chatwoot api with /conversations/filter and JSON payloads.

Read references/cli.md when command syntax, install details, or API coverage is needed.