setup

name	setup
description	This skill should be used when the user asks to "set up Chatwoot API", "get a Chatwoot access token", "configure CHATWOOT_API_KEY", "install the Chatwoot CLI", "connect to Chatwoot", "verify Chatwoot is working", or needs to obtain credentials and confirm REST API / CLI access to a Chatwoot account (cloud or self-hosted).

Chatwoot Setup & Verification

Get a Chatwoot access token, set the environment variables this plugin uses, install the chatwoot CLI (optional), and confirm the REST API answers. Do this before any api-reference, cli-recipes, or webhooks-automation work.

1. Know which API you need

Chatwoot exposes three API families, each with its own token type. Pick the right one — the single most common setup mistake is using the wrong token for the wrong API.

API	Base path	Token / auth	Use for
Application	/api/v1/accounts/{account_id}/...	User access token (api_access_token header)	Agent/account automation: conversations, messages, contacts, inboxes, reports
Platform	/platform/api/v1/...	Platform app token (api_access_token header)	Super-admin provisioning: create accounts, users, account-users, agent bots
Client / Public	/public/api/v1/inboxes/{inbox_identifier}/...	No token (uses inbox_identifier + contact source_id)	Building a custom chat widget for end users

CHATWOOT_API_KEY in this plugin = your Application user access token unless you are explicitly doing Platform provisioning.

2. Get an access token

1. Sign in to Chatwoot (cloud https://app.chatwoot.com or your self-hosted URL).
2. Open Profile Settings → Access Token (avatar → Profile Settings).
3. Copy the token. It carries your agent/admin permissions — treat it as a secret.

Find your Account ID in the dashboard URL: .../app/accounts/{account_id}/....

For the Platform API, the platform app token is configured by the installation owner (Super Admin console / installation_config), not in Profile Settings.

3. Set environment variables

This plugin references these in every curl and CLI example:

export CHATWOOT_BASE_URL="https://app.chatwoot.com"   # or your self-hosted origin, no trailing slash
export CHATWOOT_API_KEY="your_access_token"            # Application user access token
export CHATWOOT_ACCOUNT_ID="1"                         # numeric account id from the dashboard URL

Keep these out of source control (use a secrets manager or untracked .env). The auth header Chatwoot expects is literally api_access_token — not Authorization: Bearer.

4. Install the CLI (optional)

The official chatwoot CLI is the fastest path for triage and scripting.

# macOS / Linux — detects OS/arch, verifies SHA256
curl -fsSL https://chwt.app/install-cli | sh

# Configure (prompts for Base URL, API Key, Account ID; key stored in OS keyring)
chatwoot auth login

# Headless / CI — skip the keyring by exporting the key
export CHATWOOT_API_KEY="your_access_token"

Non-secret config lives at ~/.chatwoot/config.yaml. See the cli-recipes skill for usage. If you use Claude Code/Cursor, you can also install the upstream agent skill with npx skills add chatwoot/cli.

5. Verify it works

Application API — a clean conversation list confirms token + account + base URL:

curl -s -H "api_access_token: ${CHATWOOT_API_KEY}" \
  "${CHATWOOT_BASE_URL}/api/v1/accounts/${CHATWOOT_ACCOUNT_ID}/conversations" | jq '.data.meta'

Confirm identity (who the token belongs to):

curl -s -H "api_access_token: ${CHATWOOT_API_KEY}" \
  "${CHATWOOT_BASE_URL}/api/v1/profile" | jq '{id, name, email, role}'

CLI check:

chatwoot me            # current identity
chatwoot convs         # your open conversations

A 200 with JSON means you are ready. A 401 means the token or the api_access_token header is wrong; a 404 usually means a wrong account_id or base URL — see the troubleshoot skill.

What this skill does NOT cover

• Endpoint-by-endpoint request/response details — see the api-reference skill (and the bundled OpenAPI specs).
• Everyday terminal workflows — see the cli-recipes skill.
• Webhooks, automation rules, and agent bots — see the webhooks-automation skill.
• Diagnosing errors — see the troubleshoot skill.